6 of the world’s best activities to do after dark

The setting sun doesn’t signify that the fun is over. The delights of the night beckon, with plenty of exploration and activities to try – from dusk to the small hours, spanning safaris and street food to cabaret and cocktails. Here are six of the best things to do after dark around the world.

Life is a cabaret, London

The risqué art of burlesque was born in 16th-century Italy and evolved into its current form in the US during the 1880s. The multidisciplinary spectacle of cabaret, meanwhile, originated in Paris in the 1800s, thereafter taking on a politically charged, intellectual air before the Second World War in Berlin, Germany. Today, it is in London that you’ll find some of the world’s best neo-burlesque and contemporary cabaret soirées. Indulge your appetite for the exotic – a mix of song and dance, drag, striptease, comedy, circus, social commentary, sauciness and surrealism – at late-night venues such as The Box Soho , Phoenix Arts Club or The London Reign Showclub . Do book ahead and dress your decadent best.

Night creatures, Singapore

Although it’s certainly worth a visit, Singapore Zoo can get a little warm during its daytime hours. At the adjacent Night Safari , open daily from 7.15pm to midnight, you can enjoy the mercury dropping while the 100 species of 900 nocturnal animals that call the area home rise from their sleep. You can either explore the safari through its four walking trails or hop onto the complimentary guided tram to be shuttled comfortably past (albeit incredibly close to) perky night prowlers such as tigers, Asian elephants, clouded leopards, Malayan tapirs, fishing cats, Asian lions and the critically endangered Sunda pangolin.

Martini mission, Melbourne

Melbourne is the Aussie cocktail capital and handily so, as many of its foremost mixology meccas are situated within easy reach of one another. Make it a martini-themed night, starting with the stupendous Cavendish House martini – the best in town, according to this reporter’s exhaustive research – at bar and restaurant Gimlet . It’s then a quick stroll to the glamorous Art Deco Nick & Nora’s for a Smokey the Bandit: a gin-based iteration of the ’tini with a lick of native paperbark-smoked port. Then, head to Melbourne’s only entry in the World’s 50 Best Bars, Caretaker’s Cottage , for its house martini with a side of ’90s hip-hop. From there, stumble a block to your last stop at the subterranean, Parisian-style Bar Margaux for their small yet perfectly formed Petit Martini.

Late-night munchies, Taipei

At Taipei’s night markets, you can shop for souvenirs, play games, people-watch and, of course, tuck into delectable street food. While wallet-friendly culinary delights can be found at the Ningxia, Yansan, Shilin and Raohe markets, Huaxi Street has three Michelin-recommended stalls lined up in a row: rice and broth specialist Wang’s Broth, pork bun hotspot Yuan Fang Gua Bao, and maestros of the slurpable pork soup, Chang Hung Noodles. Not only are night markets a treat for the tastebuds, but they’re a visual feast too.

A midnight screaming, New York

Something of a box-office disappointment upon its original release in 1975, The Rocky Horror Picture Show only really picked up steam the following year, when it began screening at midnight at the Waverly Theatre (now the IFC Centre) in New York’s Greenwich Village. Audience members soon started dressing up as their favourite characters and attending every week, bellowing responses to the action on screen that have become as familiar to hardcore fans as the movie’s super-camp script and rollicking soundtrack. Join in at one of the live-hybrid midnight screenings that continue to take place every first and third Saturday of the month in this cult classic’s spiritual home of Manhattan.

What a gai, Tokyo

The storied Golden Gai has evolved into Japan’s most idiosyncratic late-night drinking enclave. A maze of narrow lanes, Golden Gai comprises more than 200 bars, most of which are small and uniquely themed. Try, for example, the literature-lined The Open Book, B-movie and death metal den Deathmatch in Hell, or Bar Plastic Model, which is filled with the eponymous objects. Pad out the libations consumed by grabbing a bite at one of the traditional food stalls of the nearby Omoide Yokocho, which means “Memory Lane”, where al fresco yakitori and ramen joints fill the air with mouth-watering scents.