Valladolid Nightlife

Valladolid has a huge student population and that ensures there are plenty of late night bars and clubs to keep you entertained until the small hours (however when I was there, all of them by city regulations closed down at 3 am - maybe that changed because I know there was a lot of complaints).
In Valladolid there are plenty of tapas bars, restaurants and clubs to choose from. The liveliest areas of town for pubs and clubs are Calle del Paraiso, Plaza del San Miguel, El Cuadro and Cantarranas. Most bars and nightspots cater for students and a younger crowd - if you're a "thirty-something" you'll probably feel more comfortable in one of the cafés along Calle de Vincente Meliner.

San Miguel is a good area for late night dancing. Dress code is generally casual but some clubs have bouncers on the doors (I hate them!). There are several disco-pubs in the area with techno music, go-go dancers and over-priced drinks.

What I noticed is that American are very much liked in this area (probably because of the amounts of alcohol they drink!). So being american gives you a good chance for having more fun, for me having an American accent (even though I am polish) meant a lot of free drinks from the club owners! As a welcoming treat :)

Well, this is not an area I usually go ... anyway, I can try to describe it.

A place of giant disco-pubs, techno music, profesional dancers (go-gos), and $6 cups.

Early in the night, around 19-21 o'clock, it is frequented by very young people (high school), so no alcohol is allowed (at least in theory). Later in the night, the 'average age' grows up, and it is different.

Dress Code: Well, if you don't want to look strange, you whould be 'on fashion', you know ...

The least I can say is that it is a very stylish
place in one of the city most beautiful buildings.
During daytime the terrace is a real hit...

We were walking back to the hotel looking
for a last stop for some drinks.
The little bars where they all hook together ,
close to eachother didn't appeal to me at
that time. I wanted some space...
When we walked by the 'cafe el sol' it seemed
just the place we were looking for.
There were a fieuw people sitting in the bay
window , but the place was empty besides that.

'coctailleria' a big sign says.
The trendy waitress was sitting under that sign.
I'm fund of pina colada. So we ordered two
of those. She looked like she had never
heard that word. Hmm , maybe we mispronounced
it. So we pointed it out on the sign.
She still looked a bit confused.
The girl with the black braids walked
up to the fashionable redhead.
She seemed to be the smart one of them two.
She had a bright idea. There was this
handsome Spanish hunk cleaning up the
chairs and tables from the terrace...

She came back in with a smile on her face.
By now I was convinced that everything would
turn out to be fine. The redhead and miss black
braids both went to the kitchen and
came out a couple minutes later carrying a
' whole pineapple 'in a blender.
We heard some noices...

There the redhead came up to our table...
Of course the communication went a little
stiff. She made gestures with her hands.
I asumed she wanted to know if we wanted
a large one of a little one. hmm A large one
of course. Finally we understood!
The blender got broken.
(ok , I've never seen a blender that is capable
of mixing a whole pineapple without extra
fluid... NO WONDER!)

Dress Code: All the other things I ordered she needed
the blender for. Finally she had a bright idea.
She sugested something... YES YES YES !
I'll take it. whatever. It was named
' Larios cubata/zumo di pina'
I drunk a whole bottle since I'm back. ;-)
And it tasted fantastic. Frederik had the Mojito.
Yakkes!

Going to a trendy place in VALLADOLID
can be quit adventurous. But in the end it
all turned out fine.

We still are wondering...how do they manage when
like 5 people are ordening something???

(don't forge to have a look at the toilets before
you'll get a little drunk. lol - quit special)

They were very friendly and helpful.
At least I got something to tell now.

It is also a place to go after being in Paraíso (not the youngest people, usually around 30 years old), and one of the areas who close later in the morning.

It is an area of big pubs, with the same music you can hear in radio stations, a couple of 'gorillas' in the door to control the people who wants to enter ... ah! and the drinks are expensive (by Spanish standards, an American could find them cheap). Depending on the pub, they can be really crowded, or more calm.

Dress Code: Well, usually the gorillas don't allow to enter people with 'unstandard' dress, but I guess nobody is able to uncypher their code :-)

In any case, you should avoid sportif footwear, and for some weird reason, white socks. This is a general rule for every place of controlled entrance, I guess.

Perhaps the place where you can find the highest variety of styles.

First, there is a lot of places (Malecón, Cañaveral ...) dedicated to Latin Music (salsa, merengue). You don't need to be a 'professional' to try to dance: we are not Cubans, so I would bet there will be always someone doing it worse than you. Don't be shy, and try it.

In the same area, there are also many "alternative" pubs (Barmacia, Metropol ...) dedicated to hard rock, punk or Gothic, some disco-pubs (Europa, Capitán Garfio) and even a Turkish restaurant.

In the first case (Latin Music), people usually go there after taking a look to Paraíso (i.e. , after 24 or 1 o'clock), and until 4 in the morning, more or less. You can go earlier in the other case.

Dress Code: ... well, depending on where you want to enter, to be very formal, or very 'on fashion' can be unapropiate.

First of all, the name has nothing to do with Colombian stuff :-) It was the name of a cinema placed on the area, who gave the place its name. The official name of the place, which you will find in street maps, is "plaza de Martí y Monsó", but most of the locals don't even know it!!!

There are some places to be more calm, sit down and drink a beer, eat something ... and also some disco-pubs (Tintín, Camelot ...), similar to San Miguel, but usually for younger people. The music is more 'modern' (Dance Music, Techno ...). Even if they seem to close at 4-5, if you are inside, you can stay a couple more of hours.

Dress Code: Mmmhhh, more or less like in San Miguel.

The area includes a combination of traditional Spanish bars (including tapas bars), bar-restaurants, Irish style pubs ... there is a couple of 'chupiterías' where you can find a broad variety of licors. Usually you ask for a very small cup (chupito).

In my opinion, it is the best area to go, during the week (other places are rather 'death', when it is not a weekend).

On weekends, it is usually very crowded. Specially in summer (winter is too cold), there are more people in the street than inside the bars. An American friend defined it as 'like in a demonstration' :-)

The time to go there is between 22:00 o'clock until 2-3 in the morning, more or less.

Dress Code: You can find a high variety of dress styles. Usually not very formal dress, but there is no problem with it.