Must-see nightlife in Baku

Old School is a wonderfully off-beat hang-out for intellectual young Bakuvians. The sign is a typewriter and the interior decked with clocks, cameras and…

Kefli can take you on a full oenological tour of Azerbaijan with a book-thick menu of bottled vintages organised by grape (or pomegranate) type, and some…

Each storey of this enticing Old City bar has its own character, including a gallery lounge on floor 2, but the most spectacular feature is the rooftop…

Small and wonderfully understated, this wine shop with tasting bar is run by real experts who know all there is to know about Azerbaijani vintages.

Cute, quiet and quirky, the atmosphere here is like sitting in a friend's front room, albeit an intellectual friend who has covered the walls with trippy…

Already on its fifth venue in as many years, iN is Baku's original rave-style club, currently operating from a converted factory in a rather obscure…

Made using a La Marzocca espresso machine with beans that are freshly roasted on-site, it's hardly surprising that Kofetearea's coffees are among the best…

Beloved by the laptop brigade but also great for a quiet chat over a flat white or glass of local pomegranate wine, Coffee Moffie finds that sweet spot…

Combining concert space, restaurant and upmarket nightclub, this is the bling-fest playground of Baku's glamorous socialite elite. Expect a very stringent…

Popular with local 20-somethings, this self-declared 'concept pub' welcomes potential revellers with a disembodied car-end and invocations to 'Eat, drink…

Baku's old faithful Anglo-Irish pub has big wrought-iron lamps in high vaults and some of the best live blues-rock music in town.

In the afternoon you might come for a quiet wine tasting (five Azerbaijani varieties with cheeses for AZN30). But after 10pm expect a hip crowd, bottle…

A certain graffiti chic makes Avto Stop the funkiest of a whole series of inexpensive yet welcoming (if smoky) bars on Qoqol (Mardanov) küç, with beers…

Upmarket rotating bar with ever-changing views across the city. Check for changing happy-hour deals.

This cosy stone cavern is smothered in carpets and lit by colourful Moroccan lamps plus daylight filtered through a few şəbəkə (stained-glass) windows…

This cosy, fashion-conscious place straddles definitions between wine bar, lounge-pub and cafe, appealing to an upwardly mobile local crew. It gets packed…

This sea-view lounge-restaurant turns into a club after 11pm on weekend nights, with relatively mellow DJ beats revving up later. It's the 'afterparty'…

Yes, even in Baku.

In a six-storey building of upmarket dining options, the top floor turns into a dressy night-club around midnight.