Hamburg nightlife is built around St. Pauli. The Reeperbahn is the loud, neon end of it: concert halls, late bars and a free party at Große Freiheit 36 every Friday and Saturday. Ten minutes downhill, the harbourfront has the small rooms with the best reputations, from the Golden Pudel Club on the Fischmarkt to Hafenklang on the Große Elbstraße. Party doors open around midnight, and most club nights list no closing time at all. On Friday and Saturday nights the U-Bahn and S-Bahn run all night, so getting home is rarely the problem. Worth knowing: many venues here run a concert at 20:00 and a separate party after midnight, with a different ticket and stricter age rules.
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.
Most of the night happens in one district. St. Pauli holds the Reeperbahn, the harbourfront and the bunker at Feldstraße, all within about twenty minutes on foot of each other. You can start with a drink by the water, see a band at 20:00 and still be on a dancefloor by one.
Live music is the backbone, not a side act. This is the city where the Beatles played their first long residencies, and it still books more bands than most. Many venues run a concert first and a club night after midnight, with a new ticket and stricter age rules for the second half.
The night has no fixed end. Party listings say 'open end' instead of a closing time, and the U-Bahn runs all night at weekends. The trade-off is the Reeperbahn itself, which is crowded and loud with groups on a Saturday. Step one street off it and the crowd changes.
Molotow, Knust, Docks, Grünspan and Fabrik run shows most nights of the week. You can see a band on a Tuesday.
The Golden Pudel Club and MS Stubnitz book DJs and acts you will not hear on the main strip. Small rooms, a crowd that comes for the booking.
From the Gin Basil Smash at Le Lion to the counter at Zum Goldenen Handschuh, you can have a full night without dancing.
Club nights list no end time, and the U-Bahn runs through Friday and Saturday nights.
The Reeperbahn is easy: a free weekend party at Große Freiheit 36 and a dozen venues within a short walk.
Clouds and 20up sit 90 metres or more above the Elbe. Go at dusk, before the clubs open.
Not for you if you want a polished, high-design club scene. Hamburg's best rooms are a bunker, a small house by the fish market and a ship, and they look it.
Sky bars and harbour bars. 20up opens at 18:00, Clouds at 17:00 on weekdays.
Concert doors. Most live venues let people in between 19:00 and 20:00, with the band on about an hour later.
The Golden Pudel Club opens, Hamburger Berg fills up and the early concerts start to finish.
Party doors. Uebel & Gefährlich lists its club nights from 23:59; Molotow's parties start around 23:00.
Peak. The Reeperbahn is at its busiest, and on a Friday or Saturday the U-Bahn is still running.
From April to October the Fischmarkt opens by the river (07:00 in winter), and the night has an ending.
Uebel & Gefährlich is on the fourth floor of a Second World War flak tower. Club nights start at 23:59 and the listing says open end.
See a band at Molotow, Docks or Bahnhof Pauli in the evening, then stay on the strip for the parties that start after 23:00.
A small house on the Fischmarkt with a programme every night of the week. Go midweek if you want room to move.
The Kaiserkeller under Große Freiheit 36 hosted the Beatles from October 1960. Today it is the hip-hop floor of the free weekend XXL Party.
20up and Clouds both look down on the port from the top of a tower. Get there before sunset.
From April to October the market opens at 05:00, and live jazz and rock play in the old fish auction hall next door.
930 metres of concert halls, bars and neon. Molotow, Docks, Mojo Club and Große Freiheit 36 are all here. Loudest on Friday and Saturday.
Downhill from the Reeperbahn along the Elbe: the Golden Pudel Club, Christiansen's and the 20up skyline bar. Nearest station: Landungsbrücken.
Uebel & Gefährlich in the wartime flak tower and Knust in the old cattle hall. One U3 stop from St. Pauli.
The Schanze is for the early part of the night: beer at Altes Mädchen, a gig at the temporary Grünspan hall, then onwards.
Hafenklang on the riverside for dark wave and post-punk, Fabrik in Ottensen for concerts. Fewer visitors than St. Pauli.
Quiet after dark except for MS Stubnitz, a venue ship at Kirchenpauerkai with experimental concerts and club nights.
Not a clubbing area. Le Lion near the Rathaus is the reason to come, from 17:00 on weekdays.
The door here is mostly about age. Parties at Uebel & Gefährlich, Molotow and Große Freiheit 36 are 18+, Uebel & Gefährlich does not accept parental consent forms, and Mojo Club nights are 21+. Bring photo ID. Mojo checks bags larger than A4 into the cloakroom, and the 20up skyline bar asks for smart casual.
From free to around twenty euros for a party. The XXL Party at Große Freiheit 36 is free every Friday and Saturday, and Molotow runs from free to €51.65 depending on the act. Concerts are sold per show, usually online in advance.
On Friday and Saturday nights, and before public holidays, the U-Bahn and S-Bahn run all night, the U-Bahn every 20 minutes. On other nights the U-Bahn stops around 01:00 and restarts around 04:00, and the 600-series night buses fill the gap. A Hamburg AB day ticket costs €8.20 and is valid until 06:00 the next morning.
| Club entry | Free–€20 |
| Beer in a club | €4–6 |
| Cocktail | €12–16 |
| Cloakroom | €2–3 |
| Night transport (AB day ticket, valid to 06:00) | €8.20 |
| Taxi across town | €20–30 |
| Late-night food | €5–8 |
| Hostel bed, weekend | €30–60 |
Free XXL Party at Große Freiheit 36, three beers and a day ticket home.
A party door, five drinks, the cloakroom and the U-Bahn.
Sky bar cocktails, a concert and a party, and a taxi at the end.
Many venues run both on the same night, with separate tickets and different age rules.
A Hamburg AB day ticket is €8.20 and stays valid until 06:00 the next morning.
Parties are 18+ and checked, Mojo Club nights are 21+, and Uebel & Gefährlich takes no parental consent forms.
Le Lion and Clouds are card only, while the Kaiserkeller bars take cash or EC card and StrandPauli takes cash only at its self-service bar.
The harbourfront bars and the Golden Pudel Club are ten to fifteen minutes on foot below the Reeperbahn.
While its St. Pauli home is renovated, shows are at Lagerstraße 11, Halle D, near Sternschanze. Check the address on your ticket.
They arrived in August 1960 and played the Indra, the Kaiserkeller, the Top Ten Club and the Star-Club. In 1961 they played seven hours a night, eight at weekends.
Uebel & Gefährlich opened in 2006 inside Flakturm IV, a Second World War flak bunker, and was named club of the year in 2011, 2015 and 2019.
Reep is Low German for rope. Ropewalks moved to this track outside the old city in the 17th century, and the street kept the name.
Hamburg's first night bus lines started in May 1925. The weekend all-night U-Bahn and S-Bahn began as a trial in December 2004 and stayed after ridership tripled.
Most club nights have no set end. Venues list parties as 'open end', and the Reeperbahn is busiest between 01:00 and 04:00. Bars set their own hours: Zum Goldenen Handschuh is open from 18:00 to 16:00 the next afternoon.
St. Pauli. The Reeperbahn has the most venues in one place, the harbourfront below it has the smaller rooms, and Feldstraße has Uebel & Gefährlich. Sternschanze is the place for bars before the night.
On Friday and Saturday nights, and before public holidays, the U-Bahn and S-Bahn run all night, the U-Bahn every 20 minutes. On other nights the U-Bahn stops around 01:00 and the 600-series night buses take over.
18 for most parties, with photo ID. Mojo Club nights are 21+. Several venues let 16- and 17-year-olds into concerts until midnight, but not into the parties after.
Entry runs from free, at the XXL Party at Große Freiheit 36, to around €20 for a club night, with concerts priced per show. A day ticket for transport is €8.20 and lasts until 06:00 the next morning.
It is busy and brightly lit, and the Davidwache police station sits on the strip itself. Watch your phone and wallet in the crowds and keep your drink with you.
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.
