Porto Nightlife

Opened in 2008, the 'warehouse of tea', housed in a former roasting house, is a contemporary combination of a bar, lounge and exhibition space. Patrons can try different types of teas here but most like to sample something a little stronger in the cocktail bar. There's live music, plus regular DJs playing a mix of funk, house, nu-jazz and more until the small hours.

Housed in a bookshop, lined with literature, Café Candelabro is a cool, cosy and arty little bar. There is an array of beers and spirits on offer here, and with low lamped lighting and a chequered tile floor, it is the ideal spot to curl up with a decent read. If you haven't got a novel with you, this spot buys and sells books about photography, cinema, theatre and arts, so you'll never be short of a tipple and a page turner.

A long-standing restaurant and café with an alternative, artistic vibe, Café Guarany is a special Porto address. The walls are lined by massive, mustard-hued paintings and the owners make the most of its traditional tiled floors and huge windows which let in lots of light. Gracefully stuck in time, this spot is open late but it retains its buzzing atmosphere long into the small hours. There's regular live music here too.

A laidback bar-cum-club with a café vibe, this was once a textile warehouse but now it's the DJs doing the weaving at the weekend. They play a mix of soul, funk, acid jazz and electronica and it's a popular place to spend the early part of the night, between 0100 and 0400, before heading to more full-on action at the Pitch Club or Plan B.

A popular choice among Porto's hip, the Pitch Club offers a range of themed nights that would keep any dancefloor busy. It boasts two floors playing different music and has a music policy of deep house and electro at the weekends. The venue also hosts regular live gigs. The design is sleek and the sound systems are great, plus it's location is central so there's no long schlep home. 

This quirky spot is where to head if you want to dance until the early hours alongside Porto's hipsters. The décor has a vintage, eclectic vibe and the location is nice and central, while the music policy ranges from house, electro and R'n'B to acid jazz, funk and lindy hop. There are regular live gigs here too, as well as exhibitions and their own little market.

Look inside this magnificently audacious, modernist building and you'll discover musical events to please almost everyone. It is home to the Orquestra Nacional do Porto and has a hugely impressive concert hall, but it also has lots of other halls and rooms for a wide variety of musical events and genres. If you're feeling particularly flash, try the VIP Terrace, which often hosts conversations with composers and lectures about music.

This is the city's best jazz club, with an intimate atmosphere and lots of variety. Hot Five offers a great choice of live jazz and blues, where musicians come acoustic and unplugged as much as they do wired-up. Sat at cosy, candle-lit tables, you can catch some of the best international talent around, while the regular Hot Five jam sessions are just as good.

Fado's spiritual home may be in Lisbon's Moorish quarter, and the university town of Coimbra, but it is also popular throughout the country. Those after a taste of authentic fado should head to Restaurante Mal Cozinhada, the city's top venue for folk and traditional music. Performances come to life downstairs where, rather fittingly, old stone walls act as a backdrop.

Coliseu do Porto, the city's leading cultural venue, is housed in an impressive art deco building that was inaugurated in 1941. Its beautiful main auditorium seats 3,000 people but there are several other performance spaces for more intimate pieces. It hosts a wide variety of events including theatre, opera, concerts and comedy, as well as exhibitions and cinema.

This historic theatre opened its doors for the first time in 1798, and is still one of the city's most important cultural spaces, hosting theatre productions as well as many other kinds of cultural events like dance and cinema. Performances are also held in the Mosteiro São Bento da Vitória and the Teatro Carlos Alberto, which now make up part of the Teatro Nacional São João.

The name Maus Hábitos translates to 'Bad Habits', but it seems that this venue has quite the opposite. Hosting interesting exhibitions, gigs and performances that channel an artsy and cultural mix of events, you'll be hard pressed to find nothing that takes your fancy among its concert hall, gallery and lounge bar, or even outside on its terrace.