Strasbourg Nightlife

Strasbourg is a prime spot in France for classical music and opera, music helds an important part in the city life (kids in the elementary school even getting specially organised concerts by international orchestras). In such a context, it was nearly impossible not to have an opera in the town.

The Opéra du Rhin was created in 1972 when the Opera in France was facing a considerable disinterest in the general public.
The ministry of Culture (following Marcel Landowski's idea) decided to focus on five or six large cities, in the goal of re-establishing veritable centers of operatic art but the project took time to come out.
The three towns of Strasbourg, Mulhouse and Colmar decided together to found the Opéra du Rhin, an intermunicipal organization that is currently the only functioning regional opera house in France.

The Opera du Rhin attained a national status in 1998. It has hosted some of the greatest voices of the century,likeTeresa Berganza, Régine Crespin, Montserrat Caballe, José van Dam and others. It offers an annual program of over 130 performances orchestrated around various themes. A central theme beeing chosen for each season.

The Opera du Rhin is also the homebase of the Strasbourg Philharmonic Orchestra.

Beside seeing and listening the performances in the opera house, you can also find a cafe (very nice service) with a terrace (with authentic opera plush chairs on the Opera steps) when the weather is fine.

Dress Code: Business casual for matinees, a bit more dressed up in the evenings.
Tuxedo and long dresses only for the Premieres

Alsacians (and among them Strabourg's inhabitants) absolutely love theater, be it classical, regional or modern.

The TNS (Theatre National de Strasbourg) presents a special status among french theaters : It is one of the 5 "théâtre national" in France (beside Comédie Française, Odéon, Théâtre national de la Colline and Théâtre national de Chaillot) but is the only regional theatre one (The other four are in Paris).

The theatre building hosts the theatre's permanent troupe, the Ecole supérieure d'Art dramatique (one of only two national drama schools in France).

On average, the TNS produces 15-20 productions per season, including performances by its permanent troupe, co-productions and guest productions by visiting companies, some in other languages than French.

All in all, there are about 150 - 200 performances in Strasbourg and another 50 to 100 on tour.

The drama school is part of the theatre since 1954 and is housed within the same facilities. The school has a multidisciplinary curriculum and takes in, two years out of three, a group of 22 or 25 students made up of actors, scenic designers, stage managers and, since 2001, directors and "dramaturges".

Dress Code: Business casual for matinees, a bit more dressed up in the evenings.
Tuxedo and long dresses only for the Premieres

I'm a fan of contemporary dance and Strasbourg has a lot to offer in that respect. You'll regularly find excellent stagings by top-choreographers.
There are other venues (see other tips), but the Opéra du Rhin is undoubtedly the nicest setting for an evening. The architecture is impressive from the outside and lush in a red-velvet kind of way from the inside. Also, there is a stylish (but slightly overpriced) bar/café where you can have a glass of Crémant d'Alsace before the show.

Dress Code: Elegant evening wear, but not over the top. Modern rather than ball-gowns.

If you have a whole night to spend in Strasbourg and you don't feel like you want to sleep, go to this street named "rue des frères" on the left side of the cathedral and you'll find lots of bars where you can have fun and you can change place as long as you want because you'll have the choice : Irish pub, jazz bar, café, brasserie.
A bit hungry? you'll also find lots of restaurants on the same street (which is not that big but there is a lot to do there) : pasta, kebab, flam's, mexican food...

Dress Code: Definitely jeans and T shirt.

This is where you should go. The twins bar tenders are very nice and beer is cheap. Something like 2euros!!
Chill atmosphere of students, I used to go several times a week with University friends and international exchange students! Eest mondays and weekends!

Dress Code: None

Rather than going to a fancy dance club, my friends and I went to this small Jazz Club called Bistro Jazz Club .

Downstairs is a bar with a few tables, upstairs they have some more tables and play live Music. There are free concerts on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.

The bartender spoke French, English and German. Ordering our beers was easy in there.

The only bad point is the price for the beer: € 3.65 for a 25cl beer and a whopping € 6.85 for a pint! Hell, that's even more expensive than Zurich! Iguess they just charched more because we were tourists.

Dress Code: Doesn't matter, there is no Door Man.

Le Rafiot is a boat on the river and its converted to the musical cafe/bar
the atmosphere is quite romantic and the teenagers of strasbourg like to spend their time
with a beer or equivalent beverages on this boat

Dress Code: no needed

This is a town that Kevin Bacon in Footloose needs to visit. The dancing is very very bad as are most of the bars. You could try Offshore in Bischeim which is the best in Strasbourg but take my advice and don't bother with any other. IT WILL ONLY LEAD TO DISPPOINTMENT!

Dress Code: really don't bother unless you like meat markets

You can have a coffee on a lovely square, 'Place du Marché Gayot' in the summer or having a beer close to the cathedral.
There are also nice pubs, like the Nelson or the Irish Times, some bars brewering their own beer, like 'La Lanterne' or 'Les Frères Berthom'.
If you are a beer lover, then you should definitly go the '12 Apotres', next to the cathedral.
When the night is almost over and you are not tired, you can keep on partying at the 'Café des Anges' until 5 am.
Feeling a bit hungry, go the Rock City and meet all your friends.

Dress Code: Nothing special

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Although the west facade is not heavily illuminated at night it still makes a fine sight to study with such a complex variety of sculptures. There are other buildings that stand out in the dark as well in the older part of town.