Vienna nightlife is quieter on the surface than Berlin's and better organised underneath. The clubs sit in spaces the city stopped using: brick railway arches under the U6 on the Gürtel, a disused U-Bahn tunnel on the Danube Canal, a 1950s dance café in a park on the Ring. Doors open around 23:00, floors fill after 01:00 and the serious rooms close at 06:00. Entry runs from free to €18. The bars start earlier and in better clothes, from a 1908 American bar off Kärntner Straße to rooftops above the MuseumsQuartier. Worth knowing: on Friday and Saturday nights the U-Bahn runs all night every 15 minutes, so you rarely need a taxi.
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 weekend runs on the U-Bahn. Since 2010 the trains have run all night on Fridays, Saturdays and nights before public holidays, every 15 minutes. That changes how you plan: you can drink on the Gürtel, dance by the canal and still ride home at 05:00 on a normal €3.20 ticket.
The best rooms are inside old infrastructure. Flex sits in a former U-Bahn tunnel at the Augartenbrücke. Grelle Forelle and Das Werk stand side by side on Spittelauer Lände, and a run of music bars fills the brick arches under the U6 on the Gürtel. They are loud, unpolished and well run.
Age matters more than your outfit. Grelle Forelle and Volksgarten admit over-21s only, Prater DOME, Sass and U4 are 18+, and ID gets checked. Strict dress codes are rare. Volksgarten says it has none, and the techno clubs care more about your phone staying in your pocket than about your shoes.
Grelle Forelle and Das Werk share a stretch of canal at Spittelau, and Donau runs techno four nights a week near the MuseumsQuartier.
Flex centres its club programme on it, in a former U-Bahn tunnel with one of the best sound systems in the city.
Loos American Bar from 1908, Barfly's Club with over 400 cocktails and Kleinod Prunkstück open to 04:00.
The Gürtel arches: B72 and Chelsea for indie and punk, The Loft for everything from poetry slams to hip hop.
Prater DOME has three floors and twelve bars by the Giant Ferris Wheel. Volksgarten does house and party hits in a 1950s dance café.
U4's Tuesday student night is free with a student ID before midnight, and many Flucc events cost nothing.
Not for you if you want a city that parties hard every night of the week. Most clubs open Thursday to Saturday only, and from Sunday to Wednesday the night is mainly bars.
First drink. A brewpub near the Opera or a rooftop above the MuseumsQuartier while it is still light.
Dinner, then a cocktail bar in the Innere Stadt or Neubau.
Club doors open. Volksgarten, Sass, Grelle Forelle and Prater DOME all start now, and the floors are half empty.
The night actually starts. The Gürtel arches are at their loudest.
Chelsea and Loos American Bar close. The clubs keep going.
Most clubs close. At the weekend the U-Bahn is still running, and on Sunday Sass reopens for the afterhour.
Grelle Forelle and Das Werk stand next to each other on Spittelauer Lände, a few minutes from U4 and U6 Spittelau. Two very different rooms, one walk.
Start at U6 Thaliastraße, where Chelsea and The Loft sit, then ride two stops to Alser Straße for B72. The bars fill the arches under the line.
Twenty-seven square metres, designed by Adolf Loos in 1908 and open until 04:00. Go early or go very late.
Flex at the Augartenbrücke has been in a former U-Bahn tunnel since 1995, and the sound is the reason to go.
Dachboden looks across to the Ring from the 25hours Hotel, and Das Loft is 74 metres up on the 18th floor at Praterstraße 1.
The club on Karlsplatz reopens on Sunday from 06:00 to 11:00, which makes it the obvious afterhour in the centre.
The old town inside the Ring. Loos American Bar, Kleinod Prunkstück and the 1516 brewpub for drinks, Volksgarten and Sass for clubbing. Smart, central and more expensive.
The canal banks from Spittelau to Schottenring. Grelle Forelle, Das Werk and Flex, all a few minutes from the U4. The most important strip in the city for club music.
Across the canal in the second district. Flucc on Praterstern, Prater DOME by the Giant Ferris Wheel and the 18th-floor bar at Das Loft.
The ring road along the U6, where bars and venues fill the old Stadtbahn arches. Chelsea, B72 and The Loft. Cheap, loud and open late.
The streets around the MuseumsQuartier and Mariahilfer Straße. Dachboden, Barfly's Club and Donau behind its grey door.
Two districts on the same line. Celeste near Kettenbrückengasse for local nights, U4 at Meidling Hauptstraße for the city's most famous disco.
Doors are fair rather than strict. The main filter is age: Grelle Forelle, Volksgarten and Kleinod Prunkstück are 21+, while Prater DOME, Sass and U4 are 18+, and all of them check ID. Prater DOME turns away sportswear, swimwear and team merchandise. At Grelle Forelle, photography is not allowed, so keep the phone away on the floor.
Bars charge nothing. Club nights run from free at many Flucc events to around €12–15 at Flex, €5–15 at U4 and €18 at Volksgarten, which takes cash only at the door. Bigger bookings cost more and sell in advance.
The U-Bahn normally runs from about 05:00 to around midnight. On Friday and Saturday nights and before public holidays it runs all night every 15 minutes. On other nights, NightLine buses run every 30 minutes from about 00:30 to 05:00, with hubs at Schwedenplatz, Oper/Karlsplatz and Schottentor. A single ticket costs €3.20 and covers both.
| Club entry | Free–€18 |
| Beer in a club (0.33 l) | €5–7 |
| Cocktail | €12–16 |
| Cloakroom | €3 |
| Night U-Bahn or NightLine ticket | €3.20 |
| Taxi across town | €15–25 |
| Sausage at a Würstelstand | €5–7 |
| Hostel bed, weekend | €15–35 |
A free Flucc event or a €10 door at U4, three beers, and the U-Bahn home.
A drink at a brewpub, a €15 club door, cloakroom, four drinks inside, a sausage and a ticket home.
A cocktail at Loos, €18 at Volksgarten, drinks until close and a taxi at 06:00.
Friday, Saturday and nights before public holidays run all night. Any other night, you are on a NightLine bus every 30 minutes.
Volksgarten takes €18 in cash at the entrance, even though its bars take cards.
Several of the best rooms are 21+, and the 18+ clubs check too.
Grelle Forelle does not allow photography inside. Treat it as the norm in the techno rooms.
Thaliastraße, Josefstädter Straße and Alser Straße put you at the doors of the Gürtel arches.
Summer drinking moves to the Danube Canal, but the beach bars close for winter. Strandbar Herrmann reopens in April.
U4 opened in 1980. Prince played one of his unannounced after-show sets there, and the club was a second living room for Falco.
Loos American Bar, designed by Adolf Loos in 1908, is heritage-listed and counted as the smallest bar in Vienna.
Flex was founded in 1990 and moved into a disused U-Bahn tunnel by the Danube Canal in 1995.
The U-Bahn has run through the night at weekends since 4 September 2010, every 15 minutes.
Most clubs close at 06:00 on Friday and Saturday, including Grelle Forelle, Volksgarten, Flex and Prater DOME. Gürtel bars such as Chelsea close at 04:00, and Sass reopens on Sunday from 06:00 to 11:00.
Yes, on Friday and Saturday nights and before public holidays, every 15 minutes. On other nights NightLine buses run every 30 minutes from about 00:30 to 05:00. A single ticket is €3.20.
The Donaukanal for techno and drum and bass, the Gürtel for live music and cheap late bars, and the Innere Stadt for cocktails and dress-up clubs. For one night, drink in Neubau and dance by the canal.
Grelle Forelle for techno and house, Flex for drum and bass, Das Werk for the underground, Volksgarten for house and party hits, and U4 for a cheap night with history.
Rarely. Volksgarten says it has none. Prater DOME refuses sportswear, swimwear and team merchandise, and bars like Loos and Kleinod Prunkstück ask you to dress up a little.
Usually 18+, but Grelle Forelle and Volksgarten admit over-21s only. Some events at Flex are 16+. Bring photo ID.
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.
