Italy: Genoa

GENOA ( Genova in Italian) is "the most winding, incoherent of cities, the most entangled topographical ravel in the world." So said Henry James, and the city is still marvellously eclectic, full of pace and rough-edged style. Sprawled behind the huge port - Italy's largest and an increasingly popular stopoff for international cruise liners - is a dense and fascinating warren of medieval alleyways, a district which has more zest than all the coastal resorts put together.

Genoa made its money at sea, through trade, colonial exploitation and piracy. By the thirteenth century, on the heels of a major role in the Crusades , the Genoese were roaming the Mediterranean, bringing back ideas as well as goods: the city's architects were using Arab pointed arches a century before the rest of Italy. The San Giorgio banking syndicate effectively controlled the city for much of the fifteenth century, and cold-shouldered Columbus (who had grown up in Genoa) when he sought funding for his voyages of exploration. With Spanish backing, he opened up new Atlantic trade routes which ironically reduced Genova La Superba ("the proud") to a backwater. Following foreign invasion, in 1768 the Banco di San Giorgio was forced to sell the Genoese colony of Corsica to the French, and a century later, the city became a hotbed of radicalism: Mazzini , one of the main protagonists of the Risorgimento, was born here, and in 1860 Garibaldi set sail for Sicily with his "Thousand" from the city's harbour. Around the same time, Italy's industrial revolution began in Genoa, with steelworks and shipyards spreading along the coast. These suffered heavy bombing in World War II, and the subsequent economic decline hobbled Genoa for decades.

You could spend several days checking out the scores of places to eat in Genoa, from basic trattorias to elegant nineteenth-century caffès . The cheapest, around the port, are often open only at lunchtime.

On first impressions, life after dark looks sparse but a bit of time rooting around in the old town will turn up a good choice of convivial bars and small clubs, some of them with live music.

The best source of information on nightlife is the local daily paper Il Secolo XIX ; in summer you can supplement this with Genova by Night, the tourist office's free what's-on guide. The student magazine La Rosa Purpurea del Cairo also has information on music, theatre and cinema; it's published monthly and is available from bars and some Via Balbi bookshops in term-time.

There are plenty of bars along the seamy waterfront Via Gramsci, in between the strip joints and brothels, but more attractive places to drink can be found on the side roads off Via XX Settembre and around Piazza delle Erbe. Moretti on Via San Bernardo is a beery student dive; Le Corbusier , Via San Donato 36r, is consistently popular; Eprïe Rosse , Via Ravecca 54r, is a characterful wine-bar. The Britannia pub at Vico Casana 76r, off Piazza di Ferrari, has pints of Guinness and burgers and chips. The Louisiana club on Via San Sebastiano has live trad jazz most nights from around 10pm, but you'll find more happening joints tucked away in the southern part of the old town: the Quaalude , beneath the "Massari" signboard at Piazza Sarzano 14, is an underground club that features live bands and/or dance parties on Fridays and Saturdays - ask around in local bars for the latest news.

The two main theatres in Genoa are the Teatro della Corte, Via E.F. Duca d'Aosta, and the Teatro Duse, Via Bacigalupo, who advertise their performances on the same hoardings around town and sell tickets to both venues (tel 010.534.2200, www.teatro-di-genova .it.net ). The Teatro Carlo Felice in Piazza de Ferrari (tel 010.589.329, www.carlofelice.it ), is Genoa's main opera house ; its performances are often oversubscribed, but it's still worth an enquiry. Chamber music concerts take place in some of Genoa's palaces over summertime