Maastricht · Nightlife

Thirty-odd cafes facing one square, filling from mid-afternoon and staying full. The eastern side gets the evening sun.

A main hall and a small hall in the Sphinxkwartier running concerts, club nights and festivals across rock, dance, hip hop and jazz, with a decent run of free shows.

The east bank around the Rechtstraat: wine bars, small kitchens and the part of town still open when the Vrijthof has emptied.

For three days before Ash Wednesday the city stops completely: costume, brass bands and drinking that starts at eleven in the morning. Not an event you attend so much as one you are inside.

Student bars in the oldest corner of the walled town, quieter and cheaper than the Vrijthof and a hundred metres from it.