Within the Old Town, there are boites à chansons (intimate and lively venues featuring solo singers or small groups of musicians), classy hotel lounge bars, pubs and more alternative bars, especially on and around rue St-Jean. West of Place D'Youville, rue St-Jean becomes more laid-back, attracting students to the friendly local bars and gay men and lesbians to the small but lively gay scene. Grande Allée Est has a few good nightspots, mixed in with the tourist traps. Further afield, there are some decent local bars amidst the restaurants on avenue Cartier, though the most interesting developments are happening in the St-Roch quarter. The ever-changing discos in the suburb of Ste-Foy are the stomping grounds of students from Université Laval. Although few clubs have specific dress codes, it is better to avoid jeans or trainers when visiting one of the smarter venues.

For the latest on Quebec City's bar and club scene, check the listings in the free alternative weekly, Voir (website: www.voir.ca) or the dailies Le Soleil (website: www.cyberpresse.ca/soleil) and Le Journal de Québec (website: www.journaldequebec.com). For details in English, the free tourist publications, Québec Scope (website: www.quebecscope.com) and Voilà Québec, are also helpful, as is the online Télégraphe de Québec (website: www.telegraphe.com).

Tickets for many events are available from Réseau Billetech outlets (tel: (418) 643 8131 or 691 7211; website: www.billetech.com) and Admission (tel: 1 800 361 4595; website: www.admission.com).

The legal minimum drinking age is 18 years. Taverns and brasseries serve alcohol from 0800 to 0300 every day. Cocktail lounges and cabarets stay open until 0200 and 0300 respectively.

Bars: The old downtown neighbourhood of St-Roch is seeing new life, notably in hip lounge Le Boudoir, 441 rue de l'Eglise. Le Fou Bar, up the hill at 525 rue St-Jean, is one of a number of relaxed, studenty spots to be found on rue St-Jean, a 10-minute walk from the Old Town. At the other end of the spectrum, although not as pricey or stuffy as you might expect, given the terrific view and prestigious location, is the Bar St-Laurent, in the Château Frontenac, 1 rue des Carrières.

The brew-pub L'Inox, 37 rue St-André, in Lower Town, has a great terrace and serves locally made cheeses to go with the local beer. In the Upper Town, at 1087 rue St-Jean, Le Pub Saint-Alexandre's attempt to recreate a British pub is helped by the selection of over 200 beers and 40 single malt scotches. Pub Java, away from Old Quebec, at 1112 avenue Cartier, serves up a few varieties of draught beer as well, although in a less touristy setting. Just down the street, at 1060 avenue Cartier, Jules et Jim is an established local favourite.

Clubs: Many of the city's bars have dancefloors and an atmosphere that becomes more club-like later on in the evening. Still going strong after 12 years, Maurice, 575 Grande Allée Est (website: www.mauricenightclub.com), is part of a complex of bars and restaurants that includes a lounge with salsa dancing and a swanky cigar lounge. Chez Dagobert, across the street, at number 600 Grande Allée Est (website: www.dagobert.ca), has also been around for years and is popular with very young tourists. At 1175 avenue Cartier, Le Turf is an Irish pub with a dancefloor, while trendy Le Boudoir (see Bars above) has weekend club nights varying from lounge to pop hits. Quebec City's main gay dance venue is cabaret-bar Le Drague, 815 St Augustin Street (website: www.ledrague.com).

Live Music: Big-name acts play at the Colisée Pepsi, on the ExpoCité grounds at the junction of highways 175 and 138. In the summer, the open-air Agora, situated in the Old Port, has all manner of acts from rock to classical, while the city comes alive with stages all over the place during the 11-day Festival d'Eté (Summer Festival), when many indoor venues also get into the act.

One of the more popular boites à chansons (venues playing Celtic-tinged Québécois folk music) is Chez Son Père, 24 rue St-Stanislas (website: http://barchezsonpere.qc.ca), which is a lively spot for Québécois music; in the Lower Town, try the Maison de la Chanson, below the Théâtre Petit Champlain, 78 rue du Petit-Champlain. The best spot for jazz is in the art deco confines of L'Emprise in the Hôtel Clarendon, 57 rue Ste-Anne. For a mix of alternative, rock and punk, try Le Kashmir, within the city walls at 1018 rue St-Jean, or Temps Partiel, in the St-Jean district, at 698 rue D'Aiguillon (website: www.letempspartiel.com); the former also has DJ nights of techno and hip-hop.