Kremlin
A Lisbon clubbing institution since the 1990s (reborn in 2016), Kremlin in Santos still packs the floor on Friday and Saturday nights until dawn with house and techno. A late-night rite of passage.
Listings
Six d.o.g.s
A sprawling all-day cultural hub near Monastiraki – café and leafy garden by day, buzzing bar, club and gig venue by night. One of the anchors of central Athens nightlife and creativity, open year-round.
Brettos
Athens’ oldest distillery, running in the heart of Plaka since 1909, its back wall stacked with a glowing rainbow of bottles. Come for a shot of house ouzo, mastiha or brandy in one of the city’s most photogenic bars.
Kino Bosna
One of Sarajevo’s most beloved alternative haunts – a bar inside a faded former cinema, all peeling grandeur, cheap drinks and rowdy live sevdah (Bosnian folk) nights that pack the place with locals. Come late and join in.
Enoteca Corsi
A wonderfully old-school wine-shop-and-trattoria near the Pantheon, run by the same family for generations, with a tiny handwritten menu of Roman classics that changes daily. Cheap, honest and utterly local – go for lunch.
Old Bear
A characterful Mediterranean restaurant on a quiet lane near Piazza Navona, set in a former carpenter’s workshop with warm rustic rooms and a menu built around fresh pasta and seasonal cooking. Intimate and popular – reserve.
Borgo Pio
A charming cobbled pedestrian street a stone’s throw from St Peter’s, lined with trattorias, wine bars and little shops – a surprisingly village-like pocket of calm right by the Vatican. Lovely for a wander and a plate of pasta away from the crowds.
Dar Filettaro a Santa Barbara
A no-frills Roman institution behind Campo de’ Fiori devoted to one glorious thing: filetti di baccalà – golden, deep-fried fillets of salt cod. Order a couple with puntarelle and a carafe of white. Evenings only, and gloriously unchanged.
Mauerpark
A scruffy, joyous park on the former death strip, famous for its huge Sunday flea market and the legendary open-air “Bearpit Karaoke” in the amphitheatre. Sunday afternoons here are peak Berlin.
Oberbaum Bridge
The double-decker brick bridge over the Spree linking Kreuzberg and Friedrichshain – once a border crossing, now a symbol of the reunited districts, best at sunset with the U-Bahn rattling across the top.