10 Best Party Cities In The US With The Best Nightlife

Last Updated on 21st July 2023

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10 Best Nightlife Cities In The US - Top Party Cities

Looking for the best party cities in the US to experience fun nightlife and partying? You’ve come to the right place!

I’ve been lucky enough to visit some of the best nightlife places in the world, including London , Prague, Ibiza, Bangkok, Mexico and more and after our 3-month trip around America, I’m now in the position to recommend some of the best party cities in the US as well!

From the dazzling rooftop bars of New York City to the eclectic hotel casinos on the Las Vegas Strip, the United States certainly doesn’t shy away from partying.

If you’re planning a trip to the States and want to ensure that you visit as many of the best party cities in the US for partying as possible, you’ve come to the right place! Below, I’ve compiled a list of the best cities for nightlife in the USA that are perfect for drinking, dancing and generally partying the night away!

As I haven’t been to every city in the US, I can only recommend the cities with the best nightlife in the USA that I’ve actually been to, which is why this post is currently just a top 10 list and not a completely exhaustive list of every single party city in the US!

10 best party cities in the US summary

Las Vegas, Nevada
Austin, Texas
New York City, New York
Miami, Florida
Savannah, Georgia,
Los Angeles, California
San Diego, California
San Francisco, California
Chicago, Illinois
New Orleans, Louisiana

1. Las Vegas – best party cities in the US

1. Las Vegas - best nightlife cities in the US

I had to start this post about the best nightlife cities in the US with the absolute best place for partying; Fabulous Las Vegas!

Las Vegas is very much a place that people either love or hate and after spending three days there over Matt’s birthday in February 2022, I was delighted to discover that we both very much loved it.

Sure, I can totally see why people don’t like it; it’s loud, it’s garish and in some instances, quite frankly tacky. But it’s also an absolutely incredible place that’s home to some truly amazing restaurants, fantastic bars, fancy casinos and other fascinating attractions.

Las Vegas is definitely more of a party city if you’re heading there for at least a few days, rather than just a random night out, and I’m a firm believer that it’s a city that can be enjoyed by almost everyone, no matter what kind of vibe you’re after.

Whether you’re looking to enjoy a tasteful (pun intended) meal at the likes of Bazaar Meat, CUT by Wolfgang Puck or Gordan Ramsey’s Pub & Grill or you want to head “out-out” and explore Vegas’ most daring nightlife attractions, this eclectic city has it all.

Not only is Las Vegas one of the best nightlife cities in the US, but it’s arguably one of the best party cities in the world as party-goers from all over fly into Vegas to experience an epic weekend of partying, boozing and gambling!

Best places for Las Vegas nightlife:

Omnia at Caesars Palace
Bellagio Hotel & Casino
Hakkasan at MGM Grand

2. Austin

In terms of nightlife and partying, Austin is my favourite party town in the USA! While I wasn’t particularly overwhelmed by its sights or attractions during the day, it’s like an entirely different place when night falls and we had tremendous amounts of fun partying in Austin.

There are several areas in the city that are awesome for nightlife, in particular 6th Street, where you’ll find dozens of Western-themed bars, various nightclubs and even food places with their very own dancefloor!

We also watched the Superbowl in Austin at a place called Happy Chicks which serves delicious fried chicken and great cocktails and beer! 6th Street is definitely the place to hang out in Austin if you’re looking for a fun party scene.

Rainey Street is another place in Austin that offers some of the best nightlife in the USA. With quirky restaurants, little pop-up bars and many awesome clubs, we absolutely loved Rainey Street!

Best places for Austin nightlife:

Buck Wild Bar (East 6th Street in general)
Rainey Street
Space 24 Twenty

3. New York

A night out in New York City certainly won’t be cheap, but it will likely be one of the best nightlife scenes you’ll experience in America. It’s also one of the biggest party cities in the US, with hundreds of bars and clubs to dance the night away in!

We spent one month living in NYC and experienced many a night out in the city that never sleeps. Our apartment was in the East Village and on our second night in the city, we joined a local bar crawl which was so awesome!

The East Village definitely has some of the best bars and pubs, so if you’re after a more chilled-out night out that’s more synonymous with a bar crawl, head to this awesome neighbourhood and check out bars such as Doc Holliday’s and The Library Bar (these were some of our favourites while living in New York)!

If proper nightclubs are more your vibe, midtown is where you’ll find many of the city’s best rooftop bars and bouncing nightclubs. My favourite rooftop bar in the city is 230 Fifth, which is where we enjoyed a very boozy bottomless brunch on Christmas Day in 2021!

You’ll definitely spend a decent amount of money by going “out-out” in New York, but it’s undoubtedly one of the best party cities in the US!

Best places for New York nightlife:

230 Fifth
East Village (this whole neighbourhood is awesome for nightlife and we actually lived here for a month at the start of 2022!)
Le Bain, The Standard

4. Miami – the best party cities in the US

I loved Miami way more than I ever thought I would and while the weather gets far too hot for my liking (even in February when we were there!), it’s still one of my favourite nightlife cities in the US.

Miami Beach, particularly South Beach, is where it’s at for nightlife in the city as there are dozens of incredible pubs, bars, nightclubs and even restaurants that put on a show on an evening.

Ocean Drive is a long road that’s home to some of Miami’s best bars and clubs and it’s also highly recognisable for its fantastic, luxury hotels.

Lincoln Road is another “strip” in Miami Beach that has some great bars and restaurants which is definitely more laid-back than Ocean Drive, but still incredibly cool and fun. If you have time while you’re in Miami, I’d recommend spending one night partying on Ocean Drive and one evening enjoying the more relaxed vibes of Lincoln Road.

In Downtown Miami, Bayside Marketplace is an incredibly cool place to hang out with cocktail bars such as Fat Tuesday serving up the most delicious frozen cocktails. In the evening, there’s also tonnes of live music and many other bars serving yummy drinks and food, so it’s a great place to experience even more of Miami’s best nightlife.

Best places for Miami nightlife:

Lincoln Road
Ocean Drive
Time Out Market Miami

5. Savannah

We didn’t technically go “out-out” in Savannah at night, but as we were there on a Saturday, we decided to spend the afternoon/evening exploring some of the city’s best chilled-out bars.

Pour Larry’s is definitely the coolest place to hang out in Savannah if you’re wanting to experience the fun and quirky nightlife. It’s essentially a very cool bar with tonnes of giant games to play with friends, such as Connect 4, Jenga, beer pong and so much more. The drinks here are also pretty cheap, especially if you visit while they’re offering one of their many deals and it’s just such a fun place in Savannah.

Aside from Pour Larry’s, there are also plenty of other cool places to experience some of the best nightlife in the US in Savannah and while it’s definitely less lively than the likes of Miami or Las Vegas, you’ll still find plenty of awesome bars to hang out in.

Just around the corner from Pour Larry’s, you’ll find Wet Willie’s which serves awesome cocktails and there’s also a Fat Tuesday franchise which we first discovered in Miami and then continued to enjoy in Las Vegas.

Best places for Savannah nightlife:

Pour Larry’s
Savannah Taphouse
The area between Franklin Square and Ellis Square (you’ll find tonnes of bars around here)

6. Los Angeles

The city of Los Angeles is so incredibly vast that I think you could spend an entire year going out every single night and you still wouldn’t scratch the surface of its nightlife scene!

We didn’t party too much in LA, largely because we were driving around the city most of the time (due to its immense size!), but we could tell where the partying vibes were at their best while exploring the city.

West Hollywood is famously one of the best places in LA for nightlife and if you’re lucky, you may even spot a few celebrities!

Venice Beach was one of my favourite places in the city during the day, but it’s also awesome at night for bars, restaurants and clubs and again, it’s a frequent hotspot for some of LA’s most prestigious celebrities, so you know that you’ll be in the right places!

In the Downtown area of Los Angeles, you’ll find a much more relaxed night-out vibe, but there are still plenty of places to hang out if you want to experience some of the best nightlife in the US.

Best places for Los Angeles nightlife:

Venice Beach/Santa Monica
Downtown LA
West Hollywood

7. San Diego – best party cities in the US

Comprising an area of approximately 16 blocks, the Gaslamp Quarter in San Diego makes it one of the best nightlife cities in the US.

There are dozens of bars, clubs and restaurants to enjoy in the Gaslamp Quarter and on Friday and Saturday nights, you’ll find that the party spills out onto the streets where you’ll find everyone having a great time, even if they’re not in an actual club or bar!

The Prohibition Room is a cool and quirky place to hang out in San Diego at night thanks to its 1930s vibe and funky cocktails and Onyx Nightclub is the perfect place for late-night partygoers thanks to its eclectic mix of music and various resident DJs.

Best places for San Diego nightlife:

Gaslamp Quarter
Hodad’s (for great food and chilled-out vibes)
Onyx Nightclub

8. San Francisco

San Francisco is probably my second favourite city in the US after New York and I loved everything about it from the food to the people to the culture to its incredible nightlife scene.

SF’s Mission District is one of the top places in the city if you’re looking for old-style bars, whereas the area around Union Square is home to some awesome cocktail bars.

We also loved the area around North Beach and while you won’t find too many nightclubs around here, it’s such a great, chilled-out place that’s perfect for bar-hopping.

Best places for San Francisco nightlife:

Mission District
North Beach
Union Square

9. Chicago

Unfortunately, we didn’t get the chance to experience too much of Chicago’s nightlife as I caught the dreaded Coronarvius while we were there, so it’s definitely somewhere I need to go back to one day for “research” purposes!.

From what we did see of Chicago’s nightlife scene, the area around Lincoln Park is definitely one of the top hotspots in the city.

Wicker Park is also famed for its bustling nightlife scene, with dozens of trendy bars, eclectic nightclubs and plenty of quirky pubs. There really is something for everyone to enjoy at night in this neighbourhood, so whether you want to pull an all-nighter and party in a club until the early hours or you’d prefer something a bit more sophisticated such as a relaxed bar crawl, you can be sure there’s something for everyone.

Best places for Chicago nightlife:

Wicker Park
Lincoln Park
Magnificent Mile

10. New Orleans – best party cities in the US

New Orleans - best nightlife cities in the US

While New Orleans will likely be featured near the very top of most lists of the best nightlife cities in the US, I personally didn’t have the best experience when it came to partying in the Louisiana city.

Don’t get me wrong, I can totally see why it’s usually listed as one of the best party places in the USA as it’s home to so many awesome bars, but it’s also a place that I just didn’t feel super safe in at night.

Bourbon Street and Frenchmen Street in particular are where the nightlife is at in NOLA as there are so many awesome bars, street performers and musicians to be found at every turn. It has the potential to be an incredible place to party, but it also has a bit of a seedy and dodgy side that we experienced while we were there and it kind of left a sour taste in my mouth.

However, you’ll know if you’ve read any of my posts about Bali that I’m all for encouraging people to visit places and form their own opinions, I just always like to give my two cents worth as well!

Best places for New Orleans nightlife: