Want to meet the locals? Try the bars.
 

Very few folks here talk about hitting up the local as an option when planning a European vacation but IMO more should - especially those who want to meet and mix with the locals - something that is almost assured to happen while drinking at a bar.

If we all take your advice we'll meet each other.

I'd buy you a beer.

Geez, Gay guys have known this for YEARS!

And it is time that Fodorites knew the secret as well!

There have been quite a few people asking here about good bars to meet locals and good pubs in the UK. And I have read answers from locals both in France and the UK saying that you shouldn't expect any locals to talk to you.

This has run counter to my own experience. People do talk to each other.

I am curious to see the responses you will get to this post.

Rare are the occasions that me and Mrs. Sparkchaser do not end up chatting with a local.

The explosion of microbreweries and craft beer pubs in North America has made conversation even easier. Just ask the person on the next bar stool what's in the mug; anyone interested in the subject will be happy to talk about it. The Europeans have taken their beers for granted but even in France there is an awakening interest in small beers. The language barrier is a different subject but your high school French comes back as the drinks go down (or at least you think it does.)

Mrs Woin hardly ever goes to bars but we talk in restaurants in the queues for attractions or at airports etc etc.

We once talked with Japanese in Tokyo. They spoke Japanese and U.S. English and nobody understood anything.
Great fun though.

And trains ! Fabulous places to talk with your neighbours.

I don't think it's a secret that you can go to bars and meet people. YOung people in particular may go and "meet" the locals. Not sure what you mean about "hitting up the local" but it may be the other way around.

We went to a small bar in Paris that a forum friend was bartending at.. he invited us down for the evening.. and we sat at the bar and chatted with him.. however.. we also came down the next night and sat outside at a table, it was very crowded so we shared a table with two young men who were French.. but had grown up in the countryside.. and had just moved to Paris the year before. They seemed to really enjoy chatting to us about their impressions of Paris.. ( what it was like for them just having moved there) and living in France in general.. one spoke some rough English. the other not so much. but we all had our cameras out and were looking at each others pictures of "back home".. it was a lot of fun. We always make sure we have some shots on our camera of our house, town and friends and family to show others we meet along the way.

I find a few drinks improves everyones ability to communicate in a foreign language.. you stop caring if you sound like an idiot and just go for it.. lol

Our best bar in Dublin was a local. We went for the game, Dublin vs Mayo and had the best night. They insisted we eat BBQ with them, danced, sang, one got a proposal and the drinks were cheaper. They said they were the riff raff of Dublin but we had a blast. We have had some great times in pubs with locals. Better than camping.

<i>Not sure what you mean about "hitting up the local" but it may be the other way around.</i>

The local = the local bar that the neighborhood residents go to, as opposed to the bar in the square or the bar in the hotel or the bar beside the train station or the bar in the restaurant that is a tourist trap.

I'm not a bar type of person, but I've never had any problem talking to people.

If you go to a bar in rural Italy, and want to chat with the locals, it would help to know how to play briscola.

Last real local bar I went to was in braine l alleud (where the battle of Waterloo took place).
At 7 am.
Interesting.
One local bookkeeper drinking dark beer alone.
2 women drinking pils with a young girl of about 10.
One guy in a marcel (toptank?) so local that he went behind the bar to refill.
Next time I'll take Zola's book ' l assomoir '.