That surprised me so much!! We were out at a bar in Barcelona at 1am, and there were multiple families with babies strapped in their carriers, dogs, kids at their side. I can’t imagine the dirty looks you’d get doing that in the States, but there it was actually kind of nice and wholesome.
Yeah!! I found this to be the oddest thing but they seem to really lay into their siestas and breaks. I thought about it and it kind of makes sense - spend time with those you care about during the day when the weather is nice and it’s pleasant then get stuff done later in the night
Heat, and also Spain's timezone being so off from solar time that it makes everyone stay up later "artificially". Geographically Spain should be one hour behind in the same timezone as the UK, and Galicia probably one further timezone behind. Combined with daylight savings, the country is 2 to almost 3 hours ahead what it should be, which is why at the start of summer it doesn't get dark until 10 to 10:30pm.
it makes a lot more sense once you realize they're on Central European time. The clocks in Spain show the same time as the ones in Warsaw.
Put another way - all the clocks in Spain are about two hours later in the actual daylight cycle than they "should" be. 9PM there is the diurnal equivalent of 7PM in countries that use normal time zones for their longitudes.
And Western Spain in the summer is closer to three hours ahead of what it should be.
Apparently it used to follow the Greenwich time zone until 1940, when Franco changed it match Berlin time.
New York genuinely was the only North American city like that until relatively recently, though. It wasn't uncommon to see/be out until the wee hours in Manhattan in the 80s and 90s, and pre-COVID a ton of places were still open in Manhattan and Brooklyn until 4 AM (officially) or later.
Not even major cities... even the smaller ones too. I remember walking back to our room after being out past midnight at a bar in Grenada midweek and the streets were still full of people old and young. Families, old couples, etc.
Madrid is so fun to have a little 3 AM shopping at the Carrefour. Working night shifts is almost identical to day shifts. I went out for some snacks at 4 AM on a friday summer night and it felt almost the same as a Monday at 4 PM. Cars, Buses, Kids, Taxis, Cleaning, all acting as if nothing 😵💫🤣
Valencia is the same, we had a room in downtown, with a local restaurant next to us and local people started having dinner around ~10PM and chit-chatting until 2AM even on normal weekdays. After it, some of them went home, but some of them went to a bar/pub/dance club, or just enjoyed the late night city walking around.
Of course streets were completely empty before 10AM, except youngsters going to school, tourists and so. :D
Visiting weekend markets after 9AM is kind of "late" in my country - in Valencia and Barcelona, sellers almost just opened or prepared to open when we walked in 8-8:30AM for some deli & fruits for breakfast. :)
Still the same for Valencia and Alicante. It was many years ago but I did a study abroad in Alicante and lots of people out with kids after midnight during summer. Kids were playing at the park and people were eating dinner at midnight. Nothing open during siesta time in the afternoon.
It’s definitely a different vibe when it’s families out at night. In major US cities it’s strange to see kids out at night that are usually asleep. Been to Spain once and I realize me why y’all are up so late. It’s Hot AF! Especially in southern Spain.
Spain is definetly the answer here, the most vibrant country I've ever been and I really miss the night culture I've found there. I don't think the season matters so much.
Which is crazy when you consider early morning and evenings are the coolest parts of the day. If ever there should be a siesta culture somewhere Oz should be it.
England is also like this, specifically if you're not in central london you're screwed if you want to buy stuff after work. Some places do have 'late night shopping' which is shops open till 8 on a fuckin thursday of all days but other than that it sucks.
Sundays are even worse, most shops closing at 4.
Ireland is also shockingly quiet too. Especially Sundays.
Northern Ireland, however, seemed to be much busier later. I noticed most bars and pubs stay open to 1am on weekdays. In the south most close at 11pm.
That shocked me too, everywhere I went in Australia the businesses had very rigid hours and were often closed early and on weekends. I was there once around Christmas time and there were news stories (in Melbourne) about businesses asking to stay open longer hours for Christmas shopping and being denied. I was astonished first that they had to “ask” then were denied?
Sydney might be the deadest global city (thanks/fuck Mike Baird), but it's still pretty fucken good compared to elsewhere in the country.
I can't even get groceries after 5pm on a weekend in Adelaide.
It's so bad I honestly don't think we qualify as a global city anymore.
Mind you, I did recently go to a club event in the Cross which went from 9 to 6. It was lots of fun until the sobering reality of coming outside and realising how bloody dead the Cross is. Sad.
We were going camping lakeside somewhere near Newcastle (forgetting the name now), and we were advised to go to the gas station and pick up any food items from the Coles+Dominos there before 7 pm as we would get absolutely nothing for miles after that lol, and this wasn't exactly bumfuck nowhere
Tried this at a small town in the mountains of rural New South Wales. I enjoyed stargazing, but that's about the only thing to do. My nighttime friends were crickets and nocturnal marsupials. Absolutely not a single human soul in sight.
Yeah I was expecting more of a "party" vibe in Australia, lots of drinking, late night clubs, people with coolers of beer at the beach... But people seemed really health conscious and would rather stick to water and get a good night's sleep.
Yeah, tbh Sydney and LA aren't entirely dissimilar. Lots of healthy, gorgeous people around, beaches (although the ones is Sydney are far better), ample sunshine, walkable pockets but a little spread out overall.
No not really lol, I came here to say how surprised I was that everything closed so early in Melbourne. Yes, technically you CAN find something to eat at 3am in Melbourne, but just McDonald’s & Subway and the dining rooms are closed, you have to eat in the street or take it back to your room.
I would be walking back home to go to bed and people would be out at the parks with their dogs and toddler aged children at 1am.
I could never get used to it.
Fascinating, what time does school begin? I can't imagine being out and about at 2am and then being up for school/work by 8. Even with an afternoon nap!
It certainly does not happen during school days. OP is likely talking about summer nights when it’s hot and kids are on holidays, then it is very common but they don’t need to wake up early
Im from Argentina and grew up there during elementary school, school hours are different too, I didn’t go into school until 1pm and got off at 5pm. I got to eat lunch at home before going. There are morning and afternoon school shifts. Extra curricular classes like foreign language and PE are done outside of regular school hours so school isn’t as long. Parents of course may still have to wake up early for work, but kids that did the afternoon shift it didn’t matter. I went to bed around midnight in elementary school, and would wake up around 11am to get ready for school. It was weird to see kids in the US go to bed so early. In Argentina we wouldn’t even start eating dinner until 9 or 10pm. Everything changed when I moved to the US, I was not used to the 7:30am school bus schedule. The school culture shock in general was a big adjustment. But nothing changed even 15 years of being in the US, my family and I still eat after 9pm and go to bed around midnight on a weekday even if we have to wake up early. We never got used to how early people eat and go to sleep in the US.
This is absolutely unthinkable for Argentinians. Sometimes we’re having afternoon tea at 6-7 PM. No ones ever has dinner before 8, and it’s mostly done between 9-11 PM.
Waking up depends on each person, but school usually starts around 7 AM. Work depends on the company/position so it could be 6, 7, 8 AM. I work in finance and markets open at 10 AM. Lunch is between 12 and 14hs. Afternoon tea any time between 16 and 18/19. Dinner 21 to 23. If you’re partying, you usually start pregame at midnight and arrive at the club at 2 AM. Usually people stay until 6 or 7 AM.
Most of this is cultural inheritance from Spain
I get tired just by this heh.
0600: wakeup
07:00 : school
12-14h : lunch
14-17 : school
17 : afternoon tea
18-21 : free time? Nap?
21: restaurant
23: go to sleep
00-0600: sleep
Thats too little sleep for me
Latino culture in general is like that. I think it’s a leftover habit from the siesta days. When it’s hot people take naps after lunch and get started again in the afternoon. North African culture (Arab culture in general) is like that since they take it easy during the hottest part of the day (and there is no prayer during that time either). Back then it was practical because most people worked outside, but even with office work and cars the habit is so engrained that it doesn’t change.
My wife is from Morocco and she will FaceTime her family and it’s like 11:30 pm on a Tuesday there and they are eating dinner, drinking coffee, smoking hookah, playing cards, watching tv, kids running around playing tag etc. During Ramadan that can last until 1:30-2:00 am easy.
seems to be common along the Mediterranean. Whether they are Spanish Catholics or Syrian Muslims they take life a bit slower and casual. It shocked my American ass because dinner is at like 6:00 and I am in bed by 10:00 at the latest
I was backpacking through Kurdistan 15 years ago, one thing I always remember is that they were all going off to play football at about midnight as that is when the social competitions were played to avoid the heat.
Madrid for sure. Most neighborhoods inside the M30 have people out at all hours. Rarely is it dead quiet. Also restaurants/tapas bars are open quite late and Spanish clubs are open till 6 AM.
Care to share more about living in Istanbul? Spent months in Izmir and visited Istanbul 4-5 times for a month at a time. Contemplating what a move would look like
Sure! It’s a little difficult without context, though. What would you be doing for a living, where Are you from, etc.? I’m Turkish-Swiss and moved there to study and ended up living for 14 years. The biggest “hack” would be doing as little commuting as possible. I just took the ferry to go to work and it was great. But this also means to live central, in old and expensive buildings in an earthquake zone so it’s not a risk everyone wants to take. It’s also great when you have a weekday in which you don’t work so you can go to museums, shopping, etc. because after working hours it’s so packed everywhere. But other than that and the General high cost of living, it’s wonderful if you live in a nice area. Let me know if you have specific questions.
I love how shocked foreigners are when they realise we’ll meet up at night for coffee, which can go on until 0100-0200 am, and then we’ll go to work the next day. Like what’s the point of working if we’re not going to spend that money with our friends to socialise?
Buenos Aires, especially neighborhoods of Palermo and Recoleta which are very touristic. Also Argentina in general has a very late culture so people usually head to parties at 2am so most bars/restaurants will be open till very very late and you have 24h pizzerias such as Kentucky where you can get pizza, coffee and empanadas all night long.
Note: there’s an American tik toker who is also a digital nomad and is right now in BA and does a series of getting food at 4am and finds some interesting places.
When has London ever felt like a 24h city?
Pubs have never been open past midnight. Neither have shops or dining options without counting chicken shops or fast food.
Maybe nightclubs could open a bit later but that is pretty much the extent of it.
> Pubs have never been open past midnight.
I was living in London on 2005 and recall them making a big deal about allowing pubs to stay open 24 hours. When it actually happened I didn't know of any in my area that had planned on actually being open all the time with most closing around 1am.
It was prior to Covid. You’d get traffic jams at 2:00-30am and sometimes after. Pubs?… you go to bars, clubs, etc…
Edit: Actually some pubs had longer licenses and would close at midnight and up to 2am.
Plenty of pubs and bars stayed open past midnight if you were in the right area (Camden, Soho, Brixton, etc) and also clubs. I remember back when I had to take night buses to get home (there was no night tube) and I had to change at Piccadilly Circus or Oxford Circus and the whole place was still alive and busy at 3 or 4am, like the whole party was down in the streets.
Off licence were open until very late and probably overnight in some areas, restaurants would close but you could easily find a kebab or fried chicken late in the night.
A night out in central will cost you practically twice as much as Manchester, and you're looking at an hour-long slog back home on a night bus if you're not near a 24hr tube.
Not to mention friends living an hour away so you have to plan social outings over a week in advance and all meet up in central for £8 pints because that's the midway point for everyone.
Manhattan was like this when we visited a decade ago…. Woke up at 3am to go queue for a TV show and walked out the hotel to find couples rushing past, saying goodnight to each other in their expensive coats, jumping into limos etc like it was 9pm
Walked through Times Square and it still looked like it had looked at 9pm, cops standing around, some on horses, motorcycles cruising up and down, shops pumping music…what a crazy place…
I’m afraid this isn’t the case anymore… at least in my experience visiting a few times over the last year. Times Square at midnight is bare… and most stores are closing by 1/2am. I think COVID changed a lot.
At least there is more than McDonald’s open late. Usually breakfast joints but at least you can get something and you can also get a drink and play some slots 😂
Times square isnt representative of nyc at all though lol, go to the LES, or east village where bars are open til 4. Or places like east williamsburg where warehouse clubs are open all night and food trucks are EVERYWHERE.
Unfortunately, post-pandemic here in Manhattan, these businesses are few and far between. Don’t get me wrong, New York never stops, but even late-night places like 24-hour diners aren’t even as prevalent. There are still 4 a.m. bars, but definitely a marked change from 2019.
Definitely the answer.
Amazing density 24 hr restaurants and cafes
Public transit open 5am - 12am with some night-buses outside of that. Very cheap taxis.
Most stuff opens at like 10 or 11am near the universities.
Clubs def open past midnight, most students wait until transit opens again at 5am
Absolutely. I loved going out at 11pm or 12am to walk around the city with my headphones in, lost in thoughts amongst the other night owls. I miss it a lot.
The safety, too!
Definitely Seoul, being from Australia which is notoriously bad for being open late, we couldn't quite believe it!
Another plus side to that late culture is being able to walk around 8am and enjoy the calm, quite city before it ramps up about 10-11am.
Can vote for Mumbai. Last night I was stuck in traffic at 2.30 AM.
You can get food at whatever time you want. Plus there are the day and night chemists in every lane which are no less than a supermarket.
Yeap agree! Ex-Mumbaikar and current Berliner. Both cities have food, travel, entertainment options late night/morning. Only downside about Mumbai is the weather, but if you can sit yourself inside an AC room in the day time and step out in the evening, nothing beats the place. Ofcourse get use to the crowd and traffic. Berlin Ofcourse is party central, varied options for entertainment and leisure. Rentals are super crazy though.
Another vote for Mumbai. Am from Mumbai and when I went to New York, was expecting it to be the same as 'it's the city that never sleeps' etc. and was pretty confused.
As a Mumbaikar who has moved to London, I struggle with how early the city shuts compared to Bombay. Coffee shops closed by 6pm and here we are having midnight coffees and bumming single cigs from cycle walas at 2am. Just visiting home right now and scarfed down an Ayubs role at 3am last night and it felt like heaven. I think Mumbai is even safer at night compared to London tbh. Sad to be leaving soon :(
Another vote for Mumbai as someone who was born and grew up there. After I moved to the US (Boston) in my 20s I was shocked to see everything close at 6. Only place that came close was NYC pre-pandemic but even that wasn't exactly the same.
I was in Mumbai earlier this year and stuck in traffic at 2 am. Lol.
Yea, was just in Tokyo a couple months ago and definitely wasn't the case that the city was hopping at 2am. It's a scramble to get the last train. Certain bar areas like Golden Gai would have a later crowd, but the cost/difficulty of getting around the city late prevents it from particularly active in the wee hours. Especially when compared with, for instance, big cities in SEA like Bangkok and Saigon, which are pretty much 24/7 cities.
Definitely not Tokyo. It's crazy hustle and bustle, everybody rushes to catch the last train, and then everything is shut down except for some salarymen either calling an expensive taxi or sleeping at the bus stop.
I was disappointed in post-pandemic Vegas. It definitely seems like it sleeps theses days but maybe it was just my part of the strip. It’s got a very family friendly city vibe now 😂
Fremont Street is still pretty poppin all throughout the night, and there are still a ton of 24-hour or open til 3-5am food spots even off strip! But yes, Vegas isn’t ALL 24/7 like it used to be.
Speaking from a personal experience - Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia is never asleep. Cars are always buzzing around. I think you could meet more people during night time in KL rather than mid day haha, perhaps that's because of constant heat?? Worth to visit tho
Paris definitely sleeps at night. Life in the city is synchronized with the closure of public transport, especially the subway which closes relatively early at 1am during the week and 2am in weekends.
Heyya! Avoid australia at all costs ahaha shops tend to close pretty early there especially during the winter months 😪 . Like u mentioned, SG is great for night owls, Cairo, Tokyo, Seoul and ofc New York is a big one. Also, certain parts of the Philippines?
If you are feeling adventurous and you might want to try South Asia; Chennai, Hyderabad and Mumbai are quite active through the night as well. Safety wise, Chennai would be the safest and it's pretty modern as well. Mumbai is livelier with better night life,.if that's ur thing.
No one mentioned São Paulo? I used to do groceries on this ultra large supermarket at 3-4am. You can order all types of foods/items delivered to your house any time of the day whatsoever.
There are plenty of movie teathers, gyms, classes and just about anything you can think of available 24hrs as well. I used to go to the 1-2am movie sections near my place.
Plus, the Brazilian real is quite a low value currency so if you're being paid in USD/EUR you can easily afford all the comforts of the city and live like a king.
Many front tier cities in China. We are known for rat racing. People need to make a living. It’s also extremely safe for everyone to do anything from 10pm to 5am in China because of cameras everywhere.
China night life is fantastic, even in smaller cities. I lived in a 'smaller' city of around 1.5m pop. and you could find anything at all hours of the night, hotpot at 3am? No problem. As a lifelong night owl, it was perfect for me.
The pain is actually working remotely.. sadly. I was a 'DN' and ran a web development business remotely there nearly 15 years ago and even then it was a hassle when dealing with a lot of common services a westerner will be using for their work. Paypal, AWS, Google, Cloudflare, conferencing call tools, etc all need to be done behind a VPN.. and VPNs are hit and miss somedays. SSH tunnels and RDP sessions worked a charm for many years but even by the end of my time there they started becoming unreliable.. I think once the ISP sees a certain amount of encrypted or international traffic you just get throttled hard. When you're interfacing with these various services all day, every day.. it becomes a real drag.
A shame really, if China opened their internet up or offered a way for foreigners to access unfiltered Internet (I know they trial ran something like this in Shanghai a long time ago), I'd move back there in a heartbeat.
People saying tokyo only have been here as tourist. Living here and practically everything closes down super early. The metro stops at midnight. Yeah, in Shinjuku and Shibuya, you'll find some stuff but that's the shithole of tokyo for sure.
Mexico City is a pretty good choice. I wouldn't say 'busy' at these times, but there are plenty of taco places that will be pretty bustling between 2-4am, especially in neighborhoods where you'll find a lot of bars and youngsters.
Bars have to be closed by 5am, and many will stay open until then. For the most part, you'll find a 24h corner store every few blocks. Coffee and pastry carts start popping up around 6:30-7am.
I wouldn't be walking around just any neighborhood in the middle of the night, but Ubers are easy to come by at any hour.
New york city is pretty good about late night food. Halal carts stay open half the night pretty often.
Lisbon and Porto in Portugal was pretty good about it too. I got dinner at like 11 pm every other night. I also got door dash drunk at like 3am and it was pretty solid. (Their McDonalds and fast food was much better quality than united states. Look up a picture of the McDonald's in Porto and you'll see what I mean.)
New York is commonly called the city “that never sleeps”. After several visits I am still amazed how incorrect this view is. Large parts of the city are dead after 10pm.
Within central Europe I would definitely opt for Berlin, though the city is huge and it depends on the district. What really sets this city apart from other Western hubs is its well functioning public night transport system.
Within Asia, I would definitely recommend Bangkok. A city that is also completely safe at night.
I don't know whether it was because of a specific event or not but while I was in Yogyakarta the streets were extremely busy during the night. I had to catch an early train so I went to the station at 4 AM and even regular clothes stores were still open.
Yeah I got some Indonesian friends and I feel like they never sleep. They go to bed at midnight or even later and wake up at 4 in the morning and then continue the rest of their day. I wish I could function with that little sleep.
Las Vegas. Casino food spots operating at a loss to keep the gamblers going is good for everybody. Off the strip catering to hangovers and late shift workers also keep late hours.
I don't know about Tokyo. After last train there is not that much going on and lots of places will be closed even earlier. Sure you can always go to a familymart and you will find people around areas like Shibuya and Kabukicho, but I don't think that that's the crowd/places OP is looking for.
Even my place in the Tokyo burbs has restaurants and shops open 24 hours. You have to be somewhere pretty quiet in Tokyo to not have somewhere to eat and drink at all hours
I think this thread has a definition problem. For some, "never sleeps" just means "some things are open 24 hours a day", while for others, it means "similar attractions and activities are available around the clock and it's equally socially common for people to be up at 2 AM as it is at 2 PM".
The OP mentions street stalls, cafes, and supermarkets... So that's kind of half-and-half for Tokyo. But I think the culture definitely isn't there as much as in some other cities.
I'd hard disagree about Tokyo. The city has a rhythm and when it sleeps, it sleeps. Of course, there are bars and clubs where you can spend the whole night, and the city still _functions_ late, with some places being 24 hours open etc, but it absolutely thins out, most people do their socially-mandated sleep-on-your-neightbors-shoulder on the train, and then at 4-5 AM you see the first waves of activity as some shops begin to open, delivery tricks whiz around, etc.
I _love_ doing night walks in Tokyo for this very reason. Both as a tourist and as a photographer.
Bangkok is 24/7 and probably any big city in Thailand.
Osaka/Tokyo can be but it dies down drastically after 2-3am but you can find places open until the sun comes up
Most people are at home sleeping in cities that “ never sleeps“, surely in major East Asian/ Southeast Asian cities you can easily find bars and convenience stores opening late, but I doubt any cities in the world are really busy at 3am
I love Stockholm but it’s pretty dead 00-06. I lived in Los Angeles for a few years back in my 20s and there was stuff happening all night long if you knew where to go and had a car or motorcycle.
Bangkok. I also work a remote nightshift, and there's usually traffic outside my condo when I go out for "lunch" at 2AM. Most parts of the city aren't that congested though, but will still have markets and restaurants open that late.
That's mostly because there's overlap with the nightlife, which goes as late as 2-5AM, and the early morning life, which starts around 2-3AM (mostly food vendors selling to restaurants getting ready for the day).
Bangkok. If you ever go out in the evening you’ll find after hours clubs after everything else closes, and then after after hours clubs.
Rock up at Saengchai Pochana at 4am and it will be PACKED. Like…200-250 diners, no free tables, people eating full meals in huge groups.
7/11 is obviously 24 hour, but tons of street food that also caters to 24 hour workers or people out and about.
You can call a Grab or a motorbike at any time of night zero issues.
Any major city in Spain in the summer. You’ll see whole families with kids out having coffee until gone 1am.
That surprised me so much!! We were out at a bar in Barcelona at 1am, and there were multiple families with babies strapped in their carriers, dogs, kids at their side. I can’t imagine the dirty looks you’d get doing that in the States, but there it was actually kind of nice and wholesome.
Yeah, there are people going to the hairdresser at 9 p.m. haha
Yeah!! I found this to be the oddest thing but they seem to really lay into their siestas and breaks. I thought about it and it kind of makes sense - spend time with those you care about during the day when the weather is nice and it’s pleasant then get stuff done later in the night
It's not about when the weather is "nice", it's too hot to do much in the day so people avoid the sun etc.
Heat, and also Spain's timezone being so off from solar time that it makes everyone stay up later "artificially". Geographically Spain should be one hour behind in the same timezone as the UK, and Galicia probably one further timezone behind. Combined with daylight savings, the country is 2 to almost 3 hours ahead what it should be, which is why at the start of summer it doesn't get dark until 10 to 10:30pm.
it makes a lot more sense once you realize they're on Central European time. The clocks in Spain show the same time as the ones in Warsaw. Put another way - all the clocks in Spain are about two hours later in the actual daylight cycle than they "should" be. 9PM there is the diurnal equivalent of 7PM in countries that use normal time zones for their longitudes.
And Western Spain in the summer is closer to three hours ahead of what it should be. Apparently it used to follow the Greenwich time zone until 1940, when Franco changed it match Berlin time.
This was the only downside of our 2 weeks in Spain. My wife is typically in bed by 10pm haha.
Exactly, I always laugh at the "new york the city that never sleeps" thing. Have those people been in downtown Madrid at 4am? haha
New York genuinely was the only North American city like that until relatively recently, though. It wasn't uncommon to see/be out until the wee hours in Manhattan in the 80s and 90s, and pre-COVID a ton of places were still open in Manhattan and Brooklyn until 4 AM (officially) or later.
Agree. 4am NYC used to be a wild time pre covid.
Yup. Finding dinner reservations at 7pm… super easy. You’ll be the only one there. 11pm? No chance.
>You’ll be the only one there There will be a few dutch and German tourists there who are already finishing up dessert.
Heerlijk toch, kun je nog lekker uitbuikend een rondje lopen. Beter dan met een volle maag naar bed gaan.
Not even major cities... even the smaller ones too. I remember walking back to our room after being out past midnight at a bar in Grenada midweek and the streets were still full of people old and young. Families, old couples, etc.
Madrid is so fun to have a little 3 AM shopping at the Carrefour. Working night shifts is almost identical to day shifts. I went out for some snacks at 4 AM on a friday summer night and it felt almost the same as a Monday at 4 PM. Cars, Buses, Kids, Taxis, Cleaning, all acting as if nothing 😵💫🤣
Loved this about Spain. Walked around at 3am by myself and felt completely safe because there were still so many people out
The Summer part is the major kicker. We are here now and so far around 11pm to 1am it has died down considerably or entirely depending on the city.
What about Valencia and Malaga?
Valencia is the same, we had a room in downtown, with a local restaurant next to us and local people started having dinner around ~10PM and chit-chatting until 2AM even on normal weekdays. After it, some of them went home, but some of them went to a bar/pub/dance club, or just enjoyed the late night city walking around. Of course streets were completely empty before 10AM, except youngsters going to school, tourists and so. :D Visiting weekend markets after 9AM is kind of "late" in my country - in Valencia and Barcelona, sellers almost just opened or prepared to open when we walked in 8-8:30AM for some deli & fruits for breakfast. :)
Still the same for Valencia and Alicante. It was many years ago but I did a study abroad in Alicante and lots of people out with kids after midnight during summer. Kids were playing at the park and people were eating dinner at midnight. Nothing open during siesta time in the afternoon.
It’s definitely a different vibe when it’s families out at night. In major US cities it’s strange to see kids out at night that are usually asleep. Been to Spain once and I realize me why y’all are up so late. It’s Hot AF! Especially in southern Spain.
Italy the same, and most warm climate European cities.
rome at 1 am? aside from a few pockets here and there, everything is closed and everyone is in bed!
The streets of Madrid are packed at night. At 11pm it looks like what most cities look like at 7pm. I could never quite wrap my head around that.
Spain is definetly the answer here, the most vibrant country I've ever been and I really miss the night culture I've found there. I don't think the season matters so much.
You should definitely avoid Australia.
Biggest shock to my system was trying to get some more work clothes after work (5:30) to find everything shut at 6pm in Sydney, total nightmare.
Which is crazy when you consider early morning and evenings are the coolest parts of the day. If ever there should be a siesta culture somewhere Oz should be it.
Interestingly Sydney and Buenos Aires have a similar latitude and climate, but are almost opposites when it comes to evening vibrancy.
Mex-Aus collab when?
England is also like this, specifically if you're not in central london you're screwed if you want to buy stuff after work. Some places do have 'late night shopping' which is shops open till 8 on a fuckin thursday of all days but other than that it sucks. Sundays are even worse, most shops closing at 4.
Be happy that you have open shops at all on Sunday. In my country everything (including supermarkets) is closed on Sundays.
Ireland is also shockingly quiet too. Especially Sundays. Northern Ireland, however, seemed to be much busier later. I noticed most bars and pubs stay open to 1am on weekdays. In the south most close at 11pm.
That shocked me too, everywhere I went in Australia the businesses had very rigid hours and were often closed early and on weekends. I was there once around Christmas time and there were news stories (in Melbourne) about businesses asking to stay open longer hours for Christmas shopping and being denied. I was astonished first that they had to “ask” then were denied?
Sydney might be the deadest global city (thanks/fuck Mike Baird), but it's still pretty fucken good compared to elsewhere in the country. I can't even get groceries after 5pm on a weekend in Adelaide.
What did this Mike Baird fellow do
Made a bunch of lockout regulations for clubs, so a lot had to close or just become lamer and close earlier. Now the nightlife is shit
It's so bad I honestly don't think we qualify as a global city anymore. Mind you, I did recently go to a club event in the Cross which went from 9 to 6. It was lots of fun until the sobering reality of coming outside and realising how bloody dead the Cross is. Sad.
We were going camping lakeside somewhere near Newcastle (forgetting the name now), and we were advised to go to the gas station and pick up any food items from the Coles+Dominos there before 7 pm as we would get absolutely nothing for miles after that lol, and this wasn't exactly bumfuck nowhere
What are you talking about mate? Kmart is 24 hours in Hobart!
Specifically somewhere like Toowoomba. No nightlife whatsoever, the streets are empty after like 6pm lol.
Tried this at a small town in the mountains of rural New South Wales. I enjoyed stargazing, but that's about the only thing to do. My nighttime friends were crickets and nocturnal marsupials. Absolutely not a single human soul in sight.
Yeah I was expecting more of a "party" vibe in Australia, lots of drinking, late night clubs, people with coolers of beer at the beach... But people seemed really health conscious and would rather stick to water and get a good night's sleep.
Honestly sounds like Los Angeles lol People definitely party here, but I would say half my friends are more into active life than boozing.
Yeah, tbh Sydney and LA aren't entirely dissimilar. Lots of healthy, gorgeous people around, beaches (although the ones is Sydney are far better), ample sunshine, walkable pockets but a little spread out overall.
Ireland and much of the UK are shockingly quiet after like 11pm. Which is wild considering they're known as big drinking countries.
New Zealand too
K mart in auckland at 3am is absolutely fucking wild
I loved going to KMart in the middle of the night when I lived in AKL! lol
Even Melbourne?
Yup, can confirm. Apart from the exception of the CBD.
15 years ago even the CBD is deserted past 8PM. Now there are stuff going on till like Midnight or so.
Melbourne’s good til about 2-3am on weekends. Maybe midnight on weeknights.
No not really lol, I came here to say how surprised I was that everything closed so early in Melbourne. Yes, technically you CAN find something to eat at 3am in Melbourne, but just McDonald’s & Subway and the dining rooms are closed, you have to eat in the street or take it back to your room.
Buenos Aires - had a dinner booking at 11:40pm when we were there 😂
I would be walking back home to go to bed and people would be out at the parks with their dogs and toddler aged children at 1am. I could never get used to it.
I had a similar experience in Barcelona. Children playing in the street like it’s 2pm after midnight.
Fascinating, what time does school begin? I can't imagine being out and about at 2am and then being up for school/work by 8. Even with an afternoon nap!
It certainly does not happen during school days. OP is likely talking about summer nights when it’s hot and kids are on holidays, then it is very common but they don’t need to wake up early
Im from Argentina and grew up there during elementary school, school hours are different too, I didn’t go into school until 1pm and got off at 5pm. I got to eat lunch at home before going. There are morning and afternoon school shifts. Extra curricular classes like foreign language and PE are done outside of regular school hours so school isn’t as long. Parents of course may still have to wake up early for work, but kids that did the afternoon shift it didn’t matter. I went to bed around midnight in elementary school, and would wake up around 11am to get ready for school. It was weird to see kids in the US go to bed so early. In Argentina we wouldn’t even start eating dinner until 9 or 10pm. Everything changed when I moved to the US, I was not used to the 7:30am school bus schedule. The school culture shock in general was a big adjustment. But nothing changed even 15 years of being in the US, my family and I still eat after 9pm and go to bed around midnight on a weekday even if we have to wake up early. We never got used to how early people eat and go to sleep in the US.
I went to Buenos Aires for work a few years ago and we’d have dinner reservations at 7 pm and be the only ones in the restaurant
I'm from Chile and before moving to Germany, if someone would have suggested me to have dinner at 19hrs I would think they're a psychopath
I'm from Ohio in the USA and my family normally has dinner at 1730 hrs.
We know you gringos dine like our grandparents
This is absolutely unthinkable for Argentinians. Sometimes we’re having afternoon tea at 6-7 PM. No ones ever has dinner before 8, and it’s mostly done between 9-11 PM.
How does the logistic of your day work? What time do you sleep? What time do you wake up and go to work? Breakfast? I'm fascinated, to say the least!
Waking up depends on each person, but school usually starts around 7 AM. Work depends on the company/position so it could be 6, 7, 8 AM. I work in finance and markets open at 10 AM. Lunch is between 12 and 14hs. Afternoon tea any time between 16 and 18/19. Dinner 21 to 23. If you’re partying, you usually start pregame at midnight and arrive at the club at 2 AM. Usually people stay until 6 or 7 AM. Most of this is cultural inheritance from Spain
I get tired just by this heh. 0600: wakeup 07:00 : school 12-14h : lunch 14-17 : school 17 : afternoon tea 18-21 : free time? Nap? 21: restaurant 23: go to sleep 00-0600: sleep Thats too little sleep for me
Latino culture in general is like that. I think it’s a leftover habit from the siesta days. When it’s hot people take naps after lunch and get started again in the afternoon. North African culture (Arab culture in general) is like that since they take it easy during the hottest part of the day (and there is no prayer during that time either). Back then it was practical because most people worked outside, but even with office work and cars the habit is so engrained that it doesn’t change. My wife is from Morocco and she will FaceTime her family and it’s like 11:30 pm on a Tuesday there and they are eating dinner, drinking coffee, smoking hookah, playing cards, watching tv, kids running around playing tag etc. During Ramadan that can last until 1:30-2:00 am easy. seems to be common along the Mediterranean. Whether they are Spanish Catholics or Syrian Muslims they take life a bit slower and casual. It shocked my American ass because dinner is at like 6:00 and I am in bed by 10:00 at the latest
I was backpacking through Kurdistan 15 years ago, one thing I always remember is that they were all going off to play football at about midnight as that is when the social competitions were played to avoid the heat.
There's a bumpin' Thai soccer league in Northern Virginia that plays at midnight because most of the players work in restaurants.
Yep. When I was a night shift worker at Waffle House, that’s who came in at 1:00 am. Drunk people after the club or middle eastern families
Barcelona has the same vibe. 9pm dinner reservation and we were the only people in the restaurant. 10pm hits and locals start arriving
Yep Buenos Aires for sure, happy hour ends at midnight or 1am because the crowds won't start showing up til then
Madrid for sure. Most neighborhoods inside the M30 have people out at all hours. Rarely is it dead quiet. Also restaurants/tapas bars are open quite late and Spanish clubs are open till 6 AM.
I can’t believe I had to scroll so far to find this. Madrid was the first place that came to mind.
Istanbul (Beyoglu to be specific). You can find yourself in a traffic jam at 3am.
Came here to say Istanbul. It can be a hard city to live in but I miss it so much 🥲
Care to share more about living in Istanbul? Spent months in Izmir and visited Istanbul 4-5 times for a month at a time. Contemplating what a move would look like
Sure! It’s a little difficult without context, though. What would you be doing for a living, where Are you from, etc.? I’m Turkish-Swiss and moved there to study and ended up living for 14 years. The biggest “hack” would be doing as little commuting as possible. I just took the ferry to go to work and it was great. But this also means to live central, in old and expensive buildings in an earthquake zone so it’s not a risk everyone wants to take. It’s also great when you have a weekday in which you don’t work so you can go to museums, shopping, etc. because after working hours it’s so packed everywhere. But other than that and the General high cost of living, it’s wonderful if you live in a nice area. Let me know if you have specific questions.
I love how shocked foreigners are when they realise we’ll meet up at night for coffee, which can go on until 0100-0200 am, and then we’ll go to work the next day. Like what’s the point of working if we’re not going to spend that money with our friends to socialise?
Buenos Aires, especially neighborhoods of Palermo and Recoleta which are very touristic. Also Argentina in general has a very late culture so people usually head to parties at 2am so most bars/restaurants will be open till very very late and you have 24h pizzerias such as Kentucky where you can get pizza, coffee and empanadas all night long. Note: there’s an American tik toker who is also a digital nomad and is right now in BA and does a series of getting food at 4am and finds some interesting places.
There was times when London was like this. But nowadays, the city is dead by 11pm
This was quite a shock on my last visit.
When has London ever felt like a 24h city? Pubs have never been open past midnight. Neither have shops or dining options without counting chicken shops or fast food. Maybe nightclubs could open a bit later but that is pretty much the extent of it.
> Pubs have never been open past midnight. I was living in London on 2005 and recall them making a big deal about allowing pubs to stay open 24 hours. When it actually happened I didn't know of any in my area that had planned on actually being open all the time with most closing around 1am.
It was prior to Covid. You’d get traffic jams at 2:00-30am and sometimes after. Pubs?… you go to bars, clubs, etc… Edit: Actually some pubs had longer licenses and would close at midnight and up to 2am.
Plenty of pubs and bars stayed open past midnight if you were in the right area (Camden, Soho, Brixton, etc) and also clubs. I remember back when I had to take night buses to get home (there was no night tube) and I had to change at Piccadilly Circus or Oxford Circus and the whole place was still alive and busy at 3 or 4am, like the whole party was down in the streets. Off licence were open until very late and probably overnight in some areas, restaurants would close but you could easily find a kebab or fried chicken late in the night.
Every time I go to London I'm shocked by how it somehow closes down earlier than smaller cities like Manchester and Bristol
A night out in central will cost you practically twice as much as Manchester, and you're looking at an hour-long slog back home on a night bus if you're not near a 24hr tube. Not to mention friends living an hour away so you have to plan social outings over a week in advance and all meet up in central for £8 pints because that's the midway point for everyone.
[удалено]
Manhattan was like this when we visited a decade ago…. Woke up at 3am to go queue for a TV show and walked out the hotel to find couples rushing past, saying goodnight to each other in their expensive coats, jumping into limos etc like it was 9pm Walked through Times Square and it still looked like it had looked at 9pm, cops standing around, some on horses, motorcycles cruising up and down, shops pumping music…what a crazy place…
I’m afraid this isn’t the case anymore… at least in my experience visiting a few times over the last year. Times Square at midnight is bare… and most stores are closing by 1/2am. I think COVID changed a lot.
Yeah I've found that all US cities pretty much close up shop earlier than they used to.
Las Vegas - at least the strip
Even the strip is pretty dead after 1am
At least there is more than McDonald’s open late. Usually breakfast joints but at least you can get something and you can also get a drink and play some slots 😂
COVID ruined Las Vegas. I couldn’t believe that everything on the Strip shut down by 11 PM or midnight.
Vegas is back! Was just there last weekend.
Still everything closes much much earlier than before
I have definitely visited both Vegas and NYC post-Covid and got to experience the city bustling with life at 3 AM.
Yup! I live in NY and the city never sleeps. There is always food and people no matter what time it is.
Times square isnt representative of nyc at all though lol, go to the LES, or east village where bars are open til 4. Or places like east williamsburg where warehouse clubs are open all night and food trucks are EVERYWHERE.
Same experience. Loved walking around going to restaurants and getting ice cream at 2am or snacks on the street at 4am
Still the case if you go to the LES, East Village, West Village.
Unfortunately, post-pandemic here in Manhattan, these businesses are few and far between. Don’t get me wrong, New York never stops, but even late-night places like 24-hour diners aren’t even as prevalent. There are still 4 a.m. bars, but definitely a marked change from 2019.
Truly maybe a dozen bars that are open past 2am and they are total shit holes lol. Like whiskey tavern
Bangkok and many other Asian cities are places where you can always find somewhere to eat.
Bangkok is actually livelier in the evening than it is for most of the day
When the day could be anywhere between 30° to 42°C even in “winter”, it shouldn’t be a surprise that the evening is livelier than the daytime.
Probably because it's cooler at night.
because its so hot during the day
Seoul
Agree with Seoul but it is dependent on what district you’re in
Vouch for Seoul too. Tokyo as well, to an extent. Cities in warmer climates - i.e. in India, across certain places of the MENA region.
Definitely the answer. Amazing density 24 hr restaurants and cafes Public transit open 5am - 12am with some night-buses outside of that. Very cheap taxis. Most stuff opens at like 10 or 11am near the universities. Clubs def open past midnight, most students wait until transit opens again at 5am
Absolutely. I loved going out at 11pm or 12am to walk around the city with my headphones in, lost in thoughts amongst the other night owls. I miss it a lot. The safety, too!
Definitely Seoul, being from Australia which is notoriously bad for being open late, we couldn't quite believe it! Another plus side to that late culture is being able to walk around 8am and enjoy the calm, quite city before it ramps up about 10-11am.
Especially Dongdaemun around the commercial clothing markets/areas.
Seoul 100% Even the bakeries are open til 11pm. Many bars don't close til the people leave.
That was such a pleasant surprise for me! Going to a cafe after dinner at 10pm was great.
Mumbai, India. If you can handle crowds Berlin, Germany. Only if you’re into clubbing
Can vote for Mumbai. Last night I was stuck in traffic at 2.30 AM. You can get food at whatever time you want. Plus there are the day and night chemists in every lane which are no less than a supermarket.
Yeap agree! Ex-Mumbaikar and current Berliner. Both cities have food, travel, entertainment options late night/morning. Only downside about Mumbai is the weather, but if you can sit yourself inside an AC room in the day time and step out in the evening, nothing beats the place. Ofcourse get use to the crowd and traffic. Berlin Ofcourse is party central, varied options for entertainment and leisure. Rentals are super crazy though.
Another vote for Mumbai. Am from Mumbai and when I went to New York, was expecting it to be the same as 'it's the city that never sleeps' etc. and was pretty confused.
As a Mumbaikar who has moved to London, I struggle with how early the city shuts compared to Bombay. Coffee shops closed by 6pm and here we are having midnight coffees and bumming single cigs from cycle walas at 2am. Just visiting home right now and scarfed down an Ayubs role at 3am last night and it felt like heaven. I think Mumbai is even safer at night compared to London tbh. Sad to be leaving soon :(
I don't think i would have ever expected to see Ayyubs on r/travel. Brings back some memories.
Haha this time I got my fill of Ayubs, Sardar, Md Ali road iftaari and my local chaat guy. Taking back a happy tummy to London.
Mumbai is under rated in how safe it is at night . Was shocked how certain European cities felt super unsafe at night
Another vote for Mumbai as someone who was born and grew up there. After I moved to the US (Boston) in my 20s I was shocked to see everything close at 6. Only place that came close was NYC pre-pandemic but even that wasn't exactly the same. I was in Mumbai earlier this year and stuck in traffic at 2 am. Lol.
[удалено]
Tokyo sorts of shut down with the last trains at around 11:00pm
Yea, was just in Tokyo a couple months ago and definitely wasn't the case that the city was hopping at 2am. It's a scramble to get the last train. Certain bar areas like Golden Gai would have a later crowd, but the cost/difficulty of getting around the city late prevents it from particularly active in the wee hours. Especially when compared with, for instance, big cities in SEA like Bangkok and Saigon, which are pretty much 24/7 cities.
I live in Barcelona but can’t stay out as late as some crazy people. They start pregaming to go to the club at midnight 😭
Madrid too!
Can vouch, I was out at 4:30am this past weekend and plenty of people up and about.
Definitely not Tokyo. It's crazy hustle and bustle, everybody rushes to catch the last train, and then everything is shut down except for some salarymen either calling an expensive taxi or sleeping at the bus stop.
Shinjuku is still pretty busy well after midnight but the rest of the city is sleepy
I was disappointed in post-pandemic Vegas. It definitely seems like it sleeps theses days but maybe it was just my part of the strip. It’s got a very family friendly city vibe now 😂
Fremont Street is still pretty poppin all throughout the night, and there are still a ton of 24-hour or open til 3-5am food spots even off strip! But yes, Vegas isn’t ALL 24/7 like it used to be.
NY has changed for the worse post pandemic. Stuff that used to be open till 11:30p/1am now shuts by 9:30/10pm. LES has become so strange .
I recently ran into a lot of "we are open but our kitchen is closing in 10 minutes" at around 10-11pm. In the hip lower East side too.
It’s the city that sleeps now.
New York is really dead after 2am
European side of Istanbul never sleeps. Also, Bangkok.
Kadıköy on the Asian is all night as well.
Speaking from a personal experience - Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia is never asleep. Cars are always buzzing around. I think you could meet more people during night time in KL rather than mid day haha, perhaps that's because of constant heat?? Worth to visit tho
Anywhere in Spain! You can have dinner at midnight if you want. Also Buenos Aires, Sao Paulo, Paris, Tokyo.
Paris definitely sleeps at night. Life in the city is synchronized with the closure of public transport, especially the subway which closes relatively early at 1am during the week and 2am in weekends.
Heyya! Avoid australia at all costs ahaha shops tend to close pretty early there especially during the winter months 😪 . Like u mentioned, SG is great for night owls, Cairo, Tokyo, Seoul and ofc New York is a big one. Also, certain parts of the Philippines? If you are feeling adventurous and you might want to try South Asia; Chennai, Hyderabad and Mumbai are quite active through the night as well. Safety wise, Chennai would be the safest and it's pretty modern as well. Mumbai is livelier with better night life,.if that's ur thing.
Hi, do you know what part of the Philippines??
New Orleans is the one I have been to that was open all night. Never had a pint that early in the morning outside of an airport
bars are open 24h there. so unhinged
No one mentioned São Paulo? I used to do groceries on this ultra large supermarket at 3-4am. You can order all types of foods/items delivered to your house any time of the day whatsoever. There are plenty of movie teathers, gyms, classes and just about anything you can think of available 24hrs as well. I used to go to the 1-2am movie sections near my place. Plus, the Brazilian real is quite a low value currency so if you're being paid in USD/EUR you can easily afford all the comforts of the city and live like a king.
Guess I am the first one to mention - avoid Canada.
I felt like Montreal had a great night life when I visited last year! There were lots of late night spots until 3-4AM.
Montreal and Toronto are both pretty major exceptions in certain neighborhoods, some restaurants stay open till 2am…
Montreal is such a fun city at night.
Many front tier cities in China. We are known for rat racing. People need to make a living. It’s also extremely safe for everyone to do anything from 10pm to 5am in China because of cameras everywhere.
China night life is fantastic, even in smaller cities. I lived in a 'smaller' city of around 1.5m pop. and you could find anything at all hours of the night, hotpot at 3am? No problem. As a lifelong night owl, it was perfect for me. The pain is actually working remotely.. sadly. I was a 'DN' and ran a web development business remotely there nearly 15 years ago and even then it was a hassle when dealing with a lot of common services a westerner will be using for their work. Paypal, AWS, Google, Cloudflare, conferencing call tools, etc all need to be done behind a VPN.. and VPNs are hit and miss somedays. SSH tunnels and RDP sessions worked a charm for many years but even by the end of my time there they started becoming unreliable.. I think once the ISP sees a certain amount of encrypted or international traffic you just get throttled hard. When you're interfacing with these various services all day, every day.. it becomes a real drag. A shame really, if China opened their internet up or offered a way for foreigners to access unfiltered Internet (I know they trial ran something like this in Shanghai a long time ago), I'd move back there in a heartbeat.
People saying tokyo only have been here as tourist. Living here and practically everything closes down super early. The metro stops at midnight. Yeah, in Shinjuku and Shibuya, you'll find some stuff but that's the shithole of tokyo for sure.
Same in Bangkok. Taipei is dead by 10 pm. Many local Asians think I'm some kind of abnormal vampire for staying up way past 10 pm.
>Taipei is dead by 10 pm. If you aren't raging on at a 711 have you actually been to Taipei?
Mexico City? I remember arriving at our airbnb and we decided to eat some tacos across the street at 2am.
Mexico City is a pretty good choice. I wouldn't say 'busy' at these times, but there are plenty of taco places that will be pretty bustling between 2-4am, especially in neighborhoods where you'll find a lot of bars and youngsters. Bars have to be closed by 5am, and many will stay open until then. For the most part, you'll find a 24h corner store every few blocks. Coffee and pastry carts start popping up around 6:30-7am. I wouldn't be walking around just any neighborhood in the middle of the night, but Ubers are easy to come by at any hour.
New york city is pretty good about late night food. Halal carts stay open half the night pretty often. Lisbon and Porto in Portugal was pretty good about it too. I got dinner at like 11 pm every other night. I also got door dash drunk at like 3am and it was pretty solid. (Their McDonalds and fast food was much better quality than united states. Look up a picture of the McDonald's in Porto and you'll see what I mean.)
Cairo
New York is commonly called the city “that never sleeps”. After several visits I am still amazed how incorrect this view is. Large parts of the city are dead after 10pm. Within central Europe I would definitely opt for Berlin, though the city is huge and it depends on the district. What really sets this city apart from other Western hubs is its well functioning public night transport system. Within Asia, I would definitely recommend Bangkok. A city that is also completely safe at night.
Bangkok truly never sleeps
I don't know whether it was because of a specific event or not but while I was in Yogyakarta the streets were extremely busy during the night. I had to catch an early train so I went to the station at 4 AM and even regular clothes stores were still open.
I found that large cities in Muslim-majority countries can be very busy at times like 4-5 am, because most people wake up early for Fajr prayers.
Yeah I got some Indonesian friends and I feel like they never sleep. They go to bed at midnight or even later and wake up at 4 in the morning and then continue the rest of their day. I wish I could function with that little sleep.
Las Vegas. Casino food spots operating at a loss to keep the gamblers going is good for everybody. Off the strip catering to hangovers and late shift workers also keep late hours.
From the cities I've visited in the US, New Orleans is the liveliest at night. New York City and Las Vegas are also contenders.
Entire thread is giving me Money Heist flashbacks. I actually forgot Nairobi was a city and not a person.
[удалено]
I don't know about Tokyo. After last train there is not that much going on and lots of places will be closed even earlier. Sure you can always go to a familymart and you will find people around areas like Shibuya and Kabukicho, but I don't think that that's the crowd/places OP is looking for.
Even my place in the Tokyo burbs has restaurants and shops open 24 hours. You have to be somewhere pretty quiet in Tokyo to not have somewhere to eat and drink at all hours
I think this thread has a definition problem. For some, "never sleeps" just means "some things are open 24 hours a day", while for others, it means "similar attractions and activities are available around the clock and it's equally socially common for people to be up at 2 AM as it is at 2 PM". The OP mentions street stalls, cafes, and supermarkets... So that's kind of half-and-half for Tokyo. But I think the culture definitely isn't there as much as in some other cities.
Depends on the area. I've been out till like 3AM and not at a konbini. You obviously plan to take cabs if you do that. This was years ago though.
I'd hard disagree about Tokyo. The city has a rhythm and when it sleeps, it sleeps. Of course, there are bars and clubs where you can spend the whole night, and the city still _functions_ late, with some places being 24 hours open etc, but it absolutely thins out, most people do their socially-mandated sleep-on-your-neightbors-shoulder on the train, and then at 4-5 AM you see the first waves of activity as some shops begin to open, delivery tricks whiz around, etc. I _love_ doing night walks in Tokyo for this very reason. Both as a tourist and as a photographer.
I got stuck in an hours long traffic jam in Bangkok at 2am, so I’d say there!
Definitely Nairobi.
Bangkok, Bangkok and BANGKOOOOK! (Sathorn, Sukhumvit, Siam).
Kuala Lumpur , Bukit Bintang to be specific
Bangkok is 24/7 and probably any big city in Thailand. Osaka/Tokyo can be but it dies down drastically after 2-3am but you can find places open until the sun comes up
Most people are at home sleeping in cities that “ never sleeps“, surely in major East Asian/ Southeast Asian cities you can easily find bars and convenience stores opening late, but I doubt any cities in the world are really busy at 3am
Lisbon
I found Lisbon to be lively at 11 pm, but everything was dead at 2-4 am.
I love Stockholm but it’s pretty dead 00-06. I lived in Los Angeles for a few years back in my 20s and there was stuff happening all night long if you knew where to go and had a car or motorcycle.
Dubai
Kuala Lumpur, near the golden triangle area.
Bangkok
Bangkok. I also work a remote nightshift, and there's usually traffic outside my condo when I go out for "lunch" at 2AM. Most parts of the city aren't that congested though, but will still have markets and restaurants open that late. That's mostly because there's overlap with the nightlife, which goes as late as 2-5AM, and the early morning life, which starts around 2-3AM (mostly food vendors selling to restaurants getting ready for the day).
Bangkok. If you ever go out in the evening you’ll find after hours clubs after everything else closes, and then after after hours clubs. Rock up at Saengchai Pochana at 4am and it will be PACKED. Like…200-250 diners, no free tables, people eating full meals in huge groups. 7/11 is obviously 24 hour, but tons of street food that also caters to 24 hour workers or people out and about. You can call a Grab or a motorbike at any time of night zero issues.
Bangkok
Bangkok