Café Hawelka opened in 1939 on Dorotheergasse and stayed in the family through three generations, with smoke-stained walls, ageing leather banquettes and a near-midnight closing time that still pulls writers, students and night-shift staff.
Tip: Order a Buchteln after 16:00 when the yeast buns come out of the oven; they sell out fast on weekends.
Address: Dorotheergasse 6, 1010 Wien, Vienna
Flex moved into a disused U-Bahn tunnel by the Donaukanal under the Augartenbrücke in 1995, and it still books the harder techno, drum and bass and alternative concerts on a sound system regularly named among Europe's best.
Tip: Two rooms: Flex Club proper for the techno and drum and bass nights, the Cafe upstairs for earlier alternative gigs and a slower start.
Volksgarten runs in a 1950s Oswald Haerdtl pavilion inside the Hofburg gardens, splitting the night across a Wintergarten, the main disco floor and the Banco lounge, with a summer garden running through the warm months.
Tip: The summer garden Volksgarten Pavillon opens evenings from May for cocktails before the club. Weekend door queues are slow after 00:30.
Grelle Forelle opened in December 2011 on the Donaukanal under the Spittelauer Lände stairs, with two floors, a custom Funktion-One rig and a Neon Golden light concept that anchor the harder end of Vienna techno.
Tip: 21+ on the door, phones not allowed on the floors. Arrive after 01:00 for the proper room; the upper floor opens for breaks.
Flex moved into a disused U-Bahn tunnel by the Donaukanal under the Augartenbrücke in 1995, and it still books the harder techno, drum and bass and alternative concerts on a sound system regularly named among Europe's best.
Tip: Two rooms: Flex Club proper for the techno and drum and bass nights, the Cafe upstairs for earlier alternative gigs and a slower start.
Volksgarten runs in a 1950s Oswald Haerdtl pavilion inside the Hofburg gardens, splitting the night across a Wintergarten, the main disco floor and the Banco lounge, with a summer garden running through the warm months.
Tip: The summer garden Volksgarten Pavillon opens evenings from May for cocktails before the club. Weekend door queues are slow after 00:30.
Fluc occupies the pedestrian passageway under Praterstern station with the Fluc cafe above and the concrete Fluc_Wanne basement below, running concerts, art and the harder techno bookings of the 2nd district.
Tip: Cafe upstairs runs free entry most nights; tickets only for the basement Fluc_Wanne. U1 and U2 connect at Praterstern.
Das Werk has run in the raw Stadtbahn arches next to Grelle Forelle since 2006, programmed by a cultural association as the rougher, improvised counterweight to its polished neighbour, with the Viennese underground at the decks.
Tip: Cash bar; arrive after 01:00 for the proper room. Walk between Das Werk and Grelle Forelle on a single night for the full Spittelauer Lände spread.
Camera Club sits at the foot of Neubaugasse just off Mariahilfer Strasse, with two dancefloors that book a steady rotation of house, electro, techno, funk and dubstep nights inside a former cinema basement.
Tip: 18 plus on the door; queue before midnight for guestlist rates. Mariahilfer Strasse U3 is two minutes away.