What does a night out cost?
A Stauder Pils in a pub costs about €2.80 for 0.3 l, a half-litre around €4.50, cocktails around €8.50. Party entry is usually €5–10, €9 at Delta. All guide prices.
All costs and money-saving tips ↓Pubs on the Rü, rock on Viehofer Platz, the coal mine and Baldeneysee by day: here's how to plan your stag do or hen party in Essen yourself, cheaply and with no closing time, with the best things to do for groups of men and women alike.
Good to know
A Stauder Pils in a pub costs about €2.80 for 0.3 l, a half-litre around €4.50, cocktails around €8.50. Party entry is usually €5–10, €9 at Delta. All guide prices.
All costs and money-saving tips ↓The NachtExpress lines NE1 to NE16 leave from the main station every night. During the week the last ones run at 01:30; on Friday and Saturday nights they run hourly until morning. Taxi: Taxi Essen 0201 86655.
Ruhrbahn timetable ↗Essen has no general closing time for pubs and bars, and the cleaning hour has been scrapped too. Entertainment venues have to close from 01:00 to 06:00. Outdoor seating usually shuts at midnight.
The city's public order regulations ban peeing in public, leaving bottles and broken glass behind, and drunken harassment once you've been told to stop, with fines of up to €1,000. At Delta you only get in if you're 18 and carry your original ID.
The city's beer is Stauder, a family brewery in Altenessen since 1867, with tours. People also drink at the Büdchen, the Ruhr's kiosks, which celebrate their own day in August. And the local dialect is Ruhrdeutsch.
By train you'll reach Essen from Düsseldorf in just over half an hour, from Cologne in an hour, from Frankfurt in just over 2, from Hamburg in just under 3 and from Berlin in just under 5 hours. From Düsseldorf Airport the RE takes about 20 minutes.
Stay in Rüttenscheid or in the city centre near the main station. Hotels average €110–125, and cheap rooms start at €35. During SPIEL in October and the Motor Show at the end of November, the city is full.
May to September is the time for Baldeneysee, beer gardens and the Weiße Flotte. When it rains, there's karting, laser tag, escape rooms and blacklight mini golf, or the guided tour of Zollverein, which is just as good indoors.
Plan & map
Pubs, clubs, beer halls and activities on one map: filter by type, add your favourites with “+ Add to plan” and share the plan with your group via a link, no account needed. Rather have a ready-made schedule? The itinerary generator builds one for you.
Essen activities by type: click an idea and the list and map show only what matches.
A guided tour of the Zollverein Coal Mine, a smartphone scavenger hunt, a brewery tour at Stauder and house beer in Borbeck.
Lake cruises and a party boat, a beach with SUP and team challenges, canoeing on the Ruhr, all in season.
Up to 55 people at once on Ruhrallee, five rooms with film themes, or an outdoor escape game.
Indoor karting with a stag and hen package, laser tag and axe throwing in Borbeck, blacklight mini golf, activity halls in Gelsenkirchen.
Private karaoke rooms for up to 20 people, karaoke at the Irish pub at weekends, or once a month at the old pub.
A cocktail workshop in Rüttenscheid, a bar course at the tiki bar, then sauna and salt-water pool in Nienhausen.
Rock and metal on Viehofer Platz, eleven areas in the Westviertel, techno in the bunker, a small club on the Stern.
Rock pub on Viehofer Platz, with the motto “Born to Rock since 1991”, pool tables from 18:00 and a beer garden. Open until 04:00 on Fridays and Saturdays. Reservations only on Mondays and Tuesdays, with exceptions for bigger groups if you arrange it by email.
Bar on Viehofer Platz right next to Café Nord and turock; according to OpenStreetMap open until 04:00 on Fridays and Saturdays and until 01:00 on Wednesdays and Thursdays. There's no website of its own, just a Facebook page. A good stop between pub and club.
Bar, beer garden and club on Salzmarkt: plush red inside with chandeliers and leather sofas, outside a beer garden under plane trees. In the club, electronic music on Fridays and anything from reggae to rock on Saturdays, plus a table football table. Monday to Saturday from 18:00.
Pub on Gerlingplatz behind Viehofer Platz, where, by its own account, people have been drinking since 1892. Quiz on Mondays, karaoke on the last Saturday of the month with a schnapps for every song, and cheaper draught beer on Thursdays. Book by phone from 18:00.
Irish pub in Rüttenscheid with the club Hudson's under the same roof, about 400 seats inside and 600 in the beer garden. Karaoke from 22:00 and clubbing from 23:00 on Fridays and Saturdays. Reservations by email only, and only until 19:30.
Dutch brown café on Isenbergstraße in Rüttenscheid, with coffee, frietjes, tostis, beer and whisky. According to OpenStreetMap open until 03:00 on Fridays and Saturdays, and it seems to be cash only. There's no website.
Pub on Alfredstraße in Rüttenscheid with German and Mediterranean food and a beer garden in summer. Jam session on a small stage on Thursdays, live gigs on Saturdays. Open until 02:00 on Fridays and Saturdays, kitchen until 22:00.
Café, bar and restaurant on Kennedyplatz with chicken, pizza, bowls and burgers, plus craft beer and cocktails. According to OpenStreetMap open until 01:00 on Fridays and Saturdays, with seats outside on the square. Book via the website.
Small tiki cocktail bar in the Südviertel; by its own account the oldest owner-run cocktail bar in the city, with home-made syrups. You can't reserve. Groups can book bar courses and tastings. Open until 02:00 on Fridays and Saturdays.
Karaoke in six private rooms with big screens for up to 20 people. You pay for the room by the hour: €50 at weekends for ten to twelve people. Drinks packages can be added; bringing your own drinks is not allowed.
Small brewery with a taproom in Frohnhausen, brewing on site on a three-hectolitre kit and pouring changing house beers and beers from friendly breweries. Thursday to Saturday from 17:00; you can see the kit from the bar.
Music pub in Frohnhausen since 1995, with music away from the mainstream, recorded and live, plus pool tables. Wednesday to Sunday from 17:00, until 03:00 on Fridays and Saturdays. Cash only.
Club on Viehofer Platz with gigs and parties, mainly rock and metal, such as the metal party Blackout. Party entry on the door is usually €5–10; gigs cost more. Only open on event days, so check the programme.
Small club on the Rüttenscheider Stern, open from 23:00 on Fridays, Saturdays and before public holidays. Reserve tables for your group on the website. It's right by the U-Bahn, just a few steps after a night in the pubs on the Rü.
Club in a former air-raid bunker on Goethestraße in Rüttenscheid, with the Bunkernacht series and DJs playing electronic music. Only a few dates a month; the programme with dates is on the website. For groups who are up for techno.
Mega club in the Westviertel on an old industrial site, with eleven areas from charts through '90s and Schlager to hip-hop. €9 entry at its own parties, doors from 22:00, over-18s only with original ID. Smart dress code, no tracksuits.
Club on Kettwiger Straße in the city centre with theme parties, mainly over-30s and over-40s nights with '80s and '90s music. In summer there's a garden with high tables outside the club. ID is required at the over-30s and over-40s parties.
Club on Kopstadtplatz, a few minutes from the main station, with parties every weekend. Mostly Latin and reggaeton, plus live acts. For groups who want to dance to exactly that; otherwise more of a stop among several.
Club in a former cinema with a ten-metre-high ceiling and three galleries: house and classics in the Showroom, R'n'B and soul in the Goldclub. Lounges can be reserved for groups, mostly on Saturdays from 23:00. Smart, elegant dress code; costumes are best left at home.
Club and lounge bar in the city centre with live acts, a house band and DJs at weekends; the website is also available in Bosnian. The club explicitly caters for stag and hen parties, with tables at a minimum spend from €150 and a deposit.
Artists' and creative centre in the city centre with a stage, group rooms and a roof terrace. Entry includes unlimited coffee and soft drinks; beer and wine are sold at the late-night shop in the building. Group rooms can be booked for bring-your-own parties.
Former coal mine, now a World Heritage Site with the Ruhr Museum. The guided tour of Shaft XII takes an hour and costs €12.50; every tour can be booked as a private group tour for up to 20 people. Tram 107 to Zollverein; parking is free.
Escape rooms on Ruhrallee, about 800 metres from the main station. The group package for eight or more costs €23 per person for an hour and a half, and up to 55 people can play at once. With six players you pay €24 per person.
Activity halls in Gelsenkirchen-Ückendorf, about 9 km from Essen main station, fully covered and open every day. Laser tag, VR, axe throwing, bubble football and more; you put together your own stag or hen package. The four-hour pass costs €29.90.
Five escape rooms on Steeler Straße with nods to classic films, formerly called Findito. With six to seven players, from €30 per person. There's a dedicated enquiry page for stag and hen parties.
3D blacklight mini golf with 18 holes at Limbecker Platz, a few minutes from the main station. A round costs €14.50, or €12.50 per person from four people; reserve a start time online. Stag and hen parties are explicitly welcome.
Boats across Baldeneysee and along the Ruhr; the two-hour lake cruise costs €19.50, or €19 from 20 people. Plus party trips with a DJ, from Schlager to the '80s, about four hours. Whole boats can be chartered. Only in season, from spring to autumn.
Beach on the north shore of Baldeneysee with beach volleyball, beach bars, a high-ropes course and SUP hire, entry €6. Team and beach challenges from 15 people, dragon boats from 20. Only from May to September.
Canoe trips on the Ruhr, with a base in Kupferdreh at the eastern end of Baldeneysee. A four-person Canadian canoe from Horst to Kupferdreh costs €80 per boat; for groups there are big Canadians for six to ten, dragon boats and rafts. Only in season, until the end of September.
Ice rink on the site of the Zollverein coking plant, only in winter from early December to early January. Entry €11.50. Eisstockschießen, a German cousin of curling, on four lanes for up to twelve people each, 90 minutes with equipment; book online.
Tour of the Stauder family brewery in Altenessen, brewing since 1867: through the brewhouse with its copper kettles to the bottling line, then a tasting with pretzels. About 2.5 hours in all for €19.50 per person. Monday to Thursday only, groups from 15.
Cocktail workshops in Rüttenscheid, with stag and hen parties explicitly on the list. The beginners' course takes about two hours with five cocktails for €59 per person. Private workshops from six people, plus gin, rum or tequila tastings.
Sauna complex in Revierpark Nienhausen, about 7 km north of the city centre, with nine saunas and an outdoor salt-water pool at 34 degrees. Two hours cost €23.50 at weekends. Open until 23:00 on Fridays and Saturdays; from 14:00 at weekends it's nude-only.
Indoor kart track in the north of Essen. The stag and hen package for eight or more costs €54 per person, with practice laps, a 25-minute race and a prize-giving including T-shirts. Food and drinks can be added. Open 11:00–23:00 on Saturdays.
Activity centre in Borbeck with laser tag, blacklight mini golf, axe throwing and Pixel Games on more than 2,400 m². Stag and hen laser tag from €20 per person, and you can add a hired costume or eight beers. On Saturdays from 20:00 there's FunNight with unlimited everything.
Pizza and pasta restaurant from the L'Osteria chain on Rüttenscheider Straße, with a big terrace in summer. You can have your pizza with two different halves. Open until midnight on Fridays and Saturdays; book online or by phone.
Family-run inn in Rüttenscheid with traditional German food and mussels, and a big beer fountain in the bar room. The wood-panelled dining room holds parties of up to 40. Closed on Sundays and Mondays; book by phone or email.
Brewpub in Borbeck with its own steam beer, Zwickel and a dark Salonbier, plus a welcome in the brewhouse. The function hall holds up to 350 guests. Book online for up to ten people, by phone for more. About 5 km from the main station.
Burger grill from the chain at the southern end of Rüttenscheider Straße, with meat, vegetarian and vegan burgers, salads and a cocktail bar, decked out like a birch forest. Book online, by phone or by email. A good base before the Rü.
Nelson Müller's brasserie with an open kitchen on the Rüttenscheider Stern: fried potatoes, fish in batter, Käsespätzle, currywurst. Evenings Tuesday to Saturday from 17:45, closed on Sundays. Ask in advance for larger groups.
Asian buffet with live cooking at the Mongolian grill, in a brick building of the old Krupp cast-steel works in the Westviertel. Open until midnight on Fridays and Saturdays. Groups book via the website; a good base before Delta.
Restaurant at the northern end of Rüttenscheider Straße, now serving Italian food, though the steaks have stayed. Plus cocktails and wines from the bar. Book by phone; according to OpenStreetMap closed on Sundays.
Inn, café and beer garden high above Baldeneysee with views over the Ruhr valley and Villa Hügel. The beer garden holds 400 guests, half of it self-service. Tuesday to Sunday until 22:00, closed on Mondays, more than 200 parking spaces.
Restaurant in the former compressor hall of the Zollverein Coal Mine, with regional food, mains around €25–34, plus a tapas platter for miners. Tuesday to Sunday from 17:00, closed on Mondays. A good dinner after the guided tour.
Smartphone scavenger hunt across the Zollverein Coal Mine: with puzzles and tasks you explore the UNESCO World Heritage Site as a team, with no fixed guide and at your own pace. A clever daytime activity that combines industrial heritage with group fun.
Interactive smartphone game around the Zollverein Coal Mine UNESCO site: you solve tasks, learn the history of the World Heritage Site and compete against each other as a group. Start whenever you like; ideal as a relaxed opener for the day.
Self-guided outdoor escape game right across Essen: with your phone as the game master you puzzle your way from stop to stop through the city, whenever you like and at your own pace. An active, tricky activity that brings the group together.
Long-distance station with ICE and IC trains, and the starting point of all the NachtExpress lines. Long-distance coaches stop on the south side at Freiheit. Kennedyplatz is about 500 metres away, Viehofer Platz a little further. The meeting point for everyone arriving by train.
Small square between Kennedyplatz and III. Hagen, with the Temple Bar's bar, beer garden and club right on the square under plane trees. A quieter meeting point in the city centre, just a few steps from Kennedyplatz.
Junction of Rüttenscheider Straße and Klarastraße with a U-Bahn stop, in the middle of Rüttenscheid. A club and Nelson Müller's brasserie are right on the square, with the pubs of the Rü all around. The meeting point for a night on the Rü.
Central square in the city centre, ringed by cafés and restaurants. In May it hosts the main stage of the Essen Original city festival, and in Advent the Christmas market is here. It's about 500 metres on foot from the main station.
Square on the northern edge of the city centre, with three pubs and a club right next to each other and another pub just behind on Gerlingplatz. Start here and you can switch venues with almost no walking. Rock and metal dominate.
Square on the north side of the main station, where the Kettwiger Straße pedestrian zone starts towards the city centre. A meeting point right at the station, from where you walk into the city centre and to Kennedyplatz.
Guide prices excluding travel, food & accommodation. Check the provider for today's prices.
🗺️ Open route in Google MapsNeighbourhoods
In the evening, Essen heads either to the Rü in Rüttenscheid or to Viehofer Platz on the edge of the city centre. By day there's industrial heritage at Zollverein or Baldeneysee in the south. The U-Bahn links the city centre and the Rü in a few minutes.
For pubs and the club on the Stern
Along Rüttenscheider Straße, the Rü for short: an Irish pub with about 1,000 seats inside and out and karaoke at weekends, a pub with jam sessions and gigs, a small club on the Stern. North of it, in the Südviertel, a tiki bar that takes no reservations but does run bar courses.
For rock and metal
On Viehofer Platz a rock pub open since 1991, a bar and a metal club sit door to door, and on Gerlingplatz behind them is a pub where people have been drinking since 1892. Start here and you can switch venues with almost no walking, and keep going until 04:00 at weekends.
For mini golf, karaoke and bars
Around Kennedyplatz and Salzmarkt: a bar with a beer garden under plane trees and a club in the basement, a café with seats out on the square, karaoke in private rooms for up to 20. At Limbecker Platz you can play blacklight mini golf, five minutes from the main station.
For the coal mine and industrial heritage
In the north is the Zollverein World Heritage Site, with guided tours of Shaft XII, dinner in the old compressor hall and, in winter, an ice rink at the coking plant. A few kilometres west, Stauder has been brewing since 1867, with tours and tastings during the week. Get there on tram 107.
For a day by the water
In the south at Baldeneysee: lake cruises and party trips with the Weiße Flotte, a beach with SUP hire and team challenges, canoeing on the Ruhr from Kupferdreh. High above the lake, an inn with a beer garden for 400. All in season, from spring to autumn.
For karting, laser tag and a brewpub
In the west you can race karts on an indoor track and play laser tag, mini golf and axe throwing under one roof in Borbeck. Then on to the brewpub with its own steam beer and a function hall for 350. In Frohnhausen a small brewery brews right behind the bar.
Sample itinerary
This is what a weekend that works in Essen looks like, with a different focus depending on your group. You'll find every venue in the planner above, where you can swap out individual stops.
Its own steam beer, a function hall for big groups; book by phone.
Rock pub with pool tables, a bar and a metal club next door.
At weekends the pub stays open until 04:00.
Stag and hen package with a 25-minute race and T-shirts for everyone.
A one-hour guided tour of Shaft XII.
Karaoke from 22:00; book by email.
Eleven areas in the Westviertel, over-18s only with original ID.
Classics from Nelson Müller; ask about groups in advance.
A room just for your group, paid by the hour.
Small club; reserve a table on the website.
Nine saunas and a salt-water pool, just over the city boundary.
18 holes with 3D glasses at Limbecker Platz.
Five cocktails in about two hours in Rüttenscheid.
No reservations, so get there early.
Traditional German food, a dining room for parties of up to 40.
Dutch-style pub on Isenbergstraße.
Two hours with the Weiße Flotte, in season.
Views over the Ruhr valley and Villa Hügel.
A guided tour of the coal mine, then dinner in the compressor hall.
Small brewery with a taproom, open until midnight on Fridays and Saturdays.
Your group's a bit different? The itinerary generator builds a plan around your group, budget and mood, using the same venues.
Budget
Essen is cheap: beer in the pub and party entry cost less than in the big cities, and there's no closing time. Karting, cocktail classes and trade-fair weeks are what push the price up.
| Option | Per person | What's included |
|---|---|---|
| One night out | €35–75 | beer hall or pub with food, bar, club |
| A day with an activity | €70–140 | plus karting, laser tag, an escape room or a guided tour of Zollverein |
| Weekend | €140–310 | two nights out, one activity, one night in a double room, travel not included |
Guide prices per person, based on the prices of the venues and tours on this page. The bride or groom usually doesn't pay; their share is split across the group. The planner above adds up what your programme costs.
Travel isn't included, as that depends on where you're coming from. Accommodation is based on the country's price level. Work out your own budget with the cost calculator.
Seasonal tips
These festivals and trade fairs come round every year. If your weekend falls on one of them, the city will be packed, and during trade fairs so will the hotels. If you'd rather keep things relaxed, plan around them.
City festival in May over three days from Friday to Sunday, with stages on Kennedyplatz and around the city centre.
The Weiße Flotte, the beach and canoeing run from spring to autumn; in winter they take a break.
The Ruhr's night of industrial heritage, on a Saturday in June.
In August the Ruhr celebrates its Büdchen kiosks, in Essen too.
The big board game fair in October, from Thursday to Sunday. Hotels are scarce and expensive.
From late October to early January the city centre is lit up, and the Christmas market runs from mid-November to 23 December.
From early December to early January at the coking plant, with curling-style Eisstockschießen for groups.
World Heritage Site with the Ruhr Museum and guided tours of Shaft XII, all year round.
The biggest of the Ruhr reservoirs, in the south, good for walks out of season too.
The city's big public park, which grew out of a horticultural show.
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