The night’s still young in London — here’s where to go

Detailed summary

The best after-hours spots for dancing, drinking and soaking up all the booze

We’ve all heard the same old tropes that London’s nightlife is not what it used to be...

Yet as party season kicks into high gear, a new wave of late-night bars, offbeat restaurants and gritty underground clubs is proving the naysayers spectacularly wrong.

Whether you are hunting for a 36-hour techno marathon in Canning Town, a no-frills singalong in Dalston, or a brush with celebrity in a basement Soho dive, the capital still knows how to throw a proper party after midnight.

Because knowing where to head once the pub lights come up is half the battle, we have come up with the ultimate after-hours survival guide for the festive season and beyond.

From freshly pedestrianised central hotspots to late-night bowling alleys, here is where to keep dancing, drinking and refuelling until dawn.

Cool people don’t dance in Soho anymore and that’s a fact. But if there is one place we will make an exception for it’s teeny tiny Trisha’s, with its live band, chequered table cloths and 2x2m smoking area. You’ll probably meet a celebrity but please, dear god, play it cool.

Trendy new nightclub Lost — the most exciting thing to happen to central London nightlife in the last 10 years — returns this month in a new Oxford Street location, just in time for you to stumble down the freshly pedestrianised streets without fear of being mowed down by a bus.

Sometimes dancing in London is not about optimisation but slightly unsexy realism: where is open late, unticketed, and — the thing that no one wants to say but everyone secretly craves — where can I hear music I know the lyrics to? This place is your answer to all three. Plus it’s £5-10 entry and has vodka slushies.

One for the more electronic-minded — this gritty little venue hosts off-kilter DJs and producers who are just the right amount of weird.

Opening of the article, excerpted from Evening Standard. To read the rest, open the article on the publisher's site.