Despite the long nights and cold weather, in recent years Moscow has become a truly 24-hour city. The range of chic bars, clubs and live entertainment on offer is extensive. Most places operate a strict door policy: whether that means ’face control’ to keep out hooligans or to keep out those in last season’s Prada depends on whether it is ’democratichny’ or ’elitny’.

Lap dancing bars have become extremely popular too and going to them, for men and women, is far more acceptable than it might be in other cities in Europe or the US. Do not be surprised to be invited into an additional club room attached to a main nightclub.

Moscow has a number of 24-hour bars and ’night restaurants’ that are often open until 0500 or 0600. These combine dining, drinking and entertainment under one roof. Otherwise, bars tend to stay open until 2400 or 0100. The minimum drinking age in Russia is 18 years, although the minimum purchasing age is 21 years. Live music is played all over the city but quality acts are not always easy to come by. The American expat newspaper, eXile (website: www.exile.ru), offers an up-to-date, if somewhat rude, guide.

Bars: The Boarhouse, Zemlyanoy Val, 26, is fun and popular with an expat crowd. Happy hour is from 0800 to 2100 and DJs, live music and football all provide entertainment. Be warned - it does have a reputation for attracting women who offer other forms of entertainment. Vodka Bar, Lva Tolstovo ulitsa 18B, does exactly what it says on the tin - but with style. It serves every type of vodka you could hope to sample and if shots aren’t your thing the cocktails are excellent. Moscow has gone crazy for cocktail lounges: for fantastic views, dress smart to please the face control at the ultra-pretentious Red Bar, 23a Naberezhnaya Taras Shevchenko, with a white baby grand and views overlooking the river and city. Suzy Wong Bar, 11 Timura Frunze, is a laid back but elegant warehouse bar. Tinkoff on Protochniy pereulok 11 is a microbrewery with restaurant that plays live acid jazz and funk at the weekend. For those who pine for something more ‘spit and sawdust’, there is the John Bull Pub, Kutuzovsky proezd 4, which has decent music and is open until 0300 at the weekend. The Irish pub Rosie O’Grady’s, Znamenka ulitsa 9/12, is another popular spot.

Clubs: Many clubs opened in the 1990s closed after the economic collapse of 1998. But Propaganda, Bolshoi Zlatoustinksy pereulok 7 (website: www.propagandamoscow.com), is one of the city’s survivors with its approachable non-handbag house. Gaudi Arena, Skladochnaya ulitsa 1 (website: www.gaudiarena.ru/splash.html), attracts top-flight international DJs and is committed to showcasing the best in techno and party nights from visiting clubs such as Gatecrasher. Gay and lesbian clubbers could do worse than head to the small 12 Volt, Tverskaya ulitsa 12 (website: http://12voltclub.ru), or the larger Tri Obezany, Nastavnichesky pereulok 11 (website: www.gaycentral.ru), one of Moscow’s oldest gay clubs which was revamped in 2004 and features drag shows in its techno mix.

Live Music: Many of the bars and clubs have live music (usually rock but occasionally country, reggae or folk) for a couple of hours in the evening (generally 2200 to2400/0100). Dom u Dorogi (website: http://roadhouse.blues.ru) is an intimate club for aficionados of jazz and blues. Le Club (website: www.le-club.ru) was founded by jazzman Igor Butov. Bunker, Tverskaya ulitsa 12, and Tabula Rasa, Berezhkovskaya naberezhnaya 28, both feature live bands - the cover charge depends on the night and who is playing. B2 (website: www.b2club.ru) has club nights as well as live music and international acts.

© 2006 Columbus Travel Publishing Ltd. Disclaimer

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