There’s an important thing to remember about bars and clubs in Venice: conversation is king, and the type of bar-hopping that goes on here has evolved to facilitate this favorite pastime.

Whether at a casual pub or a swanky lounge, the beverage culture has nurtured a population of nibblers and sippers, and for Venetians – who’ll admittedly drink at any hour – the daily bar ritual comes to a peak during l’ora dell’aperitivo.

This is the prime social hour – the Italian Happy Hour, if you will – when friends gather at drinking dens and cafés to chat, wind down after a day’s work, or wind up for a night out at the bars and clubs over pints, ombre (small doses of wine), and bar snacks. Most people stand around the bar – to avoid the ubiquitous table surcharge – and the crowds at many of these cramped locales spill onto the street to create an animated atmosphere that makes for a good start to a hearty sampling of Venice’s nightlife...read less