There's plenty to do when the sun sets on The Eternal City. Many of the best bars are found in the Centro Storico, from a wine bar with more than 1,500 bottles on offer, to a chic cocktail bar overlooking the Spanish Steps. Other neighbourhoods can offer jazz venues, late-night clubs and hip cabaret shows.

Read on for our experts' tips for the best places to have a drink and a dance. And check out our other Rome guides for tips on hotels, attractions, restaurants, shopping, free things to do and a guide to spending a weekend in the city.

Monti

Drink Kong

The epicentre of Rome’s trendy cocktail bar scene, this newcomer is passion project of Patrick Pistolesi, one of the top mixologists in the Eternal City. The slick interiors blend a 1980s-cocktail-lounge vibe with futuristic lashes of neon art; the music is just loud enough and the bar just crowded enough to scratch that late-night FOMO itch. Though the bar offers internationally inspired small plates, cocktails take center stage here. Order concoctions such as the Lotus or Summer Kip, or put their “instinct bar” philosophy to the test by letting the staff mix up something something bespoke to suit your taste.

Website: drinkkong.com
Prices: ££
Getting in: Reservations recommended if you plan on dining

North Centro

Cul de Sac

Cul de Sac has been open since 1977, and is one of Rome's first proper wine bars. Its dinky, bottle-lined interior has fixed pinewood tables and benches arranged train-carriage style. A stone’s throw from the Piazza Navona, it’s a refreshing contrast to the fast-buck tourist trattorias. The focus is on wine, with several by-the-glass options and more than 1,500 bottles on the phone-directory-sized list. Mark-ups are reasonable and it's ideal for an aperitif or a light lunch. In summer, there are tables outside in the lively little piazza.

Contact: enotecaculdesacroma.it
Prices: £

Etabli

This more-chic-than-shabby hangout, just around the corner from the aperitivo hub of Piazza del Fico, feels like a cool Roman apartment with all the internal walls removed. Worn, comfortable leather armchairs form little social clusters, and there are bookcases and even a working fireplace. This is a multi-tasking place where you can order a light Mediterranean dinner (veggie lasagna, salads, aubergine parmigiana), join the local trendsters for Saturday or Sunday brunch, or simply stop by for a drink. Check their Facebook page for details of Thursday jam-session music nights and Sunday lunchtime Jazz Matiné live sessions.

Website: etabli.it
Prices: ££

Hotel Locarno Bar

Around the corner from Piazza del Popolo, the courtyard bar of this elegant and historic art deco hotel has developed an evening aperitivo scene that is at least as trendy as that of its pricey near-neighbour, the Stravinskij Bar in the Hotel de Russie. It's especially popular with cinema personalities, both local and visiting, and the aperitivo nibbles – free with a drink – are a cut above the Roman average. Its also open for lunch, while the Sunday brunch is a hot ticket among the Roman smart set.

Website: hotellocarno.com
Prices: ££

Cielo

Rooftop bars are the current 'must-have' for high-end hotels in Italy’s capital, offering drinks and nibbles with a view far from the bustle of the city below. One of the most elegant is Cielo, the panoramic cocktail bar perched atop Hotel de la Ville just above the Spanish Steps. With retro-glam riviera stripes, candle-lit tables, and 360-degree views across the Eternal City, the atmosphere is romantically chic, though live DJ sets turn up the heat later in the evening. Cocktails are both classic and signature, with sophisticated mixes such as the champagne-based Gavio and Candidus taking centre stage. Reservations are recommended on weekend evenings.

Website: roccofortehotels.com
Prices: £££

Museo Atelier Canova Tadolini

Rome's most unique café/restaurant is also a museum, its tables laid out amid the impressive plaster casts of the cluttered 19th-century sculpture workshop founded by an assistant of Neoclassical maestro Antonio Canova. It’s open for dinner but works best as a café: pop in for a light lunch, a coffee or an aperitivo beneath busts of gods, madonnas and generals and take yourself back to a less hurried, more refined era of Eternal City tourism. There's no charge if you just want to see the sculptures, but they expect you to at least order a coffee.

Website: canovatadolini.com
Prices: ££

Salotto 42

Salotto 42 is a very cool 'book bar' in a central piazza run by an American-Swedish couple, and quieter than many aperitivo spots in the Centro Storico. The cocktails are good, and you can actually have a conversation in the retro-chic interior filled with comfy old armchairs, or browse their collection of design books and magazines. Unlike many Roman bars, they don't put on a huge aperitivo buffet but focus on gourmet nibbles such as sushi and tartines.

Website: salotto42.it
Prices: ££

Stravinskij Bar

There are few more civilised places for a drink in Rome than the bar of the Hotel de Russie. Inside, all is classy contemporary elegance, with well-spaced armchairs and soft lighting. But it's the outside terrace that most people come for: a cobbled courtyard entirely enclosed by the three wings of the hotel, with a verdant garden striding up towards the Pincio belvedere and one of the best martinis in town. The intriguing clientele make this an excellent spot for a bit of anthropology, too.

Website: hotelderussie.it
Prices: £££

South Centro

Il Goccetto

One of the best wine bars in central Rome – the only one to score maximum points on wine expertise, food (a range of gourmet cold deli platters) and buzzy neighbourhood vibe. There is a fantastic by-the-glass selection, with over 50 bottles on the go at any one time, and they change often enough for you to never get bored. The décor in the 15th-century interior is all dark wood, subdued lighting, exposed ceiling beams and bottle-lined shelves: a fittingly contemplative ambience for serious imbibing. There's usually a spillover crowd in the street outside, even in winter.

Contact: facebook.com/Ilgoccetto
Prices: ££

Open Baladin

This extraordinary designer beer bar not far from Largo Argentina has a theatrically-lit bar in the main room offering no fewer than 40 Italian beers on tap, and more than 100 by the bottle. Soak up the alcohol with gourmet comfort food, including liquorice-flavoured chips and chunky hamburgers made from organic Piedmontese Fassona beef, in buns made by celebrity baker Gabriele Bonci. If you're in the mood for a tête-à-tête, head for the smaller, more lounge-like upstairs rooms. Reservations are recommended if you plan to eat a meal.

Website: baladin.it/en/open-baladin-roma
Prices: ££

The Jerry Thomas Project

In theory, you're supposed to go onto the website and answer a cocktail history question in order to discover the password that will gain you entry to this cult, late-night speakeasy. In practice just pick up the phone and book. Once inside, the cramped bar certainly looks the part: oxblood-red walls peppered with black-and-white prohibition-era photos, an eclectic vintage furniture mix, and co-owner Robbie Artuso's hipster moustache. True to their name (a homage to the 19th-century father of US mixology), they certainly know their cocktails in here; they do a mean Old Fashioned.

Website: thejerrythomasproject.it
Prices: ££

Veneto

Micca Club

Rome's premier burlesque and retro vinyl club has adopted an itinerant lifestyle, organising regular weekly appointments and one-nighters in a variety of key Centro Storico venues. But DJ impresario Alessandro Casella's formula has changed very little: hip cabaret and burlesque evenings alternate with retro DJ sets and events. Among the regular slots are Monday night 'Velvet Cabaret' shows and Friday night Burlesque Café dinner shows organised in the historic setting of the Salone Margherita variety theatre. It makes for a fun evening if you're in Rome and up for a cool club experience that few tourists ever discover.

Website: miccaclub.com
Prices: £££

Trastevere

Freni e Frizioni

Rome’s ultimate shabby chic bar, known as Brakes and Clutches in English, takes its name from the mechanic's workshop that once occupied the space. Many of the youngsters who crowd the place in the evening are here for the 7.30pm-10pm, mostly veggie aperitivo buffet – free for the price of a drink, and a good substitute for dinner if you pile that plate high. In summer, the action spills out into the square (where you stand or perch, as there are no tables). To get your drink, queue first at the till – not at the bar.

Website: freniefrizioni.com
Prices: ££

Ma Che Siete Venuti A Fà?

This miniscule Trastevere craft beer pub is at the forefront of the booming Italian beer culture which has gathered speed in a couple of decades. There are generally around 16 beers on tap, some unpasteurised and unfiltered, each one served at a temperature and in a glass appropriate for that brew, plus around 200 available by the bottle. In summer, the street outside acts as their beer garden. The name is a football chant and means "what did you come here for?" in Roman dialect.

Website: football-pub.com
Prices: ££

Pigneto

Co.So.

Two former bar managers from the Stravinskj Bar at swish Hotel De Russie left the centro and set up their own joint in hip Pigneto, a stone’s throw from neighbourhood classic, Bar Necci. Co.So. (Cocktails and Social) make excellent classics as well custom cocktails with the finest ingredients and great care in a small black-and-red-themed bar. Try the Carbonara sour, or the spin on a bloody Mary made with homemade tomato and chilli juice. Snacks are excellent and inventive, and a speakeasy-style hidden space accessed through a shower room can be booked for private groups.

Website: cosoroma.business.site
Prices: ££

San Lorenzo

Said dal 1923

Willie Wonka meets lounge-style in this trendy San Lorenzo bar/restaurant inside a chocolate factory and shop. Retro tables, armchairs and sofas are set out here and there, between vintage machinery and beautiful displays of sweet treats. Hot chocolate is the beverage of choice, but they also have a good range of teas and plenty of stronger stuff. While a great aperitivo hangout, you can also come here for a full meal, which is unsurprisingly dessert-oriented. Said closes for much of the summer (generally July-September) so check before making your way out here once it starts to get hot.

Website: said.it
Prices: ££

Testaccio

Enoteca Palombi (also known as Oasi della Birra)

This landmark Testaccio wine shop is known for its buzzy ‘aperitivo’ hour, when tables are set out amid the bottle-lined shelves or on a pavement terrace. Palombi is also famous for its selection of bottled beers from all over the world. If you're looking for something more filling, they do some good salads, a selection of cold salami and cheese platters, and a few hot dishes with a bierkeller (Austrian pub) slant – think goulash, polenta, and more.’

Contact: 00 39 06 574 6122; facebook.com/EnotecaPalombi1917
Opening times: Daily, 4.30pm-12.30am
Prices: ££

Linari

If you want to see a Roman neighbourhood bar at its most Roman, head for this all-day café in the Testaccio district, where they make their own delicious cornetti (sweet breakfast croissants) and cakes. Of a morning, it's difficult to find a standing space at the horseshoe-shaped bar counter, especially on Sundays, when hungry locals pile in after mass in the church across the road. In the afternoon, things are quieter, and unless they're rushed off their feet they rarely charge for table service.

Website: pasticcerialinari.com
Prices: £

Celio

Coming Out

This friendly, democratic locale right by the Colosseum, one of Rome’s new generation gay bars for boys and girls, is the place to come to hook up with a local gladiator or principessa. With its relaxed vibe and good-value drinks, all-day café and club, Coming Out gets its fair share of straight clients too – many of them tourists who just like the welcoming vibe and laid-back food (pizzas, salads and bruschetta, plus Roman pasta and meat classics). Check the website for live music events and dance nights.

Website: comingout.it
Prices: ££

Eastern Suburbs

Qube

Alongside Goa, this huge three-level hangar of a space is probably the city’s best-known dance club. It’s not up there with Berlin’s Berghain or Air in Amsterdam, but if you’re up for a bop with a pop, house, reggaeton or revival soundtrack, it will deliver. Qube’s most celebrated weekly event is the beautifully curated Friday LGBT night Muccassassina (Killer Cow), which has been running in one form or another since 1991, and which often hosts top DJs. Saturdays are BlackQube disco nights.

Website: facebook.com/quberome
Prices: ££