The Best Cities In America To Have An Unforgettable 'Brat Girl Summer'

Inspired by Charli XCX's hit album "Brat," the internet has become obsessed with having a "brat summer." The album has sparked conversations about its meaning: Is it a pledge to be an eternal party girl? A complicated exploration of millennial womanhood and female friendship? A tribute to club culture? Just a collection of house party bangers? So, it's no surprise that there's a lot of debate about what brat summer means, too. Charli XCX herself says there's a wide range of things that have brat summer vibes, from luxury to trashy.

"[Brat girl summer] is an aesthetic, a mindset, a theology, if you will," a host on The Standard (@eveningstandard) said in a TikTok video "Just as Meg Thee Stallion coined 'hot girl summer' in 2019, Charlie has captured a moment with brat. It's about having a good time for you, not for anyone else." So how do you incorporate that into your travel plans?

If you're in Asia this summer, Charli XCX told the Los Angeles Times that the best parties in the world can be found in Seoul, South Korea, and particularly recommended the club Soap. If you're going to be in Europe, your best bet might be Stockholm, Sweden — Charli XCX suggested bar hopping in Södermalm in the summer. If you're doing things the American way-ay-ay, though, you have a lot of options for having your best brat summer.

If you're looking to have your brat girl summer somewhere that has direct ties to the album, look no further than New York City. It might make you one of the "Mean Girls," but it's fun to be New York City's darling! While it might not be Charli XCX's home town, the big green "brat wall" in Brooklyn, where the star has been changing an enormous mural of the album art to make announcements to her fans about upcoming releases, makes it a major destination for her fans.

You could throw in your AirPods and listen to the album while posing for some selfies at Union Square, where the tables are conveniently neon green. But if you're looking to party, New York has you covered. Charli XCX herself has thrown lots of NYC parties, including her record-breaking, window-shaking Boiler Room warehouse rave in Bushwick in February 2023. In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Charli also shouted out The Moxy — a rooftop bar that lets you party amidst views of the Manhattan skyline. On Fridays and Saturdays, it stays open until 4 a.m.

San Francisco has a brat wall of its own, and seemingly an endless amount of brat-themed parties scheduled this summer, so you know that wherever you go, you'll be among fellow fans. There are a lot of ways to have your perfect, messy, unapologetic brat girl experience there, but one of the most fun might be spending your day on the beach, checking out the views in a revolving restaurant, and then partying late into the night.

If you're on the hunt for underground raves like the kind Charli XCX got started doing as a teenager in London, there's apparently no shortage of parties to check out, including a Brat Rave at The Regency Ballroom in August. If you can't score a ticket, though, you'll definitely still have plenty of options to party. From DNA Lounge, which has been using a brat-green logo long before the album "Brat," to Cat Club, where you can light your cigarettes with a Bic lighter in the smoking alley and listen to goth/industrial and 80s throwback music, you'll find no shortage of clubs.

While you hit the beach, Capri really will be in the distance, though admittedly, it will be Florida's Isles of Capri (probably not what Charli XCX was singing about). St. Petersburg might seem like a strange first choice when you could visit EDM-loving Orlando or Miami, which has been called one of the best party cities in the country – but don't dismiss this area too fast. If you're looking to risk it all to go "Spring Breakers," you can head to all the beach bars and pools where the movie was shot around St. Petersburg and live your 2012 nostalgia.

Even without the reference, this is a fun spot for your spring break in the summer. If you're looking for a luxury experience out on a boat, you can charter a private yacht and relax on the water with your friends all day. Then, spend your nights at the gothic, irreverent speakeasy The Saint (just make sure to check its Instagram for the password, aka, the "Sin to Get In," at the confessional-shaped door). But if you're looking to go for more of the "strappy white top with no bra" brat summer that Charli XCX described on The News Movement, start your trip with a drag show and a night of sweaty dancing under the disco ball at Enigma.

Throw on your best neon green club dress and head to what has been called the best party city in the United States: Las Vegas. While having a brat girl summer can be considered more about becoming your most authentic self than partying, this is the place to embrace the club life. Just don't make the common mistake of thinking you can walk around Vegas — not only is it much bigger than you probably expect, but also in the summertime, average temperatures are above 100 degrees Fahrenheit.

Fortunately, you can cool off by sticking your head out the window of your taxi and watching the lights whip by you, like Charli XCX reportedly did while partying in Vegas in 2015. You'll have plenty of clubs to choose from in Vegas, but according to the Vice reporter who followed Charli XCX around the city for 48 hours, the singer and her entourage spent their Vegas trip dancing at a club called XS and partying at a rooftop bar at the Nobu Hotel.

While New York City has a good claim to being the brat capital of the world, Charli XCX herself actually lives in Los Angeles when she's in the United States. While it seems like Charli XCX now spends her time in LA either at home, in the recording studio, or stuck in traffic, she definitely used to throw parties there. On Late Night with Seth Meyers, she and singer Troye Sivan revealed that she used to have a big, slightly spooky, Tudor-style place in LA and would throw regular house parties there that were so rowdy, the police would sometimes come to shut them down. These parties were supposedly so exciting, star-studded, and mysterious that attendees created Gatsby-like conspiracy theories about who was hosting them.

While you might not be able to stumble upon a star-studded house party, there are plenty of places to party in LA — or you could just enjoy one of Charli XCX's favorite weekend trips. According to an interview with the Los Angeles Times, she and her friends love spending the weekend doing some casual rock climbing at Joshua Tree National Park. If you want to head straight out into nature but still have a lux experience, there are some fun places to glamp around Joshua Tree.