{"id":872296,"date":"2026-08-29T13:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-29T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=872296"},"modified":"2026-08-28T16:34:13","modified_gmt":"2026-08-28T14:34:13","slug":"south-african-city-ranked-among-the-top-10-in-the-world-for-nightlife","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/lifestyle\/872296\/south-african-city-ranked-among-the-top-10-in-the-world-for-nightlife\/","title":{"rendered":"South African city ranked among the top 10 in the world for nightlife"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Johannesburg has been named the seventh-best city in the world for nightlife.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Time Out has recently published its new Global Nightlife Ranking for 2026, placing Johannesburg as the highest-ranked African city on the list.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ranking is based on a survey of over 24,000 respondents living in cities, as well as the assistance of Time Out\u2019s global network of local editors and city experts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the new ranking, Bangkok, Thailand, was voted the best for nightlife worldwide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Johannesburg received an affordability score of 66%, which makes it one of the more budget-friendly places to experience a night out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Time Out, 80% of people living in Johannesburg said it was easy to find connections and community in Joburg.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For this sector, this is one of the highest scores recorded for the 2026 survey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The activities voted Joburg\u2019s best nightlife endeavours include clubbing, casual pubs, and cocktail bars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cJohannesburg\u2019s nightlife has always thrived on reinvention. From the legendary Carfax warehouse parties of the 1990s to today\u2019s genre-blurring dance floors,\u201d local expert Mlili Mpondo told Time Out.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cJozi remains one of Africa\u2019s most exciting places to stay out until sunrise,” Mpondo said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mpondo said that Newtown remains one of the best places to experience vibrant energy. On Gwigwi Mrwebi Street.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The street was named after the South African jazz musician and saxophonist Benni \/ Gwigwi Mrwebi, who took local sounds beyond the country\u2019s borders. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Club A.M., AND Club, Bad Manors, and Carfax are very popular clubs in Joburg, and are located next to each other in one of the city\u2019s biggest nightlife precincts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Johannesburg\u2019s nightlife has been praised for its diversity, ranging from deep house, techno, Afro-house, gqom, drum and bass, to experimental sounds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Melville and Rosebank in Johannesburg offer cocktail bars, live music and neighbourhood hangouts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Local favourites include Six Cocktail Bar on 7th Street and A Streetbar Named Desire on Bolton Road.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2026 top 20 best cities for nightlife<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Rank<\/th>City<\/th>Country<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
1<\/strong><\/td>Bangkok<\/td>Thailand<\/td><\/tr>
2<\/strong><\/td>Berlin<\/td>Germany<\/td><\/tr>
3<\/strong><\/td>New York City<\/td>United States<\/td><\/tr>
4<\/strong><\/td>Melbourne<\/td>Australia<\/td><\/tr>
5<\/strong><\/td>S\u00e3o Paulo<\/td>Brazil<\/td><\/tr>
6<\/strong><\/td>Medell\u00edn<\/td>Colombia<\/td><\/tr>
7<\/mark><\/strong><\/td>Johannesburg<\/mark><\/td>South Africa<\/mark><\/td><\/tr>
8<\/strong><\/td>Brighton<\/td>United Kingdom<\/td><\/tr>
9<\/strong><\/td>Beijing<\/td>China<\/td><\/tr>
10<\/strong><\/td>Amsterdam<\/td>Netherlands<\/td><\/tr>
11<\/strong><\/td>Porto<\/td>Portugal<\/td><\/tr>
12<\/strong><\/td>Hong Kong<\/td>Hong Kong<\/td><\/tr>
13<\/strong><\/td>Athens<\/td>Greece<\/td><\/tr>
14<\/strong><\/td>Madrid<\/td>Spain<\/td><\/tr>
15<\/strong><\/td>Hanoi<\/td>Vietnam<\/td><\/tr>
16<\/strong><\/td>Seoul<\/td>South Korea<\/td><\/tr>
17<\/strong><\/td>Bangalore<\/td>India<\/td><\/tr>
18<\/strong><\/td>Accra<\/td>Ghana<\/td><\/tr>
19<\/strong><\/td>Singapore<\/td>Singapore<\/td><\/tr>
20<\/strong><\/td>Mexico City<\/td>Mexico<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

South Africa takes the stage<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Earlier this year, South Africa took home another global award. Cape Town was ranked the 11th-best city in the world for food in Time Out\u2019s 2026 ranking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cape Town has joined the ranks of global cities such as Lima, Bangkok, Mexico City, London, and Barcelona. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The annual ranking, which evaluates cities based on a global survey of residents, is conducted by Time Out\u2019s international network of food experts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The assessment considers factors such as food quality, affordability, innovation, diversity, and local dining culture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although Cape Town fell from fourth place in the 2025 rankings, it achieved the third-highest score worldwide for food quality, with 93% of locals rating it positively. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The city’s drop in the rankings was mainly due to issues with affordability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among the standout culinary experiences highlighted by Time Out were Amura by \u00c1ngel Le\u00f3n and the Test Kitchen Fledglings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The group said that this recognition is part of a broader wave of international acclaim for South African food and culture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Time Out also ranked Zuney Burger\u2019s Wagyu Burger as the second-best burger in the world, following Tokyo\u2019s Smash Things, in an earlier 2026 ranking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Johannesburg\u2019s Mafia Bite secured the eighth position, demonstrating the depth and diversity of South Africa\u2019s culinary scene.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Photos of Joburg nightclubs<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

South Africa’s richest city has been named the as one of the top destinations in the world for its nightlife.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":127,"featured_media":648679,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"posted","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"2093655175407755613","_sma_facebook_post_id":"191437357620492_2189996355154097","_sma_instagram_post_id":"18122687809876706","_sma_x_attempts":1,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9876],"tags":[26311,1996,26310],"class_list":["post-872296","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle","tag-best-cities-for-nightlife","tag-johannesburg","tag-time-out-global-nightlife-ranking"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/872296","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/127"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=872296"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/872296\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":872380,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/872296\/revisions\/872380"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/648679"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=872296"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=872296"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=872296"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}