Nightlife in Melbourne

The pulsating nightlife in Melbourne and its extensive entertainment options have always impressed those new to Melbourne; and why shouldn't it? With a combined total, of more than 1,000 pubs, bars and nightclubs, Melbourne has a vibrant nightlife to keep the party animals busy all night long.

Melbourne is widely renowned as Australia's bar capital and hub of live music. Add to it a throbbing club land, and the city is all geared up to serve partygoers of varying styles and tastes. While the central business district is the favorite joint for after-work drinkers, it also gets more than its share of young, trendy crowd of inner-city professionals. Those preferring to be incognito can have their favorite spirits in some of the chic bars of Melbourne, tucked away in the city's many lanes or across the Yarra River in Southgate, a modern riverside precinct.

In fact, there are several Melbourne venues that function variously as bars, clubs and live-music rooms depending on the night and the hour. The varied nature of the bars and clubs translates to mean that the dress code also varies enormously, but generally trendy night joints adhere to a strict dress code to maintain classiness in the crowd.

Most of the clubs allow free entry, though a nominal entry fee is introduced on weekends after 2100 hours. Gay Melbourne is usually concentrated in the inner suburb of South Yarra, with numerous pubs, clubs and discos concentrated around Commercial Road. For those who love to be out in the dark can go for other options available in the other inner-city districts, such as Fitzroy and St Kilda, by Port Philip Bay.

The clubs and bars in Melbourne do not adhere to a specific closing time as such, but follow an operating time that best suits their business hours. Therefore, while one set of pubs can close at 11pm, the next set can pull their shutters at 1am, and the rest at 3am.

There are a few venues that fall in the 5am or even 7am license bracket, thus allowing ample scope for Melbourne nightlife and entertainment to move around a little - what might be a dead nightlife spot at 11pm might be heaving at 1am.

In addition, very relaxed licensing hours means that the people in Melbourne drink through the night. The minimum drinking age is 18 years. A beer served in a bar is approximately priced at A$5, while the same beer is likely to be a little overpriced in a nightclub