Where to Stay in London for the Best Nightlife

London doesn’t really switch off. Pick the right neighbourhood to stay in and a good night out is a short walk from your front door. Get it wrong and you’ll spend half the evening in the back of a cab. Here’s how the main areas actually compare.

Soho and the West End

Soho is the obvious one, and for good reason. Bars, late restaurants, theatres and clubs are packed into a few busy streets, and things keep going well past midnight. If it’s your first time and you’re not sure which corner suits you, it’s worth a look at London Guide UK before you book anything.

Shoreditch and the East

Head east for a younger, scruffier, more independent crowd. Shoreditch and Hackney are all about rooftop bars, live music and people who treat a Tuesday like the weekend. It’s rougher round the edges than the West End. Honestly, that’s the appeal.

Mayfair and Knightsbridge

Want something smarter? Mayfair and Knightsbridge are where London gets dressed up: members’ clubs, serious restaurants and quiet, expensive little rooms you have to know about in advance. The people at Lamplit London are good at tracking those places down and writing up the openings worth your time. If you’re after more ideas, our piece on a late summer night out is worth a look.

So which one?

It depends what you’re after. Stay central and everything’s on your doorstep. Go east if you like finding a place before everyone else does. Pick the west if you want a bit of polish. Either way, London will keep you out later than you meant to be.

South of the river

South London tends to get overlooked by first-time visitors, which is exactly why it’s worth a mention. Vauxhall and Brixton have a nightlife scene that’s grown up around genuine local demand rather than tourism, with clubs that run properly late and a food scene that’s every bit as good as anything north of the Thames. Prices tend to be gentler here too, which matters if you’re staying somewhere longer than a weekend. The trade-off is transport. Once the Tube stops, getting back across the river takes a bit more planning, so it’s worth checking night bus routes or budgeting for a cab before you head out.

Camden deserves its own mention as well. It’s touristy in the early evening around the market, but it turns into something else entirely after nine, with live music venues that have hosted just about every major British band at some point and a slightly rougher, more alternative crowd than you’ll find in the West End. If your idea of a good night involves actual live bands rather than a DJ set, this is probably the part of town to base yourself in.

Booking a place to stay

Once you’ve picked an area, book earlier than feels necessary. The good small hotels and serviced apartments in Soho and Shoreditch get snapped up months ahead for weekends, especially over summer. If flexibility matters more to you than being in the absolute centre of things, staying a couple of Tube stops out and taking a ten minute ride into whichever area you fancy that night often works out cheaper without losing much in convenience.

Whichever area wins out, keep your options open for at least one night rather than planning every hour in advance. Some of the best evenings in London come from wandering into a bar you hadn’t heard of because it was the one with the queue outside.

If you enjoyed this, our guide to The Ultimate Guide to a Stag Do in London is well worth a read too.