Dortmund
It's really a civilised cocktail bar, but on Borussia Dortmund game days, the black-and-white floors are flooded by a sea of yellow and black, the team…
Must-see nightlife in Germany
Koblenz
Specialising in Rhine and Moselle wines by the glass and/or bottle, rustic Alte Weinstube Zum Hubertus occupies a half-timbered house dating from 1689,…
Schleswig-Holstein
Drink among the dunes in this large grass-roofed beach shack for the elite. Yes there's a fine restaurant, but the real reason to come is for that selfie…
Thuringian Forest & the Saale Valley
Jena's students and bohos are naturally drawn to Grünowksi's uberchilled vibe and the soul-warming food that issues from its kitchen. Inside it's full of…
Hanover
A Hanover institution, this sprawling brewpub makes a refreshing unfiltered pilsner called Hannöversch. A party atmosphere reigns nightly, helped along by…
Neukölln
On the northern edge of the vast Tempelhofer Feld, a former airfield-turned-public park, this is one of Berlin’s loveliest beer gardens. Kick back with a…
Munich
One of Munich's nicest beer-garden oases, this one pumps Spaten beer to 2500 drinkers under shady chestnuts. There are idyllic views of the Isar valley…
Freiburg
What a find this mulberry-hued wine and cocktail bar is, with its cushion-strewn nooks and candlelit tables. It does a head-spinning range of wines and…
Stuttgart
Once a public toilet, this not-so-very-palatial kiosk-bar now offers a very different kind of piss-up. Everyone from students to bankers has a soft spot…
Munich
This sprawling place has a less raucous atmosphere and superior food to the usual offerings. Altogether it’s a much more authentic example of an old-style…
Swabian Alps Region
There’s rarely an empty table at this wine shop and tavern beside the Rathaus. It's a convivial place to enjoy regional and international wines (choose…
Regensburg
Kneitinger is Regensburg's local beer and there's no better place to head in the city for some hearty home cooking, delicious house suds and outrageous…
St Pauli & Reeperbahn
Vinyl and only vinyl spins at this treasure of a music bar. Nightly themes range from ska and rocksteady to '60s garage punk and hip hop. Order a Helga,…
Stuttgart
Toast to summer with beer and pretzels at Stuttgart’s best-loved, 2000-seat beer garden in the green heart of the Schlossgarten. Regular live music on…
Stuttgart
When the sun comes out, Stuttgarters live it up at this urban beach, complete with sand, cabana beds, DJs spinning mellow lounge beats and grandstand city…
Regensburg & the Danube
This unmissable brewpub is half museum, half tavern with oodles of brewing knick-knacks lining the walls. The house beer comes in wheat, dark and Helles…
St Pauli & Reeperbahn
The Beatles' small first venue is open again and has live acts some nights. The interior is vastly different from the 1960s and there is a fine beer…
St Pauli & Reeperbahn
This legendary indie club still rocks on as hot 'n heavy as ever after moving to new digs when its old location was torn down.
Kreuzberg
This ‘kitty’ is naughty, sexy and decadent, listens to electro of all stripes and fancies extravagant get-ups (or nothing at all). Berlin’s most (in…
Kreuzberg
This legendary club began as an artist squat in the early 1970s and soon evolved into Berlin’s seminal punk venue, known for wild concerts by the Dead…
City West & Charlottenburg
In business for over a century, this Old Berlin haunt was taken over by German heavyweight champion Franz Diener in the 1950s and became one of West…
Berlin
Expect a wild night of erotic partying in this 19th-century ballroom-turned-deliciously decadent Berlin nightlife fixture. With its international DJs,…
Berlin
This 'House by the Lake' is nowhere near anything liquid, unless you count the massive amount of beverages consumed at its multitasking all-hours cafe-bar…
Friedrichshain
Conversation flows as freely as the unfiltered pilsner, malty Dunkel (dark) and fruity Weizen (wheat) produced right here at one of Berlin's oldest craft…
Kreuzberg
This classic beer garden in idyllic Viktoriapark draws a changing cast of characters all day long: families in the daytime (there’s an adjacent playground…
Cologne
This beautifully restored 19th-century pub draws a crowd knocking back their Kölsch in a web of highly individualistic nooks, including a little 'chapel'…
Friedrichshain
This low-key club in a former workers' bathhouse on the RAW grounds delivers with eclectic bathhouse-themed decor (check out the golden tub), cheap drinks…
Berlin
Charlie Sheen finds his fictitious alter ego in the classily unpretentious Sharlie Cheen bar. Sharlie’s apocryphal story is told in cute anecdotes…
Friedrichshain
Part of the Berghain complex, this well-equipped ‘lab’ has plenty of toys and rooms for advanced male sexual experimentation in what looks like the engine…
Mainz
Hefty ceiling beams and a bar made from recycled timbers blend the old and new at this hip little drinking den. Over 300 infused spirits are used in its…
Berlin
The 'dream factory' of Anomalie breaks down the boundaries between club, culture and food in a former car repair shop-turned-arty playground far off the…
Neukölln
In the warmer months, vibes, views and sounds are the ammo of this club-garden-bar combo on the rooftop parking deck of the Neukölln Arcaden shopping mall…
Kreuzberg
A big stylised painting of Harry Johnson, whose 1882 bartenders’ manual is still the profession’s ‘bible’, keeps an eye on imbibers at this neighbourhood…
Cologne
Bootshaus is the offshoot of Warehouse, one of Cologne's oldest techno clubs (1991) and regularly hosts DJ royalty such as David Guetta, Ellen Allien and…
Moselle Valley
Occupying a 1547 half-timbered building in the little village of Hatzenport, wonderfully local Weinhaus Ibald specialises in Rieslings, sparkling Spätlese…
Prenzlauer Berg
Once upon a time there was (is) a bar in Berlin that whisked you into a cabinet of curiosities with bewitchingly costumed staff and a 'talking' drinks…
Berlin
This buzzy restaurant-bar combo owned by Dieter Meier, one half of the 1980s Swiss proto-techno duo Yello, is always packed with beautiful people keen on…
Bavaria
There are seven varieties of beer on offer at the monks’ beer hall and garden, from the rich and velvety Doppelbock Dunkel to the fruity unfiltered…
Berlin
Cradled by student housing, this earthy microbrewery is a beloved neighbourhood spot with a woodsy cellar pub and chestnut-canopied beer garden. Aside…
Friedrichshain
Behind the brick walls of the graffiti-festooned RAW Gelände hides this ingenious urban beach club with industrial charm and Med flair. At its heart is a…
