Cape Town - Bars & Nightlife
- Nearby guides:
- Johannesburg
- Guangzhou
- Rio de Janeiro
- Hurghada, Luxor and Marsa Alam
- Sharm el-Sheikh
- Riyadh
- Cairo
- Eilat
- São Paulo
- Doha
- Other guides in South Africa:
- Johannesburg
- More
Cape Town has the most exciting nightlife in South Africa. Long Street, in the city centre, is the city’s main nightlife strip and is packed with music bars, late night cafes and dance clubs. The V&A Waterfront also boasts several excellent live jazz venues.
Club Hemisphere
The newest and trendiest cocktail bar and dance club is the place to see and be seen and is at its liveliest on Friday and Saturday nights. Get there early to watch the sunset over the city. Strict dress code: no trainers or T-shirts. Reduced admission charge for women. Starts to warm up around 21:00.
Mama Africa
African music with drummers and dancers every evening from 20:00. Also serves burgers and grills, but the performers are the main attraction.
Manenberg’s Jazz Café
This is one of Cape Town’s most authentic venues for African and international jazz musicians.
Grand West Casino
Vast, glitzy casino and entertainment complex with multiple bars and restaurants, cinemas, Las Vegas-style cabaret shows and a luxury hotel.
Fiction
Extremely cool lounge/DJ bar playing the latest independent, off-centre dance sounds in the heart of Cape Town’s nightlife district.
Opium
This huge club with two lounges, three dance floors and an outside terrace attracts top DJs from the world’s coolest nightlife destinations.
Rhodes House
Probably Cape Town’s poshest nightspot, housed in a stylish mansion which was once the home of arch-colonialist Cecil John Rhodes. The clientele here are rich, stylish, or beautiful (sometimes all three) so dress to impress and bring a well-stuffed wallet or a major credit card.
Kennedy’s & Dubliners
Two venues in one: Kennedy’s, upstairs, is a stylish, upmarket jazz venue which attracts well-known local and international performers. Dubliners, downstairs, is a middle-of-the-road Irish theme bar with a resident folk band playing all the old foot-tapping favourites.
Bascule
The waterside terrace of the Cape Grace Hotel’s trendy, relaxed cocktail bar is the perfect place to watch the sun set over Table Mountain.
