Lisbon Nightlife

Bucking the trend of rather boring hotel bars, the chameleon-like Café-Bar BA at the Bairro Alto Hotel is a swish spot that's popular with locals. It metamorphosises from a daytime bar into a cosmopolitan club with a changing nightly programme of DJs and bands playing jazz, bossa nova, blues and more.

This laid-back venue attracts a young crowd, drawn to the changing programme of musical events and reasonably priced drinks. Offering an underground mix of electro and minimal techno coupled with live bands and the odd themed party, it's got a friendly vibe and is packed at weekends.

Hidden behind thick wooden doors, along cobbled Rua da Atalaia, is welcoming drinking mainstay Portas Largas. With its decorative tiles and vintage radios, it's a good place to start your evening, but once its scrumptious cocktails start to flow and the live bands pitch up, it's hard to drag yourself on anywhere else.

Overlooking the river with, an outdoor chill-out zone during the summer months, K Urban Beach is a cool retreat that's often used as the backdrop for fashion shows and VIP parties. It's worth sprucing up a bit to pass the door code, and when clubbers are feeling peckish there's an on-site sushi bar.

Lux Frágil is an ultra-stylish club that regularly attracts big name electro and house DJs as well as local taste-making resident spinners. Originally a disused shipping silo, it has grown into one of the hottest clubs in Portugal with a bar, club and rooftop terrace to choose from.

This exclusive nightspot has a selective door policy, so you'll need to reserve in advance to gain entry. Located in happening Chiado, with sixth floor views overlooking the Tagus River, this upmarket dinner and dancing club attracts a well-dressed clientele who like to quaff Champagne, chat and listen to house music.

One of the biggest clubs in Cais do Sodré, Music Box is the headquarters for Cultural Trend Lisbon who showcase cutting edge, multi-disciplinary music and arts. The space is a hybrid of concert hall and a dance venue with a crisp sound system and an ever-exciting selection of musical greatness on each week.

Fado, the haunting songs and music associated with the sea, originated in Lisbon the 19th century and its melancholic notes drift from numerous bars and casas de fado (fado clubs) throughout the city. Away from the many tourist traps, experience the real deal at Senhor Vino owned by top performer Maria da Fé

Crafted from graffiti-scrawled shipping containers that are stacked like some sort of Transformer robot, the Village Underground is a party zone that has a sister venue of the same name in London's Shoreditch. Used to host gigs, exhibitions and club nights, it's a great place to discover breaking bands.