7 Best Nightlife in Romania

A digital nomad's dream, this café and bar is open early (8 or 9 am) and late (11:45 pm most nights; 2:45 am Friday and 1:45 am Saturday), has free Wi-Fi, and even has power outlets. By day, sit outside in the sunshine and flip through English-language magazines while sipping iced tea and munching on a croissant sandwich. At night, this cheerful café becomes the neighborhood watering hole with hip locals coming in for a local beer. Tipografia frequently has live music and hosts events like open mic night and book launches.

Bucharest's oldest surviving beer hall (1879) serves a large selection of beers plus traditional Romanian meals and beer snacks (main courses run 25–40 RON). Ambience is everything here, with stained glass, painted columns, and a winding staircase leading to balcony seats. The beer hall sits across from Stravropoleos Church. Open till midnight (till 2 am Fri.-Sat.)

This is a nice spot to enjoy live jazz or the occasional classical guitar or drama, but be sure to reserve a seat since the place fills up quickly.

This café-cum-bar in the Old Town has jazz on the stereo, a vintage-shop-meets-hostel-common-room vibe, and good quality coffee. On shelves and tables are vintage toys, clocks, cameras, and other tchotchkes. On the menu are all manner of coffees, smoothies, beer, wine, liquor, and hot chocolate and tea, much needed during Romania's cold winters. Prices are very reasonable; a Carlsberg will run you 7 RON, an espresso just 5 RON.

Kafe Pub is cash only, can get smoky, and is popular with local teens.

This pub opens at 9 am but doesn't really get going until late afternoon. It's right in the center of town and has outdoor tables, making it popular a popular place for sightseers to have a sundowner before continuing on to dinner. Once the sun sets, the scene becomes more like a club, with locals in their twenties and thirties dancing until midnight to the resident DJ's house, disco, electronica, and funk. Drinks are simple—beer and well drinks—and coffee and basic pub grub are also served (think pizza and burgers).

Locals gyrate and sway on the large, but still crowded, dance floor at Salsa 5.

Right in Old Town, this gastropub is decorated with hockey memorabilia, shows games on TV, and is furnished with bottle green leather banquettes and dark wood tables and chairs. It's a casual place, but the atmosphere is more sophisticated pub than sports bar, and kids are welcome (there are highchairs available and a non-smoking area). Soups, salads, sandwiches, burgers, and pasta are all done well, and the cheesecake is a favorite of locals. It's a good place to make friends over a beer and watch the game. It's open until 12:30 am most nights, until 2 am on Friday and Saturday.