Founded as a theater in 1991, this famous Glasgow venue is a cavernous 65,000-square-foot vaulted space underneath Central Station and is an arty enclave among more gritty surroundings. The venue has been modernized but retains its utilitarian "brickwork" look. In addition to the theater, there's a café-bar and restaurant with preclubbing DJs on the weekends, a live music venue, a visual arts space, and club nights that range from chemical pop to electrosleaze.

Restaurant is open daily until midnight. Club is closed Sundays through Tuesdays.

The clientele of this high-end bar in the Merchant City neighborhood are a grown-up, sophisticated lot who enjoy the decadent Roman vibe. It's done up in the style of a statue-strewn Mediterranean town house, complete with a candlelit courtyard. Yes, it sounds weird, but it works. There's a restaurant and two nightclubs too.

Closed Mondays and Tuesdays.

This is a local workingman's pub—more than 100 malt whiskies are given pride of place along the tiered wooden bar—but proximity to a large student population and the King's Theatre next door save it from being the sole preserve of growling old Scottish men. Its beautiful Victorian interior has intricately carved wood booths, a cute, private snug at the end of the bar (no longer in use), and a front covered in leaded-glass panels. A second room, in the back, isn't nearly as impressive.

Cafe and art venue by day, club, live music, and theater space by night, the Bongo Club has been pulling in crowds (albeit in a different—less savory—location) since 1996. Depending on the night, the tunes can be jungle, reggae, drum and bass, soul, electro, or hip-hop. A spacious dance floor and regular drink promotions add to the fun, laid-back vibe.

Probably the most active venue in town, Caberet Voltaire is set in vaults deep under the Old Town. Cool lighting and the odd painted red or wood-paneled wall has been added, but the interior retains most of the original stone finish and arched ceilings. There are two dance floors, the smaller one only opening later in the evening when the crowds start to pile in. The club is open every night, with live bands preceding the DJs. You really wouldn't want to lean against the walls in your most expensive shirt, but what it lacks in sophistication it makes up for in wild-eyed enthusiasm. The club nights run from house and garage to electro-indie and techno. Bands who have gigged at the Cab include Florence & The Machine, Hot Chip, Four Tet, Adele, and Mumford & Sons.

A former bank in the city center with grandiose Victorian architecture (built in 1842), the Corinthian opened in 1999 following a painstaking refurbishment that included applying lots of gold leaf and installing replicas of the original chandeliers. Various rooms house a restaurant and a few bars, but the Lite Bar, with its 30-foot glass dome, is what makes this place worth a visit.

A key player in Glasgow's music scene, the upstairs venue here is where producer Alan McGee stumbled across Oasis. Smaller national and international touring bands as well as local heroes make up the gig list. A wide but smart booking policy means that Tut's is a good place to hang if you want to be able to boast that you saw such and such enormodome band when they were nobody. On the ground floor, pub grub and pool tables are the main attractions. Located in the heart of the business district—five minutes' walk from the city center—you'll often find the venue is jam-packed while the streets outside are deserted.

This friendly pub hosts traditional music sessions most nights and has an excellent selection of malts. The stained-glass windows depict scenes of the Highland Clearances—a bleak time when landowners forced tenant farmers (crofters) off their land in order to raise sheep and make more money—and just in case you weren't sure where the pub owners stand on the matter, the urinals have the names of Highland landlords on them. You'll find this place on the border of a gritty working-class area and the gentrified Byres Road.

A long-established dive bar in student land, Sleazy's ties with the 13th Note (50–60 King St.; 44-141-553-1638; www.13thnote.co.uk) as the place where Glasgow bands learn their stuff. Kitsch prints of Vladimir Tretchikoff's Chinese Girl (pictures that were popular in Scottish households in the 1970s and now have hipster appeal) line the walls and overlook the motley crew of students, drop-outs, and band members sucking on longnecks. There are bands in the basement pretty much every night of the week, and the Wednesday quiz night when MC Quizallica offers a bottle of Jaegermeister as a prize is also popular. The Sleazy's jukebox is one of the marvels of the modern world.

If you want to dance but aren't up for the all-out club scene, head for this central, super-sophisticated, and dimly lit 8,000-square-foot space, with a mixed (but mostly thirtysomething) crowd. The bar and restaurant both serve excellent cocktails and Asian-style dishes perfect for sharing. And those prepared to part with a yearly fee can get into the VIP members' lounge.

Oran Mór is Gaelic for "great melody of life"—and that's the guiding principle here, whether you're taking in one of the "A Play, A Pie, A Pint" afternoons (exactly how it sounds), howling at a standup comic, or drinking in the whisky bar. As well as numerous eating and drinking options, this converted church in the bohemian West End knows how to host a hoolie (that means party, by the way). The basement venue hosts diverse clubs and gigs by the likes of Sufjan Stevens, The Gossip, and up-and-coming local bands. On the top floor, there are regular ceilidhs (pronounced "kay-lee” it's a big party with Scottish traditional dancing) underneath a magnificent mural by the author and artist Alasdair Gray.

Old stone walls and the location (under Regent Bridge) gives this bohemian Czech watering hole an authentic feel, but don't mistake it for a traditional pub—it's a popular preclub bar, open until 3 a.m. Pilsner Urquell and Staropramen are standard orders at the copper bar, which could double as an art installation with its bizarre fittings and fixtures (including cats and pressure gauges). One room has red upholstered seats, leather sofas, chunky wooden stools, and a TV in the corner playing classic films such as Citizen Kane, but it's standing-room-only in the other, where DJs spin seven days a week.

Long a focal point for traditional music in Edinburgh, this small, cozy pub is best known for the folk sessions that take place in the back room every night, on weekend afternoons, and at other irregular times. The sessions aren't a planned entertainment. There is no cover charge. It's just that Sandy Bell's has been a drop-in gathering place for musicians for decades. Anyone can join in or just listen from the bar with a pint of the local cask-conditioned ale, Deuchars IPA.

This basement club under Jamaica Street has been happening for two decades (save three nomadic years when a fire on the street forced its closure). These days, it's both a live music venue and a club destination that's undergoing a resurgence of popularity with a young crowd. A Bodysonic dance floor, which pulsates the bass up through your feet, was installed in 2006. Optimo, on Sunday nights, is a particular hit. The neighborhood isn't the city's most attractive, which gives the Sub Club a rough-diamond allure. Best seen at night.

Closed Mondays–Wednesdays.

Its name is Sygn, but you'll have to take our word for it, since there's no sign outside. (When you come to the only building on this cobbled street with a pink light by the door, you've arrived.) The glamorous, low-lit main bar is done in dark wood and palm-print wallpaper, while a dramatic space out back has purple-velvet booths, gilt mirrors, and chandeliers. The adventurous should sample the extensive array of liqueurs, such as lychee, Kikor, and Tuaca, but even the timid-of-palate should be comfortable with the market pub grub (gourmet burgers and monkfish kebabs).