San Polo, Venice

The humble neighborhood of San Polo lies just across the Rialto Bridge from San Marco, and although its dense quarters are largely residential and mellow, it does house the bustling Erbaria market area.

Now a wildly popular Venice nightlife district, the market’s interconnected squares provide an arena where artsy students and progressive young professionals meet, mingle, and flirt on any given night of the week.

The bars in San Polo range from a handful of cool, trendsetting venues to antique and artsy joints that appeal to the diverse crowd of revelers.

The Erbaria’s open-air fish and produce stands and unique merchant booths are worth checking out by day, too, as are the wide vistas along the snaking curve of the Grand Canal.

San Polo also bustles with boat traffic and attracts people from all walks of life, making it a prime spot for just kicking back and taking in the scene.