Ghent has a first rate selection of bars which range from antique drinking dens to student haunts to modern high-tech places. Bars are dotted all over the city but in particular there are some distinctive ones, in particular with long beer lists, near Het Gravensteen.

Nightclubs with live-shows and live orchestras are mainly to be found around the Zuid Quarter and other popular areas are around the vicinity of the Three Towers, "het Patershol", "de Groentenmarkt", "de Korenmarkt", "het Sint-Baafsplein" and the Sint-Pietersstation. Students mainly find their entertainment near the Sint-Pietersplein and in the Overpoortstraat, although often these places can be closed or quieter at weekends when the students leave the city.