Plus appréciés Vie nocturne à Bath

If Walcot Street is Bath's bohemian center, then The Bell is its heart and soul. Perhaps we could throw in eclectic and cosmopolitan there too. And, usually, crowded. Real ales flow freely, and there's live music three days of the week. If you like loud and seriously good music, try this place for bands, the bass is gravity, the drums are solid ground and the guitar, organ and guests give an atmosphere that we live to breathe. The place has a bar billiards table, an absolute rarity plus an outside courtyard that gets seriously packed on summer evenings, a games room, chess and good company of all ages and inclinations.

Inside The Curfew, visitors will find a wooden paneled bar with a heavily beamed ceiling, fresh flowers on every table and lighted candles in the evening, a selection of daily newspapers, enough dictionaries to solve the most obscure crossword puzzle, good beer, and a warm welcome. Chess, cribbage, dominoes, monopoly, jenga and other games are available, plus a good selection of reasonably priced home-cooked food from lunchtimes until 9p. Watch out for the doorstep sandwiches that could choke a horse. All this and a proper roast lunch on Sundays. Upstairs is a pool table, a large screen TV for sports and four large sofas, which make for comfortable viewing. Outside at the rear, there's a sunny south-facing patio with more flowers and tables.

At the top of Lansdown Road on the way to Bath racetrack (for horses), this large pub has possibly the best view in the city. Situated almost on the site of the major civil war site of the Battle of Lansdown, on a clear day visitors can just about make out Roundway Hill, just outside Devizes, where Cromwell's lot got beaten again; lots of Royalists around Bath, then and now. There's a lovely garden here with tree covered lawns, and if it's raining there's a huge conservatory too so you can still admire the view. With plenty of food and drink available here, a couple of cozy bars and an air of slightly faded gentility, this is an ideal spot for viewing the world through rose-tinted spectacles.

Certainly not a club for the claustrophobic with its subterranean cellar setting, Moles Club is nevertheless the best live venue in the South West if not the whole of Britain. Moles manages to attract the best national bands and keeps them coming back. Recent live acts have included Super grass, Linoleum, Baby Bird, Alabama 3, Lush, Skunk Anansie and Gabrielle. Monday nights are recommended for live local bands and a less crowded atmosphere than the weekend!

The infamous Thekla is one of Bristol's oldest clubs located inside an iron ship moored in the harbor. Do not expect super-club glam, do not bother dressing up and definitely do not look for any frills. However, what you can expect is top music; downstairs the live acts and DJs get the dance floor moving and upstairs is often more lively. Hosting various nights, from jungle to break beats to garage and funk, the crowd attracted is a good mix. This is the only club in the city where you can gaze out of portholes at swans asleep on the water below!