Wellington Nightlife, New Zealand

Wellington, New Zealand offers a wide range of nightlife that suits all types of tastes. The capital city is considered the queen of nightlife in the country, with its active nightlife and clubbing. The 400 restaurants and cafes in the city earned it the nickname, the ‘Café Capital’. The main areas of nighttime playground are the Courtenay Place, Willis Street, Queens Wharf, and Lambton Quay. Dozens of bars, clubs, late-night cafes, and restaurants abound in these areas, easily accessible from the major hotels and motels in the central business district. The parties go on till dawn, particularly from Thursdays to Saturdays. Since all the cafes, clubs, and bars offer live bands and dancing, there is not much difference between them as distinct categories. Radio Active 89 FM vies with local and visiting live bands and DJs in pumping out a range of music styles. 

Popular Clubs 

Some of the most popular late night drinking spots are the Backbencher situated in Molesworth Street, Molly Malone’s and Hummingbird in Courtenay Place, and Bar Bodega in Willis Street. Bar Bodega is famous for providing 17 varieties of tap beers and the only hand drawn ales in the city, apart from the Tuatara beers of Wellington. 

CO.2 is a house of champagne specialties, while Matterhorn in Cuba Street is the popular choice of beer lovers. Matterhorn had won the New Zealand Bar of the Year Award in 2008 for three years in a row.

Chill Café & Wine Bar in Central Stratford Apartment Hotel is a stylish and sophisticated night retreat. Coyote Street Bar & Restaurant offers live DJs and vibrant dancing until the small hours.

Blend Café & Bar in Wakefield Street offers several drink promotions every night and is the ideal place for late night drinking and relaxation.

 Bars with a foreign flavor Courtenay Arms is a typical English pub with matching décor, offering tap beers in the midst of pool tables, dart boards and dancing floor.

 Concrete Bar in the central business district is a high class cocktail lounge modeled after the New York bars and having a long wine and cocktails list.

Chicago Sports Café in the waterfront is a unique outdoor/indoor entertainment spot. Themed in the style of the American sports cafes, this café is ideal for private parties and corporate functions.

Gotham takes you to the 1930s old style New York cafes.  

Boulot is with a European environment and matching Italian bar and restaurant menu.

Arbitrageur is another hot spot European menu provider, with more stress on French and Italian cuisine and wines.

 El Horno is a bar on Courtney Place with Mexican theme, offering drinks and music with a Mexican flavor.

Havana Bar brings alive the spirit of Cuba, with rum, coffee and music giving you that special Latin feel and kick. If you feel like having a taste of the 1930s Belgian beer cafes, then Leuven Belgian Beer Café brings you the specialties of the Stella Artois brewery of Leuven. Thus, the nightlife in Wellington is able to offer nearly the entire world briefly. The wide variety available there to suit a range of tastes and preferences makes nightlife in Wellington complete fun and at the same time, an exotic experience.

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