Nightlife

Whether it’s cheering on local sports at a watering hole, rocking out at an underground club, applauding a symphonic performance, or chilling with cocktails in an elegant lounge, Boston has a nightlife vibe to suit all types and moods. Consider it a Cinderella city, set aglow with energy that for some ends all too soon. With the T (subway and bus) making its final runs between midnight and 1 am, most nightspots follow accordingly, closing their doors typically by 2 am. Though night owls may be disappointed by the meager late-night options, except in Chinatown, visitors find plenty of possibilities for stepping out on the early side. The martini set may stroll Newbury and Boylston streets in the Back Bay or Downtown, selecting from swank restaurants, lounges, and clubs. Coffee and tea drinkers can find numerous cafés in Cambridge and Somerville, particularly Harvard and Davis squares. Microbrew enthusiasts find viable options at sports bars, pop-up beer gardens, and craft breweries, especially on the Rose Kennedy Greenway, along the water, near campuses and sports arenas. The thriving "lounge" scene in Downtown’s cooler hybrid bar-restaurant-clubs provides a mellower, more mature alternative to the collegiate indie spots, and DJs spin the late night dance parties into a frenzy with house music at crowded clubs like The Grand in the Seaport. Tourists crowd Faneuil Hall for its pubs, comedy spots, and dance scenes. The South and North Ends cater to the "dinner-and-drinks" set. Several casual indie rock and music clubs abound with plenty of local bands on stage and cold beer behind the bar in Allston, Somerville, and Cambridge.

Getting Informed

The best source of arts and nightlife information is the Boston Globe's "Arts & Entertainment" section (www.boston.com/thingstodo). Also worth checking out are the Thursday "Calendar" section of the Boston Globe; the Friday "Scene" section of the Boston Herald; and the calendar listings in free magazines in drop boxes around town, like DigBoston (www.digboston.com). The Globe, Dig, and specialized sites as diverse as the thoroughly classical Boston Musical Intelligencer (www.classicalscene.org) and the scruffy indie-rock broadside Boston Hassle (www.bostonhassle.com), provide up-to-the-minute information online. Other reliable websites include the comprehensive artsfuse.org and The ARTery at wbur.org, the radio station of Boston University.