Bristol nightlife is built on sound systems and small rooms rather than big clubs. Drum and bass, jungle, dub and reggae fill more of the listings than anything else, and they play in basements, railway arches and the hold of an old cargo ship. Stokes Croft and St Pauls hold Lakota, Cosies and the late bars. The centre has Thekla, Strange Brew and Basement 45, and Loco Klub sits under Temple Meads station. Most club nights cost £5–15 and finish at 03:00 or 04:00. Worth knowing: Motion, the city's biggest club, closed in July 2025, so the large nights now happen at Lakota, Thekla and Electric Bristol.
Ranked by popularity. Tap a card for opening hours, door tips, getting there and tickets.
For the drinks before and after. Hours, prices and the best nights are on each page.
The best rooms are small. Most of the venues worth your night hold between 140 and 400 people: the back room at The Croft, the arched tunnel of Basement 45, the hold of Thekla. You are rarely more than a few metres from the decks, and the bookings are better than the size of the rooms suggests.
Bass is the local language. Drum and bass, jungle, dub and reggae run through the weekly listings. Lakota, Cosies, Basement 45 and Lost Horizon all put on bass and sound system nights most weekends, and the priciest ticket on Thekla's autumn 2026 calendar is a drum and bass night.
The big club has gone, the late bars have not. Motion, behind Temple Meads, closed after a final 12-hour party on 19 July 2025 when its lease ran out. Its team plans a new space nearby, but for now the late night belongs to Stokes Croft, where The Love Inn and The Croft stay open until 04:00 at the weekend.
Reggae Sundays at Cosies, drum and bass and jungle at Lakota and Basement 45, and dub nights at Lost Horizon from £7.60.
The Love Inn has a Danley sound system in a 200-capacity room, Strange Brew comes from the Dirtytalk promoters, and Loco Klub runs nights in a tunnel under Temple Meads.
Thekla, The Fleece and Electric Bristol take touring bands, and the Gallimaufry and the Golden Lion put on free gigs on Gloucester Road.
Tickets at Basement 45, Cosies and The Croft cost about £5.50, and The Love Inn is free until 22:00.
Small Bar pours from 31 taps on King Street, and The Milk Thistle spreads cocktails and a whisky vault over four floors.
Propaganda takes over The Fleece on Saturdays from 23:00 for about £6.
Not for you if you want a superclub with a long queue and a dress code. The rooms here are small and casual, and the biggest club in the city closed in 2025.
Gig doors open at Thekla, The Fleece and Electric Bristol. The Love Inn opens, free until 22:00.
Free bands and DJs on Gloucester Road, a pint on King Street, or cocktails at The Milk Thistle.
Club doors open at Lakota, Thekla, Basement 45 and Cosies. Early tickets are the cheap ones.
The second wave: The Croft's back room, Lost Horizon and Propaganda at The Fleece get going.
Small Bar and the Bristol Fringe close, and the clubs fill up.
The Love Inn, The Croft and Mr Wolf's close at the weekend. Night bus or walk home.
Thekla's 400-capacity hold sits in a former cargo ship at Mud Dock. Drum and bass nights there cost up to about £22.
Four spaces on Upper York Street, open since 1992: the original club, the Moon Club, Coroner's Court and the outdoor Lakota Gardens.
A basement on Portland Square, a sound system and a weekly reggae session that is a local institution.
The Love Inn and The Croft are a short walk apart, and both close at 04:00 on Friday and Saturday.
Loco Klub fills the railway arches below the station with club nights, cabaret and theatre from the Invisible Circus crowd.
The Gallimaufry never charges, and the Golden Lion is free on every night but Friday, when it is usually £3.
The best area to go out if you want to stay out. The Love Inn and The Croft run until 04:00 at the weekend, Lakota and Cosies are a few streets away in St Pauls, and Lost Horizon is by the Cabot Circus car park.
Thekla on the harbour, Strange Brew, Basement 45, Mr Wolf's, The Island and Electric Bristol in the centre, plus Small Bar on King Street and The Milk Thistle on Colston Avenue.
Loco Klub in the arches under the station and The Fleece on St Thomas Street. This was Motion's area until the club closed in July 2025.
Georgian streets on the hill, the Suspension Bridge and the Bristol Fringe, a small bar with live jazz and indie. A place to start the night, not to finish it.
The long road north from Stokes Croft, lined with independent shops and pubs. The Gallimaufry and the Golden Lion put on live music most nights, mostly for free.
North Street and Southville, with the Tobacco Factory's café bar, a Sunday market and free Sunday evening music. Locals, not visitors, and an early finish.
Club nights are 18+, and doors check photo ID. Electric Bristol, for example, accepts a full or provisional driving licence, a passport or a card with the PASS hologram. Dress codes are rare: Electric Bristol states a casual one. Expect bag rules at the bigger venues, where anything larger than a handbag goes in the cloakroom, and no re-entry once you leave.
Most club nights cost £5–15 in advance. Recent examples: £5.50 at Basement 45, Cosies and The Croft, £10.80 at Lakota and Loco Klub, £14.60 for Lena Willikens at Strange Brew, and £13.50–21.55 at Thekla. The Love Inn is free until 22:00, the Gallimaufry is always free, and the Golden Lion charges about £3 on Fridays only. Most venues sell through Headfirst or DICE.
There is no metro or tram. First runs night services on several routes from the centre, including the 70 to Temple Meads and UWE, the 75 and 76 across the city, the 48 and 49 to Emersons Green and the X39 to Bath. A single within Bristol costs £2.60, contactless caps at £6.80 a day, and day tickets stay valid until 04:29. The centre, the harbour and Stokes Croft are close enough to walk.
| Club entry | £5–15 (€6–17) |
| Beer in a club | £5.50–7 (€6.50–8) |
| Cocktail | £10–14 (€11.50–16) |
| Cloakroom | £3 (€3.50) |
| Night bus single | £2.60 (€3) |
| Taxi across town | £12–20 (€14–23) |
| Chips or a kebab at 03:00 | £5–9 (€6–10) |
| Hostel bed, weekend | £30–55 (€35–63) |
A free gig on Gloucester Road, a £5.50 ticket at Cosies or Basement 45, three drinks and a £2.60 night bus.
A pint at Small Bar, a £10–15 club ticket, four drinks, the cloakroom and a day ticket for the bus.
Cocktails at The Milk Thistle, a headline drum and bass night at Thekla, drinks until 04:00 on Stokes Croft and a taxi home.
A single costs £2.60, contactless caps at £6.80, and day tickets stay valid until 04:29.
Entry is free every night until then, and ticketed nights cost £8–12.50 after.
Club nights are 18+. A passport, a driving licence or a PASS card works at the door.
Most club nights sell through Headfirst or DICE, and the drum and bass nights at Thekla and Lakota sell out.
At Electric Bristol anything bigger than a handbag goes in the cloakroom at £3 an item, and there are no pass-outs.
Motion closed in July 2025. Older guides still send you there.
Lakota opened in 1992 in what remains of the old Stokes Croft Brewery, and it still runs club nights more than thirty years later.
The grade II* listed building on St Thomas Street was first a sheep trading market. It has put on gigs since 1982, from Radiohead and Oasis to Amy Winehouse.
The Island on Nelson Street was Bridewell Police Station. Its Edwardian cells now host experimental club nights.
Thekla was a cargo ship. It became a floating theatre and art gallery in 1982 and a club in the early nineties.
Usually at 03:00 or 04:00. The Love Inn, The Croft and Mr Wolf's close at 04:00 on Friday and Saturday, and Strange Brew has a 03:00 licence. Most bars close between midnight and 02:00.
Stokes Croft and St Pauls for late bars and bass music, the Old City and the harbour for Thekla, Strange Brew and cocktail bars, and Gloucester Road for free gigs.
No. Motion closed on 19 July 2025 when its lease ended. Its team announced plans for a new space on Victoria Terrace in St Philip's, but no opening date had been confirmed at the time of writing.
Usually £5–15. Basement 45, Cosies and The Croft run nights at about £5.50, Lakota and Loco Klub about £11, and the big drum and bass nights at Thekla up to about £22.
On foot or by night bus. First runs night services on routes such as the 70, 75 and 76. A single costs £2.60, and day tickets are valid until 04:29.
Rarely. Casual is the norm. Bring photo ID, since club nights are 18+.
See which clubs and bars are open right now, who is playing and where to get tickets. Live in four cities, with more on the way.
