Brisbane Nightlife

Cool clubs, chic bars and an excellent live music scene make Brisbane's nightlife hard to beat. Most clubs, bars and live music venues are centred around Fortitude Valley but the West End is also making a name for itself for great nights out.

Bars: In the city centre, The Belgian Beer Café Brussels, corner of Edward and Mary Streets (www.belgianbeercafebrussels.com.au), serves over 30 different beers. The Story Bridge Hotel, 196 Main Street, Kangaroo Point (www.storybridgehotel.com.au), is a well-loved local and a good place for a pint and a bite to eat. In Fortitude Valley, the Bowery, 676 Ann Street (www.thebowery.com.au), is reportedly the best cocktail bar in town and features live jazz during the week. Dress up for a drink at the well-heeled Lychee Lounge, 2/94 Boundary Street (www.lycheelounge.com.au), in the West End.

Clubs: Brisbane's newest superclub, Cloudland, 641 Ann Street (www.cloudland.tv), stands tall in Fortitude Valley and offers four levels of cutting-edge design including a retractable glass roof and waterfall. Still drawing huge weekend crowds, Family, 8 McLachlan Street (www.thefamily.com.au), regularly features prominent national and international DJs.

Live Music: Try The Zoo, 711 Ann Street (www.thezoo.com.au), an icon of the local indie music scene, and the place to go for good, brash Australian music. If you fancy something a bit softer, The Troubadour, Brunswick Street Mall (www.thetroubadour.com.au), also has good Australian music, but of a mellower kind. Jazz aficionados should head for the Brisbane Jazz Club, 1 Annie Street (www.brisbanejazzclub.com.au), in Kangaroo Point.

Brisbane's arts and culture scene is thriving and nowhere is this more evident than in the impressive Queensland Cultural Centre in the heart of the South Bank. Here you'll find the Queensland Museum (tel: (07) 3840 7555; www.qm.qld.gov.au), the outstanding Queensland Art Gallery and Gallery of Modern Art (tel: (07) 3840 7303; www.qag.qld.gov.au), and the excellent Queensland Performing Arts Centre (tel: (07) 3840 7444; www.qpac.com.au), which is the city's venue of choice for musicals, plays, ballet, operas and some music concerts.

Brisbane Powerhouse, 119 Lamington Street, New Farm (tel: (07) 3358 8600; www.brisbanepowerhouse.org), is one of the city's landmark arts centres, presenting cutting-edge local, national and international performances of drama, music, cabaret and comedy. La Boite is an alternative theatre company that performs at the Roundhouse Theatre, 6-8 Musk Avenue in Kelvin Grove (tel: (07) 3007 8600; www.laboite.com.au).

There are several mainstream cinemas on the Queen Street Mall, including the Brisbane City Regent (tel: (07) 3229 5949; www.eventcinemas.com.au). The Schonell, on Union Road at the University of Queensland (tel: (07) 3377 2229; www.schonell.com), opened in 1970 and is Brisbane's original independent arthouse cinema. There are outdoor cinema screenings in summer at the Brisbane Powerhouse at New Farm Park, 119 Lamington Street (www.moonlight.com.au) and sometimes on the South Bank too.

For further information on what's on in the city, head to the visitor information centre of check www.ourbrisbane.com/whatson.