It's all bar fun in Valencia

Spain isn't merely on Continental time, it seems to occupy a parallel universe where a month of Saturday nights fits snugly into two days away. If you're a frequent survivor of epic Madrid or Barcelona weekends you probably think you know all this, but consider the following: Valencia is where Madrilenos go for a really wild night out.

It wasn't always thus. Long after its Roman and Moorish heydays, the once-proud city withered to a gridlock for those driving between the cities, the Balearics and the Costas. Blackened with exhaust fumes, forgotten, Valencia had little to party about.

In the last 10 years all that's changed. The 1992 construction of a bypass relieved the city of traffic chaos and Valencians began to rediscover the centre, to excavate the ruins of the Roman market and the Arab baths. Now the old town rises from the heart of the new, all scrubbed-stone and recobbled splendour.

By 11pm, just as London was calling "time", I stumbled into the first of many bars for the evening. Any weekend in Valencia begins at Caballeros, a street of sedate exteriors hiding design bars which all have a unique theme, from the jungle foliage of Fox Congo to the utterly baffling velvet interior of Carmen.

Penelope Cruz types glam it up on the floor in thigh-high slits, sexy boots and tiny tops, while their men look on in sweatered isolation. Caballeros runs car-less through the old town, with multiple nameless bars stretching off its side streets. Bars spill one into another - things got hazy, largely due to the man-killing measures of vodka tonico at the chic and cheerful Russian bar.

After hours the crowds diverge: students to the cheaper clubs like Blasco; pijos (designer crowd) to their designer clubs, the gay crowd to Venial to have the most fun. I'd be lying if I were to claim detailed knowledge of the rest of the evening, but the functionally funky club Jam bore special responsibility for my amnesia.

With breakfast at nine and bed at 10, I was finally on Spanish time. A late lunch on rising at the Technicolor Mercado Central led inevitably to an afternoon in the bars of Plaza de la Reina. Valencia has phenomenal museums, but its sights are best viewed from the outside, bathed in dusk or dawn light - the closest to daylight you are likely to see.

There was no weariness apparent among the late afternoon crowds in the Chocolateria, who were in unspeakably high spirits. The Spaniards laugh harder and longer than any nation I've encountered. Then again, basking in 23C sunshine under blue skies on the shortest day of the year, it would seem churlish not to be jovial.

I met writer Tim O'Grady - resident in Valencia - and we escaped to Finnegans, an Irish bar where we could get away with drinking less. We supped our way from bar to bar to dinner at Seu Xerea to a river of vodka and a deluge of Sangria at Almirante and too many tapas on Salamanca Street until 5am was upon us.

At Carmen, DJ Olivier asked our plans for the evening, which confused me - the evening was over, wasn't it? "Ten kilometres that way," he explained, "is Ibiza." I presumed he meant by ferry but Olivier meant the megaclubs which stretch along the coast in a Balearic state of mind. A £15 cab ride later we were sharing the laser-striped dancefloor at Puzzle ("Pooth-lay") with several thousand transvestites from the city and work-booted, tanktopped farmers down from the hill villages.

I'm familiar with traipsing home at dawn through city streets, but this particular Sunday the salmon-tinted light on the cathedral was sunset. Hip-hop thumped from a 700-year-old window. At the end of a flower-and candle-lined passageway I found a 15th century church. The priest intoned soothingly and the deeply hung-over congregation murmured back. For a tiny moment, I found a little peace.

Dudi Appleton travelled to Valencia with Cresta (0870 161 0950; www.crestaholidays.co.uk). Two nights from £269pp B&B at the three-star Excelsior hotel, including flights. Further information, the Valencia Region Tourist Board (00 34 96 398 64 22/www. comunitatvalenciana.com)

Carmen, Calle Caballeros 38
Curious decor, juxtaposing sleek modern tiling with parts of the original 11th century city wall. Attracts different crowds depending on the time - from teens to middle ages.

Johnny Maracas, Calle Caballeros 39
Funky salsa bar designed in a vibrant Cuban style. Popular with all crowds but particularly the Cuban community for the music.

Cafè Sant Jaume, Calle Caballeros 51
Laid-back place to begin the evening with an alfresco copa: try the local drink Agua de Valencia - a twist on bucks fizz. All ages and types.

La Indiana, Calle San Vicente 95
New club with knockout decor: one wall is a giant aquarium in which baby sharks swim. Three rooms: one disco, one funk, one salsa. Entry £10.