Vienna nightlife by neighbourhood: the Danube Canal, Innere Stadt, Gürtel arches, Praterstern, Neubau and the U4 line, with venues, night transport and where to stay.
Vienna nightlife is spread across a handful of very different neighbourhoods, and choosing the right one matters more than choosing a single venue. The Danube Canal holds the techno and drum and bass clubs. The Innere Stadt does cocktails and dress-up clubs inside the Ring. Leopoldstadt has Praterstern and a club that bills itself as the largest in Austria. The Gürtel fills its railway arches with cheap music bars, Neubau and Mariahilf are where the evening starts, and the U4 line leads to two local favourites in Margareten and Meidling. This guide covers each area: what it feels like, which venues to know, how to get there and home, and who it suits. Every area sits on a U-Bahn line, and at weekends the trains run all night.
The Danube Canal is the most important stretch of the city for club music, and it is easy to reach: the U4 runs along it from Spittelau to Schwedenplatz. At the northern end, Grelle Forelle and Das Werk stand side by side on Spittelauer Lände, a few minutes on foot from U4 and U6 Spittelau. Grelle Forelle is the polished one, with two floors, techno and house on Friday and Saturday from 23:00 to 06:00 and a 21+ door that does not allow photos. Das Werk, in the old Stadtbahn arches next door, is rougher and harder, with local crews running techno from 23:00, usually on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.
Three U4 stops further along at Schottenring, Flex has occupied a disused U-Bahn tunnel at the Augartenbrücke since 1995. The club programme centres on drum and bass, with concerts earlier in the evening, and many nights cost around €12 in advance or €15 at the door. In summer the canal bank in front becomes a terrace, and further along, beach bars set up on the water; they close for winter, and Strandbar Herrmann reopens in April. This is the area for people who go out for the music. It does not suit anyone who wants a cocktail list or a dress code, and the 21+ rule at Grelle Forelle is checked at the door.
Inside the Ring, the night is older and smarter. Loos American Bar, designed by Adolf Loos in 1908, sits in the Kärntner Durchgang a few minutes from Stephansplatz. It covers 27 square metres, opens daily from 12:00 to 04:00 and asks for elegant casual dress, so leave the backpack and the flip-flops at the hotel. Behind the cathedral on Bäckerstraße, Kleinod Prunkstück pours cocktails to funk, soul and house until 04:00 from Thursday to Saturday, with a 21+ door. For beer, 1516 Brewing Company near the Opera brews its own and serves food until 01:30.
The two clubs here are very different. Volksgarten sits inside the park on the Burgring, in a dance café that Oswald Haerdtl rebuilt after the war. It plays house, disco and party records from Thursday to Saturday, 23:00 to 06:00, charges €18 in cash at the door and admits over-21s only. Sass Music Club on Karlsplatz is electronic, with a crystal light installation and an afterhour on Sunday from 06:00 to 11:00. The Innere Stadt is central and four of the five U-Bahn lines run through it, but it is the most expensive part of the night and the crowd is more polished than anywhere else on this list.
Cross the canal into the second district and the night changes again. Flucc sits directly on Praterstern, where the U1 and U2 meet. It turned a pedestrian underpass into the Flucc_Wanne club and built a café and stage directly above it, and its programme runs from techno and hip hop to noise rock and art openings. Many events are free, and it publishes a safer space policy. It is the easiest place in the city to stumble into something unexpected.
A five-minute walk into the Prater brings you to Prater DOME on Riesenradplatz, by the Giant Ferris Wheel. It bills itself as Austria's largest club, with three floors and twelve bars, and plays everything from EDM and techno to R'n'B and 2000s hits on Friday, Saturday and nights before holidays, 23:00 to 06:00. The door is 18+, the cloakroom is €3, and sportswear and team merchandise are refused. For a drink with a view first, Das Loft is on the 18th floor at Praterstraße 1, 74 metres up, just across the canal from Schwedenplatz. Leopoldstadt suits groups with mixed tastes. Skip it if you only want techno, because the canal does that better.
The Gürtel is the ring road on the western side of the centre, and the U6 runs above it on the old Stadtbahn viaduct. The arches underneath are full of bars and music venues, and it is the city's best area for a cheap, loud night that does not need planning. Chelsea, in arches 29 and 30 on the Lerchenfelder Gürtel, plays Britpop, punk and indie, puts bands on stage, shows football and opens every day from 18:00 to 04:00. The Loft, near U6 Thaliastraße, stacks a café, a bar and a basement club on three floors, with club nights from €6 to €18.
Two U6 stops further on, B72 sits in arches 72 and 73 at U6 Alser Straße, with indie and alternative concerts and weekend club nights from 20:00 to 04:00. The easiest way to do the Gürtel is to ride the U6 and get off at Thaliastraße, Josefstädter Straße or Alser Straße. It is the place for students, live music fans and anyone on a budget. It is not the place for a quiet drink or a dress-up night, and most bars close at 04:00, earlier than the canal clubs.
The seventh and sixth districts, around the MuseumsQuartier and Mariahilfer Straße, are where many locals start the evening. Dachboden, on the top floor of the 25hours Hotel by U2/U3 Volkstheater, looks across to the buildings on the Ring, has DJs on Friday evenings and takes no reservations. It closes at 01:00, so treat it as a first stop. On Esterházygasse, Barfly’s Club has reopened inside the Hotel Josefine with more than 400 cocktails, green marble and brass, and stays open until 03:00 on Friday and Saturday.
For dancing, Donau hides behind an unmarked grey metal door on Karl-Schweighofer-Gasse. It is a techno bar rather than a full club, with projections on the walls, a sausage stand inside and DJs from Wednesday to Saturday; Friday and Saturday run until 06:00. Neubau and Mariahilf suit couples and small groups who want good drinks and one late room without crossing the city. Not for you if you want a big club with a headline booking.
Head south-west on the U4 for two of the city's more local nights. Celeste, on Hamburgerstraße near Kettenbrückengasse and the end of the Naschmarkt, is a bar and club with sessions and jazz in the week and parties to 06:00 at the weekend. Further out, U4 sits on Schönbrunner Straße at Meidling Hauptstraße. It opened in 1980, was a second living room for Falco and once hosted an unannounced Prince after-show. Today it is a student and party club from Tuesday to Saturday, 22:00 to 06:00, with nights from €5 to €15 and a free student Tuesday before midnight.
These two districts are for people who want to see how the city goes out when there are no visitors around. The downside is distance: U4 sits near the far end of the line from the canal clubs, so pick one end and stay there for the night.
On Friday and Saturday nights and before public holidays the U-Bahn runs all night every 15 minutes, which ties all six areas together. On other nights the trains stop around midnight and 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. Weeknights are when a taxi starts to make sense.
For a nightlife weekend, stay near a U-Bahn line rather than in a particular district. Neubau and Mariahilf, along the U3, put you within walking distance of Dachboden, Donau and Barfly’s Club and one change from the canal. The streets around Schwedenplatz in the Innere Stadt sit on the U1 and U4 and next to a NightLine hub, so you can reach Flex, Flucc and Spittelau quickly. Browse places to stay in Vienna close to the nightlife and check how far you are from the nearest station before you book.
For closing times, prices and door rules across the city, read the full Vienna nightlife guide. If you only have one night and want to dance, start with our ranking of the 10 best clubs in Vienna.
The Danube Canal for clubs, with Grelle Forelle, Das Werk and Flex all on the U4. For bars, the Gürtel is cheaper and louder, and the Innere Stadt is smarter and more expensive.
The Gürtel arches, Neubau and Mariahilf, Praterstern for Flucc, and the canal clubs. Margareten and Meidling, along the U4, have the fewest visitors.
The ring road west of the centre, where the U6 runs on the old Stadtbahn viaduct. The arches underneath hold bars and venues such as Chelsea and B72, and The Loft stands nearby.
Neubau or Mariahilf on the U3, or near Schwedenplatz on the U1 and U4. Both are a short ride from the canal clubs and close to NightLine hubs.
The central districts and the U-Bahn are busy until late at weekends. Use normal city sense around the big stations late at night, keep your drink with you, and use a licensed taxi or app rather than an unmarked car.
