Stockholm Nightlife

Café Opera is the chicest spot in Stockholm and it knows it. Located in the rear of the city’s Opera House, it’s the nightspot of choice for both local, upscale hipsters and visiting jetsetters.

For a quick blast of the Ice Hotel experience without jetting to the Arctic Circle, the Absolut Icebar – the world’s first permafrost tavern – is just the chilly solution. Everything (even the glasses) are made of ice from north Sweden’s Torne River. Admission price of $26 includes warm clothing and one drink.

This friendly, über-popular lounge is named for one of Swedish author August Strindberg’s most famous works. Aside from excellent cocktails and service, there’s a menu of classic Swedish fare as well as a crash course in mixology (offered everyday except for Friday and Sunday).

Stockholm-ers love Mango Bar’s Saturday night Ace party for its stellar lineup of indie and electronic music, performed live and by international DJs.

Söder’s bohemian set frequents this ultra-cool hangout for its heavy indie music slant, which is, no doubt, due to its close connection to Pet Sounds Records across the street. The ground floor’s a restaurant; the basement’s a concert and dance venue.

By day it’s one of Gamla Stan’s better dining options; by night chandelier-bedecked, over-the-top Torget is the queen of Stockholm’s gay scene and a must for queer visitors and similarly-persuasioned locals.

Heavy metal’s got a devoted following across Scandinavia, and one of the Stockholm contingent’s favorite haunts is small, but rocking, Medusa.

This little bit of Cuba on the Baltic lures a mixed crowd of Swedes and Latins for the sumptuous fare of the restaurant upstairs and the rum-fueled, salsa rhythms of the downstairs dancefloor.