Nightlife

Porto isn't as vital a center for fado music as Lisbon, so only a few clubs promote the art form. The most appealing is Mal Cozinhado, Rua do Outeirinho 13 (tel. 22/208-13-19; bus no. 1). The name translates as "badly cooked." Five singers and musicians (three women, two men) perform folkloric guitar music and the evocative, nostalgic lyrics that go with it. They perform in 6-hour stints to an enthusiastic crowd Monday to Saturday beginning at 9:30pm. Reservations are required. A la carte dinners, priced at around 30€ to 40€ ($39-$52) per person, are served beginning at 8:30pm. After the music begins, most people opt just to drink, paying an initial 13€ ($17), which includes the first two drinks. After that, beer costs 5€ ($6.50) a bottle.

Casa da Música, Av. da Boavista 604-610 (tel. 22/012-02-00; www.casadamusica.com), is the cultural center of Porto. Designed by Ellen van Loon and Ram Koolhaas, this house of music contains a 1,250-seat Grand Auditorium and a 315-seat Small Auditorium, plus a Cybermusic Arena, where musicians can install multimedia projects and composers produce electronic works. A complete range of classical and jazz events is presented, with most tickets costing under 25€ ($33), although some performances are free. Tickets can be purchased in advance on their website. The building's daringly avant-garde architecture in a traditional city has caused much controversy, including an auditorium sheathed in plywood and dyed fire-engine red.

Many night owls simply walk through the commercial district, along streets radiating from Rua de Santa Catarina, and stop at any appealing tavern or cafe. If you're looking to dance, try the Bar Indústria, in the Centro Comercial de Foz, Av. Brasil 843 (tel. 22/617-68-06; bus no. 1). It has a stripped-down interior that caters to a crowd of artists, writers (and their readers), architects, and other well-behaved, cosmopolitan patrons. It's open Friday and Saturday from 10:30pm to 4am.

For years, Disco Swing, in the Centro Commercial Italia, Rua Julio Dinis 766, near Rotonda de Boavista (tel. 22/609-00-19; bus no. 3), has been one of Porto's most popular dance clubs, with a mixed, mainstream clientele that appreciates the broad spectrum of musical forms (rock 'n' roll, '80s-era disco, house, garage, and, in rare instances, rave music) that's presented here. The setting is a battered and dusty shopping center in a residential neighborhood near the Rotonda de Boavista. It's open daily from 8pm to 6am. Drinks run from 4€ to 7€ ($5.20-$9.10).

If you're looking for a cocktail bar where people in their 50s won't feel hopelessly out of place, head for the Bar Hiva-oa, Av. de Boavista 2514 (tel. 22/617-96-63; bus no. 19).

Set within a graceful three-story 19th-century villa, Triplex, 911 Avenida de Boavista (tel. 22/606-89-69;www.triplex.com; bus no. 19), contains two bars and a dining room that glitters with crystal chandeliers, lots of room for socializing with strangers, and occasional bouts of live music. Its restaurant is open daily from 12:30 to 3pm and from 8 to midnight (weekends 8pm-2am), but frankly, we prefer the bars to the food-service areas. These don't become popular until after around 10pm; they continue to rock until at least 4am. Entrance is free; drinks begin at 4€ ($5.20).

A gay hot spot is Moinho de Vento, Rua Sá Noronha 78 (tel. 22/205-68-83; bus no. 3, 35, or 37), set within a medieval building on a narrow street near the Infante do Sagres Hotel. Only a brass plaque and a bright light that's illuminated every night beginning around 11pm identify this place. Expect a bar area that's really busy only on weekends, a dance floor, some dungeon-inspired artifacts, and a scattering of Portuguese-speaking residents of Porto and the surrounding regions. Entrance is free, and beer starts at around 3€ ($3.90).

Boys 'R US, Rua Dr. Barbosa de Castro 63 (tel. 91/754-99-88; Metro: Trinidade or San Bento), is one of Porto's hottest dance clubs, a late-night celebration of loud house and garage-style music, flashing lights, and homosexuality. Set within the warren of narrow medieval streets near the San Bento railway station, it's open Wednesday and Friday to Sunday 11pm to 2:30am, remaining open until between 2 and 4am, depending on business. There's no entrance fee, but everyone is expected to order a minimum of 5€ ($6.25) of drinks during their time inside.

The most beautiful and historic cafe of Porto is Café Majestic, Rua de Santa Catarina 112 (tel. 22/200-38-87; bus no. 29 or 53), set on an all-pedestrian stretch of the city's busiest shopping street. This cafe evokes the grand era of Porto's gilded age prosperity more artfully than any other establishment in town. It was built in 1921, but because of its neo-baroque detailing, an art historian might be fooled into thinking that it's at least 40 years older than that. Angels and cherubs cavort on the ceiling, leaded glass shimmers, and the Belle Epoque comes alive again within a setting that's surprisingly down-to-earth and workaday. If you don't stop by for a drink or coffee in the evening, you can come here for breakfast, priced from 10€ ($13), or a full-fledged afternoon tea for 9€ ($12), complete with jam, bread, and toast. And if you're looking for a meal, platters -- which include codfish "Oporto style," omelets with port-soaked shrimp, and filet mignon with mushroom sauce -- are priced from 9€ to 20€ ($12-$26).

Vila Nova de Gaia, on the opposite side of the Douro River, is a lot less interesting after dark than Porto. But if you happen to be here, or if you're interested in an evening stroll across one of Porto's bridges for a panoramic view of Porto's old harbor, Contra Corrente Bar, Av. Diogo Leite 282, Vila Nova de Gaia (tel. 22/375-75-77; bus no. 32 or 33), is a cozy bar with a waterfront terrace offering a superb vista of Porto. It manages to be both hip and traditional at the same time, welcoming a clientele of locals or workers in the port trade, along with an occasional foreign visitor. Drinks and platters of food are available.

Battered but hip, with hints of the psychedelic era of the 1960s, the 31 (Treintaeum) Bar, 564 Rua do Passeio Alegre in Foz do Douro (tel. 22/618-57-21; bus no. 1), occupies a compact town house on the cobble-covered, seafront main avenue in the residential suburb of Foz. Immediately adjacent and under the same ownership is the Cerveja Viva, where the bar list contains mostly beers, as opposed to the cocktails that are available in the more cutting-edge 31. Many first-timers make it a point to duck into both establishments, just as a comparison, for a quick nip and taste of local nightlife.

For the best view of the raging Atlantic to go with your drink, head for Praia da Luz, Avenida do Brasil (tel. 22/617-32-34; bus no. 1, 7, 8, or 24), which occupies prime real estate on a rocky shoreline near the point where the Douro empties into the Atlantic. Watching waves from the ocean breaking and frothing from behind large windows is reason enough to visit -- that and catching the live music. It's open daily 9am to 2am.

Somewhat surprisingly, the industrial suburb of Matosinhos, easily reached by bus no. 1, is a new nightlife center for Porto. The site is about 11km (6 3/4 miles) northwest of the historic core of Porto.

Estado Novo, Rua Sousa Arosa 722 (tel. 22/938-59-89), in Matosinhos, is one of the most popular and crowded dance clubs in the Porto area, with a hard-dancing, hard-drinking clientele. It's set within a white-sided industrial building, originally built as a warehouse and canning factory. Its name was derived from a tongue-in-cheek reference to a slogan of Salazar, Portugal's once-all-powerful dictator whose call to arms for an estado novo (new state) catalyzed many changes, both good and bad, throughout Portugal. Expect lots of space to mingle and dance, and a catchall, late-night environment that could include just about anything. Hours are Thursday to Saturday 11pm to 4am, with a cover of 8€ to 16€ ($10-$21). This entrance cost is credited against your drink tab. On Thursday, women can enter and drink for free.