Nights out

Citorah PickBar · El Born

Paradiso

Citorah says The speakeasy behind a pastrami shop.

Citorah PickBar · El Raval

Boadas

Citorah says The oldest cocktail bar in Barcelona, opened on 22 August 1933 on Carrer Tallers.

Citorah PickBar · Eixample

Dry Martini

Citorah says Founded in 1978. It's open from 1 PM to 2.30 AM Monday to Thursday, and until 3 AM on Fridays and Saturdays.

Citorah PickBar · El Raval

Two Schmucks

Citorah says No. 7 on the World's 50 Best Bars in 2022.

Citorah PickClub · Poblenou

Razzmatazz

Citorah says Razzmatazz is in Poblenou: five rooms in two former factories, all on one ticket.

Citorah PickBeach club

CDLC

Citorah says CDLC (Carpe Diem Lounge Club) is a restaurant-club, more restaurant with a DJ than a full club.

Citorah PickClub

Lux Frágil

Best for one proper club night in Lisbon

Citorah says Lux Frágil is Lisbon's internationally serious club — a multi-level space on the river in the Santa Apolónia area, with a rooftop terrace overlooking the Tagus, a main electronic floor, and an upstairs bar. It has been the city's flagship for decades and still books the lineups that justify the reputation.

Citorah PickClub

Ministerium

Citorah says Ministerium, near Praça do Comércio, is the other serious electronic room — a clean, well-programmed club in a grand old building by the river. Less mythologised than Lux, consistently good.

Citorah PickBar · Cais do Sodré

Pensão Amor

Citorah says Pensão Amor — a former brothel turned bar, lavishly decorated, the most characterful room on the street.

Citorah PickClub · Cais do Sodré

Discoteca Jamaica

Citorah says Discoteca Jamaica — a long-running, gloriously unpretentious club that has outlasted every trend; it moved off the street in 2022 and is now a short walk away on the Cais do Gás riverfront.

Citorah PickRooftop bar · Bairro Alto

Park

Citorah says Park is the rooftop bar Lisbon locals send you to, partly for the bar and partly for the joke of finding it. It sits on the top floor of a multi-storey car park in Bairro Alto — you walk into what looks like an ordinary parking garage, take the lift to the top, and step out into a leafy terrace bar with a long view over the city to the river and the 25 de Abril bridge.

Citorah PickRooftop bar · Avenida Liberdade

Sky Bar

Citorah says The Sky Bar on top of the Tivoli on Avenida da Liberdade is the city's polished rooftop standard — cocktails, a DJ, a view down the grand boulevard. Smart crowd, central, busy on weekend nights.

Citorah PickClub

Fabric

Citorah says Fabric, in Farringdon, is the London club with international name recognition, and it has earned the longevity. Three rooms, the famous bodysonic dancefloor that vibrates with the bass, serious electronic programming.

Citorah PickClub

Drumsheds

Citorah says Drumsheds, in Tottenham, is the warehouse-scale venue that has become the home of London's biggest electronic events — a genuinely enormous space (a former IKEA) running marquee day-and-night bookings. It's the closest London has to a festival-scale club.

The catch It's lineup-led, not a drop-in

Citorah PickClub

Ministry of Sound

Citorah says Ministry of Sound in Elephant & Castle has been going since 1991 and still has one of the best sound systems in the country in its main room. More commercial than Fabric on some nights, serious on others.

The catch More commercial than Fabric on some nights

Citorah PickClub

Phonox

Citorah says Phonox in Brixton is a single-room club with a long-resident-led booking policy — the crowd is there for the music.

Citorah PickClub

FOLD

Citorah says The further-underground tier — FOLD in Canning Town (no-photos, all-night policy), Venue MOT in south Bermondsey, and the rotating basement clubs of Dalston. This is where London nightlife is most itself.

Citorah PickClub

Venue MOT

Citorah says The further-underground tier — FOLD in Canning Town (no-photos, all-night policy), Venue MOT in south Bermondsey, and the rotating basement clubs of Dalston. This is where London nightlife is most itself.

Citorah PickBeach club · Isla Mujeres

Zama Beach Club

Best for a proper setup

Citorah says If you want a proper setup, Zama Beach Club is a short taxi ride down the west coast at Sac Bajo, with loungers from 600 MXN a day for two (food and drink extra).