John

What are your nominees for best bars in Europe (pubs, tavernas, wine bars, tapas bars, etc.)? Quality of beer, beautiful rooms, fun people, good food, view… what makes them your favorites? With all the experience available on this board I’ll bet this could be a great list to print out for trip planning.

Julie

One of my favorites is on a corner in the Barrio Santa Cruz in Sevilla. It's very small, bar and room for a couple of tables, has hams hanging from the ceiling dripping their grease into thoe little plastic cups they attach to them, and lots of blue, yellow and white tiles on the wall. The place has terrific atmosphere. I've never learned the name. Just find it by poking around.

Julie

A favorite wine bar in Paris is Le Baron Rouge. It's just around the corner from the Aligre market in the 12th. We dropped by for a drink after checking out the market and found the local wine truck pulled up in front, refilling the casks with his hose. The place is fun and funky. Lots of locals.

xxx

ttt

chay hobson

In Rome Finnegans bar is excellent, it's located at via leonina 66. check out there web site www.finneganpub.com The best night club is Alpheus located at via del commercio and closes when the last person leaves.

Julie

It's not that we spend all our time frequenting bars, but they do add a lot of atmosphere to a trip. In Menaggio on Lake Como we're very fond of the Bar Centrale. As you might imagine, right in the middle of the main street that goes along the lake, we spent most of a Sunday afternoon there waiting for our friends and traveling companions to arrive from their flight into Switzerland. We knew they'd have to pass the place in order to get to their hotel and thought it would be great fun to shout out a big Hello to them as they drove into town. They were later than we expected so we spent plenty of time just sitting there watching the local traffic. Saw some cars cruise by 20 times or more. Apparently it'w the thing to do for the younger crowd in Menaggio on a Sunday afternoon. At any rate, this place got to feel homelike and became our neighborhood bar in Menaggio.

Julie

Come on. There must be a few other drinkers on this site. I've never been, but someone else must have been to Harry's Bar in Paris, Sank Roo Doe New or however else the Herald Trib tells you to pronounce it to your cab driver. How about Harry's Bar in Venice. It's not my personal favorite but there must be others who feel more kindly toward it than I. Or the bar in the Hotel de Paris in Monaco. Don't tell me that this site has no one who wants to speak up for these classics. Come on let's hear from you. <BR><BR>For my part, I've combed my journals and have several more to add. Here they are:<BR>The floating deck bar at the Europa and Regina on the Grand Canal in Venice with the view over to the Santa Maria della Salute church and the sound of the hokey gondoliers in the background singing Santa Lucia. Heaven. <BR><BR>The bar in the Chevere d'Or in Eze. Elegance, with a view of the small pool and a view over the Mediterranean on the Cote d'Azur. <BR><BR>A small enoteca in Montefollonico in Tuscany during the mid-day shut down. The entire town was closed save for this bar that had ancient stone walls and modern cyber connections with great italian red wines in Reidel quality big glasses. I never spent such a pleasant time communicating in cyberspace before--or since. <BR><BR>More to follow:

Julie

The bar at L'Esperance in Pere-sous-Vezelay in Burgundy, France, owned by chef Marc Meneau. We'd just had a wonderful (then) 3 star dinner and had conversed with American foodies sitting on either side of us. Turns out we were all going to various places in Burgundy to eat and became fast friends. When dinner ended we retired to the bar ( a wonderful glass-enclosed structure, like the restaurant with grey leather barrel chairs and great wine and cognacs) and invited our new friends to join us. An interesting lot, they talked of their various foodie experiences and we had wine and cognacs until we finally called it a night. We were quite surprised the next morning when we wound up with the rather substantial bill for all three couples. Apparently you get the conversation that you pay for. <BR><BR>The bar at the Pera Palace hotel in Istanbul--the hotel where Agatha Christie is reputed to have written Murder on the Orient Express. It's an exotic place with buzzers built into the walls where you can call someone to refresh your glass, a sort of precursor to the airplane flight attendant call button. Ancient but fun. <BR><BR>The bar in the Hotel Locarno in Rome by the Piazza del Popolo. This entire hotel is Art Nouveau style but the bar is the best of it. Turn of the (last) century architecture and ambiance. <BR><BR>Best for the last--I'm quitting now, please someone else tell us your favorites--the bar at the Hotel Florence in Bellagio. A wonderful round room with windows showing onto Lake Como, tables made out of sewing machine-like wrought iron and wood and a wonderful backlit bar with face-flattering pink walls. The overall feeling is one of perfect harmony, and pretty good spirits. My favorite since they closed the Monarch bar that I was brought up in on the main street of Eau Claire, Wisconsin.

Julie

In doing a search re: restaurants in Seville, I chanced upon this old thread. Still can't believe that I'm the big contributor re: bars. Aren't there some of you out there with fond recollections of places you, too, would like to share?

ray

John,<BR><BR>I have always felt that the best bars are the ones that no one else knows about. The ones that you stumble over while walking the streets of whatever city you are visiting in Europe.<BR><BR>I am a big fan of any of the century old beer gardens in Germany and along the German border. Austrian and Switzerland's bars have always been alot of fun for me.<BR> <BR>There are plenty of discos in Germany. The Dorian Grey at the Frankfurt Airport was one that I have been to a few times. It was loud, crowded, very cliquish, smokey, and expensive.<BR>The latest disco i was at was in Berchtesgaden. This disco was next to the McDonalds at the Konigsee. Again, loud, smokey, crowded and expensive.<BR><BR>The beergarden I enjoyed the most was the Augustiner Brewery beergarden in Munich. (10 minute walk from the main trainstation).<BR>The Hofbrauhaus in Berchtesgaden was also well worth the visit.<BR>

sam

I'm a huge fan of Irish pubs. I do a bit of research for wherever I'm going to be and try to visit as many as I can. There are great ones in Heidelberg, Berlin, London, Dusseldorf and Stuttgart. I found some for Metz, France - but I had to leave before they opened for the evening. The ones in Venice were amusing. There was no smoking in one of them (??!!!!) and I don't think either of them had seen an Irishman in years. <BR><BR>Hemingways in Heidelberg is a true German kneipe and is great fun. The Eagle in Cambridge England is fabulous - the interior is authentic and the staff friendly.

Kristen

In Brugge, my favorite was De Garre - fantastic selection of beer!<BR><BR>In Edinburgh, my favorites were The Bow Bar (revolving cask ale - yum) and The Cloisters (for the awesome interior).

wes

Some I like<BR><BR>London - St James Tavern just above Picadilly Circus<BR>London - Museum Tavern just across from British Musuem (south side)<BR>London - Duke's Head in Bloomsbury<BR>Ratho, Scotland, The Bridge Inn<BR>Edinburgh - Deacon Brodie's<BR>Amboise, France - Le Shaker on the island<BR>Luzern - Mr. Pickwick's Pub, in old town<BR>Reading, England - Piper's Island on island in Thames at Caversham Bridge<BR>Sonning, England - The Bull<BR>Sonning, England (just out of town)The Green Man<BR>Dublin - O'Donahugues<BR><BR>and many more

FLA

In no particular order:<BR><BR>Lowenbrau Garden in Baden Baden<BR>Drunken Ship in Rome<BR>Augustinier House in Munich<BR>Hofbrau House in Munich<BR>Florence Hotel in Bellagio (or the beer garden down the street<BR>Any place in Brugge which serves Straffe Hendrik<BR>Or better yet, any place where the sun is out and the beer is cold and the sights sweet. <BR>