Last call is 02:00 in Los Angeles, 04:00 in New York and open-ended in Las Vegas. The city you pick decides how your night ends.
Where to go out
Nightlife in the United States is set by local law. The drinking age is 21 everywhere, but last call changes by state: 02:00 in California, 04:00 in New York, and Las Vegas bars may serve around the clock. Chicago stops around 02:00 or 03:00, with late licences to 04:00 or 05:00.
You pay twice: cover, then tip. Nights start in a bar around 20:00 and move to a club after 23:00. Cover is about $10 to $30 and a pint about $8. Add $1 to $2 a drink, or about 20% of a tab, for the bar staff.
New York and Miami are the big club cities. New York nightlife has the 04:00 close and an all-night subway. Miami has Park West, where venues can hold 24-hour licences. The mistake is distance: New York to Miami is about a three-hour flight, so pick one or two cities.
Brooklyn clubs such as Good Room run 22:00 to 05:00 on weekend nights for $10 to $30.
Death & Co in New York prices drinks at $17 to $26.
EDC in Las Vegas draws about 500,000 over three nights, Lollapalooza in Chicago about 400,000.
Las Vegas bars can serve around the clock, and tables at big-name clubs can run to four figures.
New Orleans allows outdoor drinking from unbreakable cups.
Uber and Lyft work in every major city, and the New York subway runs all night.
Not for you if you are under 21 or want a cheap night. Doors check everyone, and tips plus rides push a normal night to about €100.
Carnival runs from 6 January to Fat Tuesday, between 3 February and 9 March. The biggest parades come last.
Three days at Bayfront Park, downtown: 27 to 29 March 2026, 26 to 28 March 2027. Miami Music Week fills the days around it.
Two weekends at the Empire Polo Club, about 125 miles (200 km) east of Los Angeles, 10 to 19 April in 2026.
Three dusk-to-dawn nights at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, 15 to 17 May in 2026.
Electronic music at Hart Plaza every Memorial Day weekend since 2006, in Detroit, the birthplace of techno.
Four days in Grant Park, 31 July to 3 August in 2025.
Friday: cocktails on the Lower East Side, then a Brooklyn club from 22:00. Saturday: a warehouse where alcohol stops at 04:00. The New York nightlife guide has doors and prices.
One night on Miami Beach, where most bars serve to 05:00 but large venues south of Fifth Street stop at 02:00. One at a Park West club, one in Little Havana. The Miami nightlife guide covers the doors.
Two nights in New York, a flight of about three hours, two nights in Miami. Go in late March for Ultra.
Two nights in Los Angeles, where last call is 02:00, then four to five hours by road to Las Vegas. Time it for EDC in May.
Three nights in New York, two in Chicago, two in Miami. Each flight takes about two to three hours.
Alcohol can be served until 04:00, and the subway runs 24 hours.
The only area in the City of Miami where venues can hold 24-hour liquor licences. E11EVEN is open 24 hours a day.
Club Space in Miami runs parties through Sunday morning on its open-air terrace. Closing times vary by event.
Sweet Liberty on Miami Beach serves daily from 16:00 to 05:00. New York's Death & Co is the other benchmark.
Bars can stay open 24 hours. Plastic cups are allowed outdoors; glass is banned on the Strip.
Bars may serve around the clock, and you can carry your drink outside in an unbreakable cup.
New York pizza sold by the foldable slice. The cheapest shops sell a "dollar slice".
The halal cart platter: chicken or lamb gyro on yellow rice with red and white sauce. Carts stand on busy Manhattan corners at night.
A hot roll from a New York bodega. Many stay open all night.
Miami's midnight sandwich: Cuban sandwich fillings on sweet yellow egg bread.
Open 24 hours a day, mostly in the South and Midwest. Order the waffle or hash browns.
The age is 21 in all 50 states. LIV Miami accepts only a physical US licence or a passport and refuses photos of ID.
E11EVEN in Miami bans beachwear, tank tops, shorts, flip-flops and caps. Smaller clubs are looser.
$1 to $2 a drink or about 20% of a tab. The federal tipped minimum wage is $2.13 an hour.
Public drinking is banned in most cities, New York included. Exceptions: plastic cups on the Las Vegas Strip, unbreakable cups in New Orleans.
Cannabis stays illegal under federal law, even where states license sales. Other drugs carry severe penalties, and counterfeit pills can contain fentanyl.
Several New York clubs ban phone photos on the floor. E11EVEN says guests may be filmed.
Drivers who offer a flat price are unlicensed. Use a yellow cab, Uber or Lyft.
| Club entry (cover) | $10–30 (€9–27) |
| Pint of beer | about $8 (€7), range $6–12 (€5–11) |
| Cocktail in a craft bar | $17–26 (€15–23) |
| Subway fare, New York | $3 (€2.70) |
| Metrorail fare, Miami | $2.25 (€2) |
| Yellow taxi, about 5 miles in Manhattan at night | about $25–30 before tip (€22–27) |
| Late-night food (slice, halal plate) | about $2–12 (€2–11) |
Four beers with tips, a free-entry bar, a slice, the subway home.
A $20 cover, four drinks with tips, a ride home.
A $30 cover, six cocktails with tips, rides both ways. Tables cost far more.
Uber and Lyft work in every major city. The New York subway runs 24 hours at $3 a ride. Miami's Metrorail stops at midnight.
The drinking age is 21 in all 50 states. Carry your passport: some clubs accept only a US licence or a passport.
Cards and contactless work almost everywhere. Carry small notes for tips.
Club nights sell through Resident Advisor, DICE and venue sites. Festivals sell out online.
Banned in most cities. Las Vegas allows plastic cups on the Strip, New Orleans unbreakable cups. Open drinks in cars are illegal.
The emergency number is 911. Watch for spiked drinks and pickpockets, and never drink and drive: the limit is 0.08% in most states.
Banned inside New York bars. Florida stand-alone bars with little food revenue may allow it. Las Vegas allows it in some bars and on casino floors.
English everywhere, with Spanish widely spoken in Miami. Cover means entry fee, tab means the bill.
Yes, in the right city. New York and Miami have big clubs and late licences, and Las Vegas bars can open around the clock.
It depends on the state: 02:00 in California, 04:00 in New York, generally 05:00 on Miami Beach.
About €45 for a cheap night, €100 for a normal one and €200 or more for a big one, with tips on top.
21 in all 50 states and Washington, D.C. Non-US visitors should carry a passport.
New York, for clubs in Brooklyn and Queens and the 04:00 close. Miami for 24-hour licences, Las Vegas for around-the-clock bars.
$1 to $2 a drink, or about 20% of a tab. Check the receipt for an automatic service fee first.
