Why you shouldn't miss out on the nightlife in Wales

It's not all just hiking, biking and stunning scenery. From quiet pubs to buzzing clubs, here’s where to go when the sun goes down

Enjoy a cocktail with a scientific slant at Lab 22 in Cardiff

Visit Wales and you'll find it hard to tear yourself away from its beautiful scenery during the day.

But, head out in the evening and you'll find some amazing nightlife in towns and cities across the country. Here are some suggestions:

Cardiff

As the Welsh capital, it’s no surprise Cardiff is home to the country’s most vibrant nightlife, with everything on offer from quiet pubs to thumping nightclubs. Lab 22 is one of the city’s best cocktail bars, taking mixology to the extreme in a low-lit, atmospheric setting. The menu has a scientific slant, with drinks listed like chemical elements. Or, head to The Dead Canary, which has taken the Year of Legends theme to heart by developing cocktails based on Welsh folklore.

If your vibe is more craft beer than cocktails, try the Cambrian Tap, an historic city centre boozer that’s been given a modern makeover and specialises in beer, with 18 draught taps serving Brains Craft Brewery products plus other microbrews from across the UK. Fancy a taste of further afield? Try the range of bottled and canned beers from around the world.

Head to Cambrian Tap in Cardiff for craft beers

​Clwb Ifor Bach, in the Castle Quarter, is an award-winning, three-floor live music venue and club, where you can hear practically any genre, including rock’n’roll, R&B, indie and pop classics. Open until 4am at weekends, this is the place to come if you’re in it for the long haul.

Swansea

Serving coffee by day and cocktails by night, chic No. 6 Bar draws in Swansea’s cool crowd with its bare brick walls, stripped wood tables and Instagramable drinks. It also serves street food-style snacks, so you can sate your appetite and your thirst.

Another classy cocktail joint is The Perch, which dishes up live music, stand-up comedy and mixology masterclasses alongside drinks and sharing plates. As well as a comprehensive cocktail list, there’s a range of wines. And, billing itself as “the first micro-pub in Wales”, Mumbles Ale House feels more like a cosy living room than a pub, and is indeed the city’s smallest. But despite it’s size, it was Swansea Camra’s Pub of the Year 2016.

Best of the rest

Tiny Rebel is arguably Wales’s best-known craft brewery, and since starting out as a pop-up at Newport market in 2015 it’s opened a flagship bar in the town. Just minutes away from the company’s brewery, it serves an international selection of beer and cider, as well as Tiny Rebel’s own (very) locally made brews. Hungry? There’s hearty grub on offer here too.

For a touch of Prohibition era-chic, head to Nolton Corner in Bridgend, where the bar is tiled, glasses hand from the ceiling and a great range of drinks lines the bar. Look out for the regular live music sessions, comedy nights and wine tastings.

The Libertine is perhaps the most chic bar in Aberystwyth and has been shaking up cocktails just off the seafront since 2015. Here the Heston Blumenthalesque molecular creations are served in vintage-style surroundings.

All content was commissioned and approved by Visit Wales