How to live it up and, ahem, rave it up when you’re firmly out of your twenties? We at MR PORTER always aspire to be paragons of decorum and responsibility, but we still like to throw ourselves at a good night out every once in a while. We don’t all party the way we used to, however. Nor would we recommend it. For those looking for a more sophisticated clubbing experience, the basic concerns remain the same: an electric atmosphere, some seriously good tunes, a few well-made drinks and a chilled place to escape to afterwards. But the execution is different. It’s about toning down the self-annihilation, hitting venues with a little more class, dressing up and avoiding all those unfortunately ebullient twentysomethings. Then there are the extra perks that, at a riper age, seem a little more appropriate and help to take the edge off things. Find the right recovery spot and you’ll be able to experience beautiful architecture, enjoy the benefits of a decent pool, eat proper food and get the odd pummelling on a massage bed. Here are a few travel ideas, selected for a slightly more discerning crowd, that can supply hedonism and languorous luxury in equal measure.

A superb underground electro scene is simmering away in Uruguay. In just a few clubs, the country’s talented DJs play fine and obscure techno, broken beats and electro as good you’ll hear anywhere in the world. Phonotheque, a small but brilliant techno club in Montevideo, has been compared to Berlin’s Berghain. That may be your first port of call (look out for psychedelic-tinged sets by the country’s influential DJ Koolt), but you’ll get the sweetest mix for a holiday on Uruguay’s increasingly glamorous coast.

During summer (winter in the northern hemisphere), Montevideo’s star DJs drift out to play festivals and pop-up music events by the sea, largely for the wealthy Argentinians who flock to the famously fabulous Punta del Este. All good fun, but Uruguayans in the know head instead for Saturno in Piriápolis, the coolest little beach-side club for down-tempo beats, vintage tech house and minimal techno, a Phonotheque-on-Sea. Resident Advisor has raved about it. It could be empty at midnight, packed by 4.00am, with people pouring out to watch the sun come up, then moving on to after-parties in nearby neighbourhoods.

Just over an hour’s cab ride away is Playa Vik José Ignacio, one of a trio of luxurious art hotels in the boho village from billionaire investor Mr Alexander Vik. An impressive piece of glassy architecture overlooking the sea, it has a dramatic cantilevered granite infinity pool that juts out over the waves, and is split into six casas, each with two or three double rooms and private terrace, plus three smaller suites. Go for Casa Mar, which has a wrap-around glass balcony and bathroom walls hewn from slabs of rock.

Mykonos is the place to be this summer, with everyone from fashionable school leavers to superyacht owners flocking to party at the Cycladic island’s sophisticated beach clubs. And why not? All that glorious Mediterranean sunshine, white-washed villages hiding boho boutiques, seawater the colour of a Bombay Sapphire bottle and sundowners on the beach among Europe’s beautiful influencers can only add up to fun.

Key focal points of the scene include celeb favourite Nammos in Psarou Bay, where champagne is sold in 30-litre bottles and private cabanas with their own Jacuzzi and butler rent for £4,500 a day. In peak season, the club’s sandy bay turns into a riotous party zone, where swathes of Athenians in designer swimwear take selfies and sway to Greece’s top DJs and singers. Messrs Antonis Remos and Amr Diab play on 26 July, while DJ Mr Vasilis Tsilichristos is top of the bill for summer’s biggest party on 28 July.

Other spots to check out include the slightly more low-key beach club Scorpios, for psychedelic-leaning house, unplugged sessions, local DJ hero Valeron and sets by Sneaky Sound System, and indoor clubs Bonbonniere, which has a whitewashed outdoor terrace, and Moni, an intimate, soulful club with a great crowd.

When the 6.00am nonsense-gabbling kicks in, sweep away to the Santa Maria Resort & Villas hotel in Ornos Beach, which has a private beach and white cube villas with infinity pools dotted up the hillside behind. Rooms feature artwork made from coral, cool white linens and rattan furniture.

If you can drag yourself away from the sunken poolside daybeds, head for upmarket beach lounge Alemagou in Ftelia, Solymar, a beach restaurant with loungers on the sand of Kalo Livadi, and elegant Principote restaurant at Panormos beach.

Theme-heavy club Elrow’s spectacles of confetti, streamers, giant inflatables, fancy dress and performance have zapped the fun back into this Catalan city’s club scene, which every modern clubber should try once. Having now made its name as an export to festivals and clubs around the world, from Romania to Peru, and with five global residences, including Amnesia, Ibiza, this summer, plus its own touring festival, ElrowTown, the promoter is bigger than ever, attracting 2.4 million attendees a year around the world. A night at its spiritual home at Row 14, a club space in the town of Viladecans, just outside Barcelona, will be an unforgettable highlight of a weekend in the city. Its monthly sessions on Sundays from 11.00am until 11.00pm, playing energetic, uplifting underground house, tech-house and techno, have been dubbed one of the best club nights in the world by DJ Mag and Elrow was named one of the 25 best dance clubs in history by Billboard magazine. You’ll need to make an effort with the party outfit.

If you fail to catch that, check out CDLC (Carpe Diem Lounge Club), a seafront restaurant whose terrace becomes a dance floor when the ceviche plates are cleared and night falls, and Nitsa, an established sweatbox in an old downtown theatre, renowned for its amazing post-6.00am closing sets.

The antidote? Escaping to pretty pink Soho House Barcelona in the Gothic Quarter, where the messiness will melt away amid the refined country-house styling. By the time you’ve sobered up enough to sleep, you’ll be lying on smooth, neat sheets in a restful sage-green room, French windows open, or dozing by the rooftop pool, soothed by the view of bobbing boats in the Port Vell Marina. The Cowshed spa should help, too.

The secret to doing Croatia’s party scene right is doing it in style, and that means doing it by boat. We don’t mean joining one of the touring party fleet for The Yacht Week. We mean hiring a beautiful vessel such as the Mustique, a sleekly styled luxury motor yacht that sleeps 12, to tour the coastal party spots.

Avoid the hammered teenagers at Zrće Beach on Pag and aim for yachty favourite Hvar, where the famous beach clubs are well set up for arriving like a pirate. The heavily Insta-tagged Hula Hula Hvar is the place for chilled music and sunbeds during the day, and raucous DJ sets on the beach dance floor until dawn.

Carpe Diem Bar is the harbour’s famous focal point. After an aperitif accompanied by smooth jazz at sunset, take a free water taxi to its sister venue, Carpe Diem Beach, an outdoor club on its own island. With your own yacht, you’re one step ahead and will be lulled to sleep by the gentle rocking of your boat while the skipper navigates away from it all. Sailing north, you could drop anchor near Zagreb and head to the city’s most underground club, Das Haus, and a load of other great clubs before heaving ho and setting sail for the secret coves of Croatia’s 1,104 miles of crinkled, pine-dotted coastline and more than 1,000 mostly uninhabited islands.

For calypso beats, kaiso and soca, and a thorough immersion in local party culture, you can’t beat a Caribbean carnival. Trinidad’s is arguably the greatest and most exuberant.

In the weeks building up to it, steel pan collectives preparing to compete during carnival rehearse in outdoor spaces known as panyards. Some of the biggest bands, including Desperadoes, Invaders and All Stars, have their own spaces; some rehearsals are low key and spontaneous. Just keep an ear to the ground and ask locally or check online, then turn up with a cooler of beers and get into the groove.

Fun parties, or fetes, pop up on beaches, along streets, in hotels and bars in the weeks before carnival, especially the one before. They’re not hard to find. Maracas Bay is the most popular beach and hosts beach parties alongside food stalls selling bake and shark and roti.

Carnival itself kicks off in Port of Spain at 4.00am with J’ouvert, a traditional pre-dawn parade celebrating the island’s folklore and history, when people dress as devils or cover themselves in oil, mud, paint or cocoa.

Throw yourself into the maelstrom and learn to wine (grind your hips). Signing up to party alongside a particular masquerade band – there are more than 100 – is called “playing mas”. You have to register and buy the right costume to join one, but it’s worth it. Get lucky (the local scene can be cliquey) and you might be invited to “raft up” later when rich Trinis gather on their boats to party.

Trinidad is one of the Caribbean’s more industrial islands, so when it’s all over, escape to the more enticing, rainforested island of Grenada, a short flight north, to hide away at the Spice Island Beach Resort. Set on Grand Anse Beach, with 64 suites along the white sands, this luxury all-inclusive recently added a yoga pavilion and is an idyllic place to put yourself back together again.

For more travel recommendations, go to MR PORTER’s Style Council