The days of Studio 54 and the Paradise Garage are long past, but New Yorkers still firmly believe that they're the centre of the clubbing universe. Certainly there are plenty of all-night haunts; the "city that never sleeps" mystique is maintained by an unofficial protocol which means that you seldom arrive at a club before midnight, with 1 or 2am the normal time for things to kick off. One of the nicest things about clubbing in New York is that it's perfectly normal to go for post-dance slap-up meals. You're likely to find yourself surrounded by a hubbub of other clubbers at four or five in the morning, being served comfort food and cocktails by glamorous transvestite waitresses.

Be warned that in Mayor Guiliani's New York there is a city ordnance which bans dancing in bars. This, combined with the tiny proportions of most Manhattan drinking holes, means that all those promising flyers advertising great DJs in intimate settings can sadly prove to be nights packed with sardine-squashed head-nodders. Most big clubs of note are currently concentrated on the west side of the city, in and around the old meat-packing district.