5 Best Bars in Sardinia, Italy

This backstreet birroteca ("beer bar") has been dispensing distinguished brews for the last 40 years, and is a favorite haunt of students and beer aficionados of all ages. Local Sardinian craft beers and lagers and ales from around the world feature on its extensive and changing menu, many of them hand-pulled. The list of panini is almost equally long and equally impressive, and nachos are also served.

Relax in the atmospheric interior or casual terrace of this café on the edge of Terrazza Umberto I. It's a great place to enjoy a cappuccino, snack lunch, or glass of vermentino after exploring the Castello quarter. The bar is open daily from 7 am until 9 pm during the week (later in summer) and until 2 am on weekends; DJs occasionally take over in the evenings. It's closed on Monday in winter.

A dim bohemian haunt full of wooden beams and brick-lined nooks and crannies, Libarium Nostrum is one of Cagliari's coolest café-bars. It's an occasional venue for live music and DJs, but the real draw is the outdoor terrace high atop medieval ramparts, the perfect spot for enjoying cocktails and sunset views. Food is available, from panini and other snacks to meat and fish dishes, and it stays open late.

For live music, bowling, or just a slice of pizza, this long-standing establishment has been a fixture for generations of Alghero's youth. The music is mainly jazz, blues, and rock, while a range of beers and cocktails are served as well as pizza cooked in a wood oven and dispensed by the meter.