This one’s for the party animals amongst you guys. If you like to go out, but you are not sure where the most popular spots are, let me help you. I have a good one for each day of the week, depending on your preferences. That doesn’t mean I encourage you to drink and go out though. 😀 This guide is simply to make your life easier in case your schedule is less flexible, but you don’t want to miss out on Vancouver’s Nightlife.
Monday: Fortune Sound Club
You probably think “who goes out on Monday nights”, right? But Midnight Monday’s are very popular at Fortune Sound Club in Chinatown. They play R&B beats and you can get $4 Highballs. The party starts at 10pm! My tip: go check out some bars in Gastown before you go and warm up for the dance floor with a couple of cocktails. I personally like The Diamond. It’s a little more pricey, but they have a great variation of very unique cocktails. If you’re lucky you might also run into the cast of the Netflix series Riverdale, since they like to go out to this bar as well. 🙂
Tuesday: The Cambie
You wouldn’t expect it, but yes, even on Tuesdays it gets quite busy at certain bars/clubs in Vancouver. The Cambie is known as a hostel, but it has it’s own bar and let me tell you: It gets pretty wild in there, especially on Tuesdays, because it’s Latin night! You can swing your hips to some South American beats while enjoying a variety of beverages to very reasonable prices. A pitcher of Lager costs around $16, which is pretty good for Vancouver prices. Another reason to go: You’ll meet lots of cool people from many different countries! The Cambie is an international hot spot. I make new friends every time I go.
Wednesday: Pub Night
Of course Wednesday’s are for Pub Nights! Less clubbing, more bar feeling. Even though a pub night can on occasion also end in a “go home at 3am with a cheeseburger” kind of night. Every Wednesday we switch pubs to show you as many cool places as possible and then you can pick your favourites. Pub nights are great to meet people like you, who are here for an international experience. Further, they are amazing to exchange some experiences with one another, plus you can plan some weekend activities together, which makes your time here in Vancouver even better!
Thursday: Library Square Public House
From 8pm till 2am you can enjoy some Reggaeton and Top 40 Hits at Library Square’s International Thursday’s. This party will for sure get you in the mood for the weekend! I recommend buying tickets in advance to secure yourself a spot on the dance floor, plus it’s way cheaper. Only $8 cover charge if you buy in advance, and $15 if you buy your ticket at the door.
Friday: The Yale Saloon
Yes, it’s a country bar! This one is especially interesting for the ladies, since they can get in for free if they show up before 9pm on a Friday night! Yehaaaw! Otherwise cover charge is between $12 and $14. They only take cash at the entrance, so make sure you grab some before you go. I know some of you have their prejudices towards country music, but you’ll be surprised how popular it is in Canada. A lot of young people love going to this bar to sing and dance to some honkeytonk. I feel it’s actually more towards pop music nowadays, once you hear some songs for a few times you can probably sing along, which makes going there even more fun. The highlight of this bar is the mechanical bull. You can ride it for free, but if you want the bull operator to be nice to you, leave a little tip in his jar. 😉 Definitely a must-visit while you are here!
Saturday: Anywhere on Granville Street
On Saturday’s there are parties everywhere! I like to go to Granville street, which literally turns into a party mile at night! The road is usually blocked because there’s too many people walking around the area. You can just walk by and see what you like, I believe there’s something for everybody. Though, it might be good to go earlier, before the crowds arrive, since line-ups for the clubs and bars can get really long. A few of my favourites are Cavo, Cinema, Hotel Belmont, The Roxy, Cabana and the Colony. Each has a different vibe to it! It’s best to go and see for yourself which one’s your favourite.
Sunday: Roxy
Okay, this one is honestly my favourite club in Vancouver. They have great music every day of the week, always switching between half an hour live band and half an hour DJ. It’s a fun atmosphere, the bartenders are nice and it’s a little more casual. Roxy Sundays are legendary. It’s country night (I know, country again, but you’ll start to like it faster than you’d know) and it gets really busy! A lot of people who work in the service industry come here to celebrate on Sunday’s, since they usually work on Friday/Saturday nights, when everybody else is going out. If you are early you can get a free cowboy hat from the bartenders. They also have a photo booth and a pool table in case you’re not a big fan of dancing. You can get a Corona and a shot of Tequila for $11 bucks on Sunday’s, that’s a pretty good deal. The cover charge varies, but I’d say it’s worth checking it out.
I hope this post is useful for you and I think you should just go and see for yourself! Of course this is just a selection and there’s many more options. Maybe you have a favourite already? Feel free to leave any suggestions in the comment section. 🙂
Make sure you invite me, or let me know how it was. 😉
Cheers, Laura 🙂
This week we went to the Two Parrots. They had reserved a whole gallery by the windows for us and created a new sort of space for us – a circular table setting in which many of us started out with some great food and drinks. Having become a dark beer enthusiast lately, I tried a Stanley Park Brewery special which had the greatest taste – a combination of the typical dark beer flavour, stripped off the extreme bitterness some dark beers might have, in addition with a nice taste of sweetness. Lovely, especially in combination with the very Canadian dish of Poutine!
This PuB-Night started off to be a bit more classy than the usual PuB-Nights are. We went to the Old Spaghetti Factory, which is a restaurant and not a PuB, but you know … sometimes we do crazy stuff and break the rules ;-D!
Time didn’t seem an issue as the night went on and we moved to The Cambie . It’s difficult to go home when the group vibes are too good. Beer Pong is always a great way to bring the group together and have a tournament. We were clearly having too much fun as other people around the bar wanted a turn and soon became friends with strangers. It was the last game, the finale and it was INTERNeX V.s Australians, sadly, they won but they gave the winning money to INTERNeX who turned the money into …… you guessed it, FIREBALL SHOTS. We thank those random Australians for their good sports.
Even though INTERNeX couldn’t bring home this cup, we still enjoyed it very much. And I still made a winning experience, I had my first fireball, what an experience! To be honest – I definitely expected worse, I even liked it.
INTERNeX Canada 