Travellers are increasingly chasing experiences that begin after sunset, with Google searches for “night festivals” and “stargazing tourism” spiking by 164% and 33% respectively in recent months.
To uncover the best cities for night-time exploration, long-haul travel company Travelbag studied over 100 global destinations. Factors analysed included Instagram hashtag volumes, noise and light pollution, the number of late-night venues, and safety when walking alone at night.
The top 10 cities for noctourism in 2025 are:
New York, USA – 2,302 late-night venues, 40,800 Instagram posts, safety score of 46.
Tokyo, Japan – 996 venues, 19,100 posts, safety score of 75.
Dubai, UAE – 190 venues, 29,600 posts, safety score of 83.
Singapore – 443 venues, 16,500 posts, safety score of 77.
Muscat, Oman – 45 venues, low light pollution score of 30, safety score of 76.
Kyoto, Japan – 113 venues, 2,322 posts, safety score of 83.
Sydney, Australia – 325 venues, 13,000 posts, safety score of 54.
Seoul, South Korea – 225 venues, 5,858 posts, safety score of 74.
Toronto, Canada – 324 venues, 18,200 posts, safety score of 52.
Melbourne, Australia – 291 venues, 14,400 posts, safety score of 43.
The study also found that Muscat offers the best conditions for stargazing due to its low light pollution, while Abu Dhabi emerged as the safest city to explore at night with a safety score of 87 out of 100.