Bucharest's nightclubs vary between hip hop haunts spinning the latest sounds and flashy discos where Romania's wealthy go to let off steam. There are no licensing hours in Romania. Nor is there a legal drinking age, however, you must be over 18 to purchase alcohol. Entrance fees are cheap compared to those in the West. Many nightclubs are concentrated in or around the historic centre, making club-hopping an option. Clubbers going further afield can grab one of the taxis that hover outside most clubs. Some nightclubs close in June for the summer and reopen in early October.

Jazz is popular in Romania and Bucharest has good jazz clubs. Latino music is also trendy and salsa-dancing couples invade the dancefloors of certain clubs. Casinos flourish in the newfound capitalist climate and many of Bucharest's well-to-do flock to those along Calea Victoriei.

For up-to-date information on nightlife, check out www.sapteseri.ro, the website for a free entertainment weekly available in the city. Another useful site is www.bucharest-online.com.

Bars: Young people gather in bars to drink cocktails, cappuccinos and foreign beers. Most go to the Lipscani area in the historic centre, where you can follow the sound of muffled beats to sidewalk spots or basement bars. Fire Club, Gabroveni 12, has a beer-soaked ground-floor bar with loud students and a basement stage for alt-rock shows. A bit more to-do and grown-up is Majemo, Covaci 6, a compact bar in an antiques shop, or the posh and pricey Office, Strada Tache Ionescu 2, a slick lounge with 1980s tunes for a more dressed-up crowd.

Another key drinking scene is hidden away in the National Theatre, Bulevardul Balcescu 2. On the theatre's left side, the fourth-floor La Motor's spectacular outdoor roof terrace brings in students not theatre-goers. It's a booze-filled scene, with live bands at the weekends. Expats tend to favour the Irish or English pubs, such as the blokey Dubliner, Bulevardul Titilescu 18, with Guinness on draught, football on the TV, darts in a side room and great steak sandwiches. Posher locals needing a bit of British pub action, opt for White Horse, George Calinescu 4, a two-storey pub in a ritzy residential area in northeastern Bucharest.

Clubs: The club scene is booming in Bucharest and many venues have lasers and skimpily clad dancers atop stages or bars. A new entry is the king-sized Pacha, Bulevardul Libertatii 1 (website: www.pachabucuresti.com), a sprawling space with big-name DJs, staged dancers and flashing lights. More low key are the student-filled Other Side, 4 Brezoianu (website: www.expirat.org), a funky lounge with dancing and cubicle seats or the sweaty student dance scene at Club A, Strada Blanari 14 (website: www.cluba.ro), just east of the centre. Stylised and futuristic (and a bit more upmarket) Embryo, Strada Ion Oteteleseanu 3A (website: www.embryo.ro), holds a wide mix of costume dance parties for Bucharest's hip twenty-something crowd.

Live Music: Jazz is big in Bucharest. Green Hours 22 Jazz Club, Calea Victoriei 120 (website: www.green-hours.ro), a capsule-style basement club with jazz or theatre most nights, and Art Jazz Club, Bulevardul N Balcescu 23A (website: www.artjazzclub.ro), both feature top jazz names (most live performances start around 2100). Rock-loving students file into the Fire Club, Strada Gabroveni; there's a red-brick bar upstairs and indie-rock or punk shows in the basement stage. Way out in west Bucharest, the friendly Piranha Club, Splaluil Independentei 313 (website: www.clubpiranha.ro), is an outdoor web of bars, aquariums, gazebos, eating areas and a stage for live alt-rock shows. Folk music and dancing is performed in restaurants serving traditional Romanian cuisine, including Burebista Vanatoresc, Strada Batistei 14.