Nightlife

San Cristóbal is blessed with a variety of nightlife, both resident and migratory. There is a lot of live music, surprisingly good and varied. The bars and restaurants are cheap. And they are easy to get to: You can hit all the places mentioned here without setting foot in a cab. Weekends are best, but on any night you'll find something going on.

Almost all the clubs in San Cristóbal host Latin music of one genre or another. El Cocodrilo (tel. 967/678-1140), on the main plaza in the Hotel Santa Clara, has acoustic performers playing Latin folk music (trova, andina). Relax at a table in what usually is a not-too-crowded environment. After that, your choices are varied. For Latin dance music, there's a place just a block away, on the corner of Madero and Juárez, called Latino's (tel. 967/678-9972) -- good bands playing a mix of salsa, merengue, and cumbia. On weekends it gets crowded, but it has a good-size dance floor. Another club, Blue (tel. 967/678-2000), is in the opposite direction on the other side of the main square. It has live music on weekends playing salsa, reggae, and some electronic music. The place is dark and has just a bit of the urban edge to it. From there, you can walk down the pedestrian-only 20 de Noviembre to visit a couple of popular bars -- Revolución and El Circo.