Bordeaux Nightlife

For an entertaining introduction to wine-tasting, check out Au Quatre Coins du Vin's pioneering approach. Use a preloaded card to choose from dozens of wines from around the world and have as little or as big a taste of them as you'd like – all helped by knowledgeable staff.

Among the many bars and cafés tucked into narrow rue Parlement-St-Pierre, look out for L'Alchimiste's tiny terrace. Inside the bar's warm interior of stone walls, the bartenders concoct some of Bordeaux's best cocktails.

There are few better places to unwind than in Vintage Bar during its daily happy hour. Fans of craft beer have a large choice, as do Belgian beer lovers. But it's the rum aficionados who make a beeline for this convivial bar – it has more than 150 rums on offer.

Soak up the Latin vibe in this buzzing club that was inspired by the sounds of Cuba and Miami. It's all salsa, merengue, Latin house and bacchata in this cosy club. Start off with delicious tapas before moving on to classic cocktails – they make a mean mojito here.

There's a fun and infectious Caribbean flavour at L'Ane Qui Tousse, whose two dance floors heat up to the sounds of reggae, zouk, kizomba, salsa and kuduro. If you're lucky, you can arrive in time for the two cocktails-for-one promotion that's on offer from time to time.

In this cool space near the Esplanade de Quoincones, Le 21 offers creative cocktails to a funky soundtrack of electro, R&B and house from Wednesday to Saturday till 6am. Unusually for modern France, smokers don't have to take themselves outside as there's actually a smoking room inside the club.

Facing the riverbank in the Chartrons quarter, the lively Casa Latina makes you feel as if you're on holiday in Brazil, with live salsa and merengue. Musicians cover the whole Latin spectrum, with flamenco and rumba adding to the sultry mix as well as the occasional jazz night.

In the green depths of the Jardin Botanique, Le Caillou offers live music in a relaxed, civilised setting. There's a constantly changing bill featuring everything from jazz and world music to French chanson and blues. Come summer, the action spills out into the garden terrace.

Rock School Barbey has been the breeding ground for Bordeaux rock musicians since 1999. Part concert hall and part music school, it's the place to hear not just live rock but also world music, reggae and jazz – and even the occasional burlesque cabaret.