A night-by-night guide to Barcelona clubs

Let’s face it, when you go on a city break, the sights you see by day are only one part of the whole experience. Enjoying the city when the sun goes down may well leave you with some of your best holiday memories.

While Barcelona can’t really claim to rival Madrid in the ‘city that never sleeps’ stakes, it does have a lively clubbing scene going on every night of the week. Whether you’re a dedicated clubber or just fancy spending a night getting your groove on, read on for the full week’s party agenda in the Catalan capital.

Before you hit the clubs

You may want to start the party with drinks in your apartment or head straight out to sample Barcelona’s boundless bars. Bear in mind that clubs here don’t usually get going until one or two in the morning and the party continues until daybreak, so plan for a long night ahead!

If you really need to let your hair down, there are huge beach clubs, open-air venues, backstreet hangouts and underground digs all offering something different and effortlessly cool. (The 24hr metro service on Saturday nights means you won’t need to worry about getting there or back.) Check out welovbcn where you can put you and your friends onto guest lists at various clubs each night to save you paying an entry fee (sometimes a cheeky drink is thrown in too).

Other suggestions to go out

Barcelona – every night of the week

Monday

You thought Monday night would be a chilled one? Wrong. Start the week as you mean to go on with Nasty Mondays at Sala Apolo. Monday’s a night dedicated to the skate, surf and snowboard scene where DJ’s Madmax and Soren bang out rock, pop, indie, garage, 80s music and electro rock. A night here will be no tame affair.

Alternatively, the beachside Opium Mar hosts its Hello Mondays night from 11:45 onwards, where you can dance the night away gazing out onto the beautiful sights of the Mediterranean Sea.

Tuesday

For a more sophisticated night, head to Shoko Club, situated right on the beach with a huge terrace, bar, restaurant and dance floor all under the same roof. A popular haunt with tourists and wealthy locals, it is a place to see and be seen. On a Tuesday night, expect RnB, hip hop and house.

There’s also Nasty Mondays’ sister act (pithily entitled Crappy Tuesdays) on at Sala Apolo if you’re into your indie tunes and electro pop.

Wednesday

Compared with other European hotspots like London and Berlin, Barcelona’s progressive music scene is pretty poor. That’s where Moog comes in – a small, dark and atmospheric club, just off the Ramblas, which attracts the cool kids from around the city and is dedicated to techno. Downstairs, underground, you have your electro beats but upstairs in the ‘mirror room’ you can join the crazy crowd going wild to 80s and 90s classics. If you’re looking for somewhere off the tourist and commercial track, make sure you check out this tiny club with a huge reputation!

Thursday

If you want to avoid the touristy crowds at the beach clubs and make like a local, then head to Nick Havanna for a full-on Spanish fiesta. Here you can dance away to the Latino sounds of salsa, merengue and pachanga. Get in for free until 01:30 with Welovbcn.

If you want to go all out, Jamboree bursts onto the scene on Thursday nights with BcnOrDie. They have Flavio Rodriguez in one room banging out hip hop, RnB and dancehall and in the other room you can find DJ Joe Cabana playing indie dance, new disco and electronic rock.

Friday

The weekend starts here and starts hard. Over the weekend you can go to pretty much anywhere and you will be sure to have an amazing night – so your choice really just depends on what kind of music scene you’re looking for.

Arguably Barcelona’s one and only super club, Razzmatazz contains five different club spaces in one massive warehouse style building. Pick a room and spend the night there losing yourself in modern music, or take an adventure and explore the maze of pumping dance floors where you’ll find everything from electro to pop and dubstep to disco. This club is also internationally renowned and offers some of the best line-ups for big players such as Fatboy Slim. Expect a crowd of hip, well-dressed artists, students with designer trainers and young professionals.

For a really raucous night out, Sidecar is a basement club right in the heart of Barcelona, just off the Ramblas. It attracts a younger crowd in search of intimacy and an eclectic mix of beats. After midnight the DJs take to the stage, playing all sorts from modern dance music to good old-fashioned rock and roll. Dress down and expect to get messy.

Saturday

Voted as the 44^th best club in the world in 2010 by DJ Mag, La Terrrazza is not one to miss off your list. Don’t expect to raise the roof there, however, because there isn’t one! You have to visit this hedonistic open-air venue if you’re in Barcelona during the summer months. It’s situated within the walls of the replica village Poble Espanyol, up on Montjuïc, and has been celebrating international DJs since it opened 18 years ago. This is a seriously cool party where you´ll be dancing under the stars until the sun comes up.

Visit the Poble Espanyol at night and skip the line

To join the glamorous crowd and the well-dressed glitterati, take yourself to Catwalk, opposite Barcelona’s Casino. With two floors holding a capacity of around 1000 people, there’s no shortage of space for you to get down and dirty. The main room focuses on house music and has received some of the best international DJs in the world including the likes of Axwell, David Penn, Martin Solveig and Roger Sánchez. Upstairs in the Sky room you can chill out listening to the resident DJ who plays more urban rhythms with some funk and RnB.

Sunday

Last but certainly not least is Happy Sundays at Row 14. This club is immense and anyone partying here has made a real effort, as it’s located 14km outside of Barcelona, near to the airport. It’s pretty easy to reach, though, either by the club’s free bus service or by taxi, which the club covers up to €20.

Kicking off early at 5pm, this party is all about sun worship. The outdoor terraced areas blend into the indoor clubs, creating a quality clubbing experience. If you find it’s too hot and sweaty inside, that’s no problem for Row 14 as they can just open the convertible roof!

Hopefully this article has given you a good idea of how to make the most of your nights in Barcelona. If you are really into your music, it’s worth doing a bit of research beforehand to see if there are any special nights dedicated to your style or perhaps a particular DJ playing that you’d like to see. Or if you are happy to just go with the flow and have a good time, follow this schedule and you won’t go wrong. Enjoy!