Nightlife destinations

Lisbon

Lisbon's oldest quarter: fado houses, steep lanes and viewpoints over the river.

Bocas del Toro is a Caribbean archipelago near the Costa Rican border, with wooden stilt towns over the water, mangrove channels and beaches spread across several islands. Boats are the transport between them, and the mix is surfing on the exposed sides and snorkelling on the sheltered ones. Rain is possible any month.

Hvar is a long, narrow Adriatic island of lavender fields, vineyards and pine slopes, with a Venetian harbour town at its western end and quieter stone villages inland. Ferries run from Split, and a road follows the spine of the island to the beaches and wine terraces of the south coast. The Pakleni islets just offshore hold the best swimming.

Rome

Cobbled left-bank quarter that comes alive after dark, packed with trattorias and wine bars. The neighbourhood on the west bank of the Tiber is known for cobbled lanes, ivy-covered houses and trattorias. Its centrepiece, the Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere, is famous for its 12th-century mosaics.