Edinburgh and Glasgow top London as UK’s nightlife hotspots, Uber data shows

Edinburgh and Glasgow have a busier nightlife than London, according to data on late-night journeys from Uber.The global ride-hailing app analysed millions of trips and takeaway deliveries from the UK’s biggest cities, and found that Edinburgh had the highest proportion of journeys made between 10pm and 4am.The most popular late-night spot was Cabaret Voltaire.Glasgow had the next highest number of late-night trips, with most rides requested to and from Sub Club, the world-renowned basement venue that has been going since 1987.London came third, with its most popular nightlife venue being Fabric. Cardiff also featured in the top 10, with Clwb Ifor Bach claiming the title of most requested nightlife spot.Separate data from the rival taxi app Bolt late last year showed a 15% increase in night-time activity in 2025 comparedwith the previous year, with the peak time to go out shifting from 11pm on Saturdays to midnight.The Music Venue Trust suggested earlier this week that there were reasons to be cheerful after bleak years for grassroots music venues in 2023 and 2024. Its annual report found that nearly as many venues opened or were revived as closed down – an improvement on recent years.The number of nightclubs in the UK more than halved from 1,700 to 787 between 2013 and 2024 after being hit by the pandemic, legislative changes and the cost of living crisis.Uber’s data shows that eight out of 10 of the country’s top requested destinations were train stations, but tourist spots were also in high demand, with the likes of London’s Hyde Park, Edinburgh Castle and The Beatles Story museum in Liverpool the most sought after in their respective cities.Data from Uber Eats showed that major cities and university hubs such as Manchester, Birmingham and Leeds were a hive for late-night deliveries, and were most likely to place orders between 10pm and 4am.Chinese food remained the most searched for on the app in 2025, but searches for sushi, pizza and Thai food more than doubled on the previous year.An emerging trend was the matcha craze, as reflected in the app’s data with searches for the Japanese green tea powder drink soaring by 700% in 2025 compared with the year before.