Nightlife

Pick up a copy of the monthly Cape etc. or the annual Time Out magazine. Alternatively, the weekly Mail & Guardian covers all major events, as does the local daily The Argus -- look in the "Tonight" section, or Friday's insert "Top of the Times" in the Cape Times. You can book tickets to theaters and movies and most major music/party events by calling Computicket (tel. 083/915-8000; www.computicket.com) and supplying your credit card details.

The Performing Arts

Critics in the Mother City, as elsewhere, pull no punches, so watch the press. Anything directed or produced by Martinus Basson or Mark Fleischman is not to be missed. In summer take in one of the outdoor concerts . Take a look at what's on at the city's ARTscape Theatre (tel. 021/421-7839) or Baxter Theatre, Main Road, Rondebosch (tel. 021/685-7880). If you like your entertainment light, the Theatre on the Bay, Camps Bay (tel. 021/438-3301), hosts a frothy mix of comedies and farces, On Broadway, Shortmarket Street (tel. 021/4241194), is the city's best cabaret venue, and the Independent Armchair Theatre, Lower Main Road, Observatory (www.armchairtheatre.co.za), is a lounge-style theater that hosts an irregular, cult-variety selection of offbeat comedy shows.

Outdoor Concerts

Summer brings a wealth of fantastic outdoor concerts; tops for venue are the Sunday Kirstenbosch Summer Concerts (tel. 021/799-8783; www.sanbi.org): Bring a picnic and relax to great music, from jazz bands to Cape Minstrel troupes, popular acoustic groups to the Philharmonic Orchestra, while the sun sets behind the mountain. Concerts start at around 5pm, but get there early in order to secure your patch of lawn. Maynardville Open Air Theatre, Church and Wolf streets, Wynberg, hosts an annual Shakespeare play against a lush forested backdrop -- performances vary from year to year but invariably put a contemporary spin on the Bard. Free concerts are held at the V&A Waterfront Amphitheatre (tel. 021/408-7600); acts range from winners of school talent contests to good jazz. It's worth taking the 30-minute drive to Stellenbosch, where you can choose between the lineup at Oude Libertas Amphitheatre, Adam Tas Road (tel. 021/809-7473), and the generally superior Spier Summer Festival, Spier Wine Estate (tel. 021/809-1158; www.spierarts.org.za), which serves up local and international opera, theater, and music acts. Note that you can catch a steam train to Spier from the Waterfront, and make a night of it by dining at Moyo, their Pan-African restaurant.

The Club, Bar & Music Scene

During the summer season, Cape Town becomes one big party venue. Get into the mood with sundowners at a trendy bar in Camps Bay or with a bottle of bubbly on a well-situated beach (though, strictly speaking, this is illegal, so be discreet) or the top of Table Mountain. You will, however, want to pace yourself -- getting to any party before 11pm will see you counting barstools. Listings below were hip at press time, but like most cities, sell-by dates are unpredictable. To play it safe, expect good nights out from Wednesday onwards, and head for one of the following two areas: Long Street, particularly the mountain end (near the Turkish Baths), is the central city's hot party area. Here the best bar by far is Jo'burg, frequented by a self-styled selection of hipster trendies, and owned by local character Bruce Gordon -- he's the one with the barcode tattooed on his arm, done in 2003 when he was exhibited as an artwork at the National Gallery. Next door (well almost) is Lola's (tel. 021/423-0885), a casual corner cafe that attracts an eclectic mélange of gay, bohemian, and backpacker types; across the road, single-malt devotees frequent the plush leather settees of Kennedy's Cigar Bar (tel. 021/424-1212). The other big party strip, catering to a (generally speaking) older, more sophisticated audience, is in Green Point, once known as Cape Town's "Gay Quarter," but now simply the Cape Quarter.

Note that Lower Main Road in Observatory, Cape Town's "bohemian" suburb, is another good place to hang out if you're into a grungier atmosphere -- from Café Ganesh (tel. 021/448-3435) to over-the-top baroque Touch of Madness (tel. 021/448-2266).

Live Music

It's off the beaten tourist track, but you can catch regular Cape jazz sessions featuring hot artists like pianist Hotep Galeta and guitarist Alvin Dyers at West End, College Road, Athlone (tel. 021/637-9132). The Green Dolphin Restaurant at the V&A Waterfront (tel. 021/421-7471) caters to the supper-club jazz enthusiast, attracting a good lineup of local and international performers (the food is pretty mediocre and pricey). Manenberg's Jazz Café at the Clock Tower Precinct, V&A Waterfront (tel. 021/421-5639), serves up an array of jazz geared toward tourists. Musica in the V&A Waterfront (tel. 021/425-6300) has a particularly good selection of South African music (call for times); or pop in to purchase a good selection. (The African Music Store, 134 Long St., is incidentally another good place to purchase African music.) Back in town, The Zula Sound Bar (tel. 021/424-2442) on cosmopolitan Long Street is probably the most vibey and eclectic live music venue in Cape Town, featuring something for everyone depending on the day of the week (or hour of the night) you arrive. In Zonnebloem (near District Six) Mercury Live is hardly the most slick or sophisticated venue, but it's still the only place in the city where you'll find a regular lineup of original South African bands. Downstairs at the broom-cupboard-size Mercury Lounge, 43 de Villiers St., Zonnebloem (tel. 021/465-2106; www.mercuryl.co.za), you can catch a cutting-edge selection of up-and-coming local acts.