Going out aat night in Rome/Florence/Venice
 

My husband and I are in our early 30's - We are looking for suggestions for places to go out at night in Rome, Florence and Venice. Although I am sure we will be wiped out from our days of sightseeing/walking and eating we want the option to go out as well!
I'm not sure what the nightlife is like - so any help would be appreicated!
TIA! :>

Have you tried the Fodor's miniguides destinations sections here yet; e.g., for Venice?

http://www.fodors.com/miniguides/mgr...p;showover=yes

I'm not sure what sort of nightlife you want, but as a general guide:

In Venice places tend to close early because lots of the workers need to get the last train back over to Mestre where they live. The summer is better than the winter for late opening of bars. It's low on nightclubs (I only know of one jazz bar near the Rialto and 'Club Casanova' near the station, but there are probably more somewhere).

Florence is better but still generally quiet.

In Rome lots of places are open very late, cafes and bars as well as clubs, and there's more choice of nightlife.

ttt

You can get tired from the days activites, but there are several things to do to reduce it. Do not rush so much that you have to take a vacation to recover from this one.

Do not try to do too much in one day. Take your time and enjoy what you see.

If going a long way to the starting point of the days activites, take a taxi, bus, or metro to get there. Same goes for the end of your days activities.

Take several rest breaks during the day, if only for a few minutes.

Mix up sights so that you do not get museumed or ruined out.

Try to get back to your room and relax awhile before going back out to dinner.

Having a relaxing dinner will actually benificial. It can releive the stress of the day, and make sleeping easier.

I agree with the comment about going back to the room and kicking back before dinner, especially after a really busy day -- I tend to like to be "on the go" on vacation, but even just changing shoes/freshening up a bit gives you a nice little break.

As papagena wrote, Venice is quieter at night, but arriving there late on the last trip (May) we were restless and went out at around 11:00 and found cafes busy and lively. On a previous trip 3 years ago we found a bar with live blues (band from GB) but I am sorry to say I have no idea of the name!

Rome, as mentioned, is great for nightlife in general. Make sure you save some energy to take an evening walk; things are lit so beautifully, from the Forum to, of course, the Trevi fountain. Every big and little piazza seems to have a choice of cafes for drinks/coffee until late...

We didn't catch any live music on this trip, but in Trastevere we walked by several clubs that featured a variety of music.

For Rome, I liked the "Rome after dark" walk that Rick Steves outlines in his guidebook (you don't need to follow his route, of course, but he hits the highlights) and found that Lonely Planet had good information on night spots/music venues. The Top Ten guidebook series is also good for after dark ideas.

Have fun!