Up all night in Lisbon

Slumped into a mammoth PVC beanbag that could seat the two of us, my partner and I admired a shifting series of hallucinogenic projections.

High above, speakers broadcast an immaculately mixed selection of hip hop, R&B and house. The sound was perfect - crisp, but not deafening. It was 5am. A waiter came over and asked in perfect English: "Would you like a drink?" This could have been a top club in Paris or Berlin. Instead we were at Lux, the Lisbon venue now one of the finest superclubs in Europe.

Lux attracts some of the biggest names in clubbing, but its reputation relies on home-grown talent. You might still think about Portuguese music in terms of Steve Coogan's Tony Ferrino, the Eurovision crooner with the fandango moustache.

But since the success of Portugal's world fair Expo98, creativity has grown ever more confident, artists and DJs evolving a uniquely uplifting music that blends our house template with Brazilian samba and rhythms from Africa. The UK finally took notice last year, when producer Rui Da Silva was the first of his countrymen to have a number-one hit with Touch Me.

At Lux you can catch local stars Rui Da Silva and DJ Vibe and Diniz and Nuno Forte. To find elusive upcoming talents, trawl record shops for flyers. One of their regular hangouts is Fluid bar, in the buzzing Santos quarter.

Despite Fluid's name, we could barely move through the goodlooking throng dressed uniformly in black, contrasting with swirling op-art prints on walls. Deep bass notes bounced around the room, cut with exotic rhythm tracks. A barman juiced a flow of green apples for Fluid's trademark drink: vodka meca, made with the sharp, fresh fruit to impart a muchneeded kick.

We got talking to a figure called Andreas: "You don't want to go to a club before 4am," he said. "At the weekend we don't go out before 11pm, so we'll meet at a bar, stay there until it closes, then go to a club. No need to hurry."

Lisboans, he explained, usually meet in Bairro Alto, a clutter of streets spilling down steep slopes above the city. The former bohemian quarter's tiny pubs and bars soon get cramped, so groups overflow into the narrow lanes, dreadlocked hippies mixing with baggy skaterboys, and the smart set slumming it in suits and black dresses.

House of Vodka had space to spare. Maybe the eerie blue glow put people off, or the locked entrance, its key turned by a doorman. Rather than implement a dress code, our man was keen to keep out anyone lacking the laidback Lisboan vibe. Girls breezed by in jeans and sweaters, behind them straight-backed model types in designer gear.

By 1am, the DJ's modernist, minimal grooves had drawn them to its dark back room. House of Vodka's chief draw was its mind-boggling array of said spirit and mixers. My partner was refreshed by vodka with melon, while I had a tasty apple-and-cinnamon number.

Fluid and House of Vodka are unique - as cool as anything in Shoreditch - but Lux stands head and shoulders above the rest. Founded in 1998 by John Malkovich, the club wasted no time attracting celebrities such as Madonna. And while UK superclubs such as Cream and Ministry of Sound have suffered in recent years, Lux has maintained its reputation for providing high-quality service and cutting-edge sounds.

At the massive warehouse complex, we could barely squeeze onto the dancefloor, hemmed in between gaggles of girls and muscled men in tight Ts. From the balcony, haughty women in glam eveningwear gazed down amid the thumping hard house. The upstairs bar was a cavern as large again as the main space, divided by screens into intimate pockets, dancefloors and chill-out zones. We lasted until 7am, when we were all herded out.

We woke for a midday breakfast of bitter coffee and heavenly custard pasteis de nata in Bairro Alto. Now its streets were deserted, except for a gang of scruffy kids kicking a ball beneath washing flapping outside flats above shops: the traditions of the old alongside the vibrant new city.

That's how Lisbon's trend-setters keep so relaxed.

Way to go

Chris Mugan travelled to Lisbon with Kirker Holidays (020 7231 3333; www.kirkerholidays.com). Three-night breaks from £442pp.