The 10 best clubs in Edinburgh, ranked: Sneaky Pete's, Cabaret Voltaire, the Bongo Club, La Belle Angele and more, with entry prices, closing times and door tips.
The best clubs in Edinburgh are small, cheap and close together. Five of the ten on this list are on the Cowgate or a few steps off it, so you can change rooms in two minutes on foot. The rest are in the Old Town, the New Town and the Southside, all within a short walk of each other.
Each entry gives you what we could verify: the entry price where it is published, when the night ends, what the door wants and one honest reason to skip it. The basics first. Clubs close at 03:00, or two hours later at venues with a festival licence in August. Most nights cost £5–12, and some midweek nights are free. There is no metro, so walking and the Lothian NightBus are how you get between clubs and home. Rooms are small, from about 100 people at Sneaky Pete's to 800 at the Liquid Room, which means good nights sell out.
We ranked clubs on five things: sound, crowd, door, late licence and value. Sound means a room built for music rather than for photos. Crowd means people who came for the night, not just the last drink. Door means how easy it is to get in and what each venue asks of you. Late licence matters less here than elsewhere, because almost everything closes at 03:00, so we looked at how well each night uses its hours. Value compares the ticket with what you get. Every club has events listed for 2025 or 2026, and every price, time and address comes from the venue's own site or published listings. We do not sell tickets ourselves.
A room for about 100 people on the Cowgate, with house, techno and bass club nights after bands that start at 19:00. DJs such as Midland and Skream have played it, and some parties keep phones off the floor. Skip it if you dislike crowds: when it is full, there is barely room to move.
Two dancefloors in the arches under South Bridge, with Hectors House on Tuesdays, DICE on Thursdays, FLY Club on Fridays and Pleasure on most Saturdays. It has the steadiest house and techno week in the city. Skip it if low ceilings bother you, and check before you go: water damage has closed it at short notice.
The city's home of drum and bass, jungle, techno and dub, in a library basement on the Cowgate, with the Messenger Sound system playing since 1987. Nights run from 23:00 to 03:00 and most cost £5–12. Skip it if you want chart music or a smart bar.
Rebuilt after the 2002 Cowgate fire, it now holds about 600 people, with touring bands in the evening and themed club nights such as Off Campus from 23:00 to 03:00. It is the easy choice for a big, uncomplicated night with friends. Skip it if you want underground electronic music: the club nights lean towards pop and nostalgia.
An 800-capacity basement on Victoria Street, open since 1997, with gigs early and club nights from 22:30 to 03:00 from Thursday to Saturday. Thursday is indie night, and the weekend leans towards house and electronic music. Skip it if you want a small, intimate room.
Three floors of bare brick off the Cowgate, with a 350-capacity main room, two small rooms upstairs and club nights from 23:00 to 03:00 after the gigs. Expect techno, house and drum and bass, with strobes and haze. Skip it if you need step-free access: the upper rooms are more than 30 steps up.
Opened in September 2025 on Lothian Street by the teams behind Gilded Balloon, Kelburn Arts and Paradise Palms, it holds about 200 people and books house, techno and garage, with Like This on Saturdays. It is the newest serious club in the city. Skip it if you want a big room: it is built for 200.
The former Royal (Dick) vet school is now an arts centre, and Tierhaus brings nineties-rooted house to its old dissection room with installations and projections, from 21:00 to 03:00 and from £10. It is the most unusual room on this list. Skip it if you want a club every weekend: nights are occasional, so check the programme.
Four spaces on George Street, including an LED room, the Vault and a large outdoor beer garden, open Wednesday to Saturday from 22:30 to 03:00. It is the easiest big night out in the New Town, with VIP tables for groups. Skip it if you care who is DJing: the music is chart and party first.
Open 365 nights a year on Niddry Street, with two dancefloors of chart, cheese and indie, and free entry on its Tuesday and Wednesday nights. In August and over Christmas and Hogmanay it stays open until 05:00. Skip it if you want a curated line-up: people love it or hate it, and the playlist is exactly what you expect.
Plan the night around the Cowgate. Sneaky Pete's, the Bongo Club, Cabaret Voltaire, La Belle Angele and The Mash House sit within a few hundred metres of each other, so a second option is never more than a few minutes away. The Liquid Room and Hive are a short walk up into the Old Town, People's Leisure Club and Summerhall are south of the Cowgate, and Why Not is on George Street in the New Town, about fifteen minutes on foot from the Cowgate.
There is no metro, and the tram stops around midnight. Lothian NightBus runs from midnight to 04:30, with a £3.50 single or a £5.50 City LATE ticket that covers every Lothian bus and NightBus from 18:00. Most people simply walk between clubs. Mind the cobbles and the stairs: many of these rooms are basements.
Edinburgh rewards a short plan: pick a cluster, buy the one ticket that might sell out, and keep a second room within a few minutes' walk. For prices, transport and how the night runs from the first pint to 03:00, read our full Edinburgh nightlife guide. If you are still choosing where to drink before the club, our guide to Edinburgh nightlife by neighbourhood covers each area in turn. For ticketed nights and events, see NightFind tickets. Heading south afterwards? Manchester and London have bigger rooms.
It depends on the night you want. Sneaky Pete's for house and techno in a room of about 100, Cabaret Voltaire for a steady house and techno week, the Bongo Club for bass and dub, and the Liquid Room for big gigs and indie nights.
At 03:00. During the August festivals and over Christmas and Hogmanay, venues with a seasonal licence can trade two hours later; Hive, for example, runs until 05:00.
Usually £5–12. Examples: £5–12 at the Bongo Club, £8.80–11 for Off Campus at La Belle Angele and from £10 for Tierhaus at Summerhall. Hive is free on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The Cowgate, below South Bridge and George IV Bridge in the Old Town. Sneaky Pete's, the Bongo Club, Cabaret Voltaire, La Belle Angele and The Mash House are all on it or just off it.
Yes. Bring photo ID: doors check it, and some nights, for example some events at Cabaret Voltaire, are 21+.
