Nightlife
London after dark: burlesque, cabaret, late bars and what is genuinely still running. Several of the venues guides still recommend have closed, and the ticketing sites have not caught up.
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That last sentence is most of the reason this section exists. A closed venue keeps its listing, its reviews and often its booking page long after the doors have shut, and a lapsed domain is frequently the only public evidence that anything has changed at all.
London at night is the overview. Burlesque and the comedy clubs cover the rooms with a stage, the clubs the rooms without one, and karaoke the ones where you are the act.
Closing times are the number that matters most here, and they are taken from the venue rather than from an aggregator, because that is the detail deciding whether you are still out at two or looking for a night bus.
Heaven London: Open to 14s, and Nobody Agrees on the Hours
Gigs admit 14-year-olds with an adult, and start at 6pm. Three listing sites give three different sets of club hours.
XOYO London: Reopened, and Why One Saturday Means Two Nights
Reopened on 8 October 2026 after a rebuild. Day Events and Night Events run separately on the same date.
Ministry of Sound: What a Table Actually Buys You
A table includes entry, a private entrance, private toilets and its own smoking area. Two events often run on one Saturday.
fabric London: The Club That Bans Suits
Business suits, flags and glow wear are all refused. ID is scanned, and you will not be banned for saying you feel unwell.
Annabel’s London: Opening Hours, and Where the Dress Code Actually Is
Open from 7.30am on weekdays. The dress code is an off-site PDF, which is why nobody can find it.
Oriole Charges £4 for Live Music on a Tuesday and £18 on a Saturday
The bands are not the variable in London's live music bars. The cover charge is, and it swings by a factor of four and a half across one week in the same room. Big Easy, with music every day across three sites, charges nothing at all.
Comedy Clubs in London: The Night of the Week Sets the Price
The same club, the same bill, four nights apart: 7.50 pounds on a Thursday booked ahead, 24 on a Saturday at the door. Three clubs checked at source, including the free one running seven nights a week.
Karaoke in London: What the Private Rooms Actually Cost
Five pounds a head, twelve pounds a head, thirty five pounds a head, and one of Europe's largest venues declining to say. Four chains checked at source, and why their prices do not compare.
The Best Clubs in London: Where to Actually Go
London clubbing splits into table clubs and music-led rooms. Door policies, ages and last entry quoted from the venues, plus one big name that is shut.
Practical guides
1 guide
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Questions we get asked
Does the London Underground run all night?
Six lines do, and only on Friday and Saturday nights: the Central, Jubilee, Northern, Piccadilly, Victoria and Windrush. Three of those six do not run their whole route, which is where people get caught, because the line is on the map and the branch is not.
Which part of London is best for a night out?
Soho for bars and walking between them, Shoreditch for late licences and music, Mayfair for expensive rooms with doors. The practical difference is transport: Soho is walkable to almost everything central, Shoreditch is not.
Do London clubs have guest lists?
The ones with doors do, and a guest list is usually the difference between walking in and not getting in at all. It rarely costs anything. Arriving before 11pm is the other thing that works.