Today is the first full day of the festival of lights, Chanukah (see also spelling Hanukah, Hannukah, and well 17 other ways). To commemorate the Maccabees revolt, we will be spinning you with some fun celebratory party information that is the only thing hotter right now than the Chanukah Candles. Despite their lack of resources, the Maccabees kept themselves lit when the sun went down. Here is your guide to do the same in Europe.
Since one city to party in is not enough, here are 8 Crazy Night[life]s.
- Barcelona –Barcelona is home to the most renowned nightlife in Europe, well except Ibiza but that place is only cool for 2 months of the year. Year-round Barcelona throws down until the early morning. Start your night out with some tapas, which means go at midnight because that is what time your night starts. Then make your way to some bars and the hit the club. Just make sure you don’t go to the club until 3 or 4am, unless you are looking for a dead-high school teen night. Bars and clubs are plentiful, but you should check out Razzmatazz, Opium Mar, Chipitos, Dow Jones, and George Payne’s.
- Paris – I am sure the stereotype you have of the French would imply that they don’t party. Well you are wrong monsieur! The Parisians know how to get down. The city of lights (not to be confused with the currently trending festival of lights), rocks it until the petit hours of the night with massive bar districts and grandeur clubs. If you want to do some bar hopping, check out the Montemarte District, home to Moulin Rouge and Van Gogh’s Absinthe days.
- Prague – A lasting relic of Communism, massive nightlife and trance clubs are synonymous with the ex-Communist bloc. Prague is the home of absinthe, which is quite fun. Absinthe is not the hallucinogenic you may have seen in EuroTrip, but still quite potent. Expect a manic time without the threat of making out with your twin sister. Prague has plenty, and I mean plenty of cheap underground clubs and bars, as well as Europe’s biggest Pub Crawl, The Clock Tower Pub Crawl, that cater to any nightlife craving. Speaking of cravings, check out the sausage stands in Wenceslas Square if you are hungry. Popular bars and clubs include Chapeau Rouge, Duplex, Propoganda, Karlovy Lazny (which I personally think is overrated) and Lucerna, the greatest club in the world.
- Budapest – Budapest is a nightlife haven. The Hungarians love life. This translates into a rocking nightlife that threads through the city like their underground cave system. In Budapest you will find funky, quirky, and flat our bizarre underground clubs at dirt-cheap prices. If you catch yourself there in the Spring or Summer, doooo go to one of the many outdoors parties.
- Berlin – Oh Berlin. To give you a quick 65 year history lesson, Berlin was divided in half after World War II and then put back together 20 years ago. During the time in between most people did not cross the border. When reunited Berlin became home to Europe’s most ideologically diverse city. As a result, Berlin now boasts a heaping buffet table of massive euro trance warehouse clubs, eccentric underground bars, and flat out alternative lifestyle.
- Krakow – Rounding out this Eastern bloc is Poland’s little big city. Home to jolly Poles who sweat out the cold, dark winters by slugging down manly shots of vodka, Krakow has the highest concentration of bars in Europe, boasting over 300 bars in its compact city center. Let’s just say yours truly was bar and club hopping from 7pm on a Sunday night until an 11am flight on Monday morning. The night, or morning, however you want to refer to it as, ended in a bar in a bookstore.
- Amsterdam – If you are not too “tired” from the coffee shops, check out Amsterdam’s surprisingly lesser-known nightlife, and no we don’t just mean the girls trapped behind the red lights. Amsterdam is home to large clubs, and another one of Europe’s largest Pub Crawls, The Ultimate Party. If the city is not your thing, take a 20 minute train to Utrecht, one of the Netherland’s largest college towns. If you can pry yourself away from the neon lights for one night, you will not regret it.
- Florence – I know, I am surprised I am putting Florence in here. My apologies to our fellow staff in Rome. I guess I am biased because I lived there. Hear me out, Florence’s massive college scene supplanted dozens of bars all within a fifteen-minute walk of each other, making bar hopping superb. Oh yea and Jersey Shore (the tv show not the actual seaside resort), spent a summer here, meaning it HAS to be the best. Check out Astor Café, the Red Garter, Twice, and the Santa Croce area (home to close to two dozens bars, lounges, and clubs).
