187 Best Bars in Italy

This foodie paradise near the Duomo has an enormous deli featuring Italian specialty foods, as well as a refined bar, restaurant, and café that serves up traditional—and excellent—pastas, pizza slices, olives, toasted nuts, and a good selection of wines by the glass.

Some patrons frequent this chic place just for a simple aperitivo at one of the outside tables, perhaps accompanied by the snacks beautifully laid out on the bar; others, who look like they've just popped out of one of the area's designer-clothing shops, come here to dine or gather in one of the upstairs rooms.

Although this popular place consists only of a kiosk set up to serve some outdoor tables, it is located on the Zattere and thus provides a wonderful view of Giudecca Canal. It's a handy meet-up spot for locals, especially students from the nearby university, and a useful stop-off for tourists in nice weather for a spritz or a panino. Keep in mind, though, that "the kiosk" exists for quick refreshments and not for lingering. The view and the sunshine (and especially the sunset) are the main draw; the food and drink, while acceptable, are not exceptional.

Atmospherically housed in a deconsecrated medieval church with an underground crypt, this self-styled literary café is one of the hubs of Enna’s cultural scene, open evenings only for glasses of good wine and artisanal spirits while you enjoy its live music and DJ sets.

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.

The excellent musical programming and the black-and-white-checker floors at Rome's most important live jazz and blues club evoke Harlem's 1930s jazz halls. The bar and restaurant are always busy, so reservations are suggested.

After a day at the beach, the place to see and be seen is Almarosa Art Music and Bar. The clientele during high season frequently includes Italian soccer players, celebrities, and politicians.

Anema e Core means "soul and heart" in Caprese dialect. This popular place is tucked down a quiet side street, a two-minute walk from the Piazzetta. Admission (€50) includes an eclectic range of lightish live music after 11 pm and a drink from the bar. No food is served, so come well sated. There's no dancing here officially, though some patrons—including celebrities—occasionally take to the tables. The spot is closed Monday and is usually open 11 pm–3 am; reservations are essential on weekends.

This fourth-generation wineshop has a weekly evening aperitivo with local and international bands performing for the gathered masses. This is the place to be on Thursday.

Piazza di Spagna's historic wine bar literally corners the market on prime people-watching. Cozy up to the counter to sip a drink under the charming frescoes, or snag a coveted outdoor table. In addition to a vast selection of wine, Antica Enoteca has delectable antipasti, perfect for a snack or a light lunch, as well as a full menu of pastas and pizzas.

This knickknack-filled bar has lorded over Castelmola's town square since 1907, and if you manage to resist the pull of the enchanting view on the terrace, you can explore the historic interior to learn more about the village's past. Try the vino alle mandorle (almond wine) from a recipe produced by the original owner more than a century ago, then follow luminaries such as Guglielmo Marconi, Winston Churchill, John D. Rockefeller, and John Steinbeck by signing the visitors' book. 

With high ceilings, louvered windows, and expansive views of the city's rooftops, this modern architectural marvel is a great spot to enjoy a relaxing cup of tea or a predinner aperitivo.

This craft beer bar draws the neighborhood's hipsters and artsy types for artisanal brews from Italy and beyond. There's not much standing room in the tiny, graffiti-laden interior, so most people sit at the long picnic tables just outside. For the beer-averse, there are natural wines, plus Campari sodas or gin and tonics on tap.

It is easy to see why this place is popular with the locals, offering fairly priced cocktails, a reasonable assortment of cicheti, and a good selection of Italian wine, but the warm ambience, friendly staff, and occasional live jazz are the main draws. The kitchen stays open until late.

This Venetian-style dive bar has strong cocktails, a jazz soundtrack, and hundreds of bras hanging from the ceiling. The lively daily happy hour is a great time to visit.

A friendly, family-run Irish pub opened since 1980, overseen by two labradors named Guinness and Gin, serves an ample selection of beers, spirits (excellent gin choice, naturally), and cocktails (mojito by the jug). They also do decent food (classic pasta and pizza are mainstays) and show live televised sports.

A year-round indoor-outdoor operation (with heat lamps), this bar is extremely popular with thirtysomethings, sometimes pushing baby carriages. Its large menu includes raw oysters. There's also a dining room upstairs.

Midway between Ischia Porto and Ischia Ponte, Bar Calise is allegedly "the biggest bar in Europe." Here you'll find everything you need for a good night out in one garden—you can choose between live music, a nightclub ('O Spasso), a piano bar, a restaurant--pizzeria, or a more traditional café. And if you have a hankering for a cornetto late at night, this is the only place on the island to find such pastry delicacies after midnight. Veteran Emiddio Calise runs this complex as well as two other bars and pasticcerie (try their specialty Monte Epomeo) around the island.

Don't expect too much from the nightlife scene here, but this decent café comes with plenty of tables outside on the main (and pedestrianized) shopping street, so it's a good place to sit and watch Mazara life pass by. Stop for a coffee or an evening aperitivo, when aperols or Campari spritzes come accompanied by tasters of panelle (chickpea-flour fritters), arancini, and crocchè (potato croquettes).

Even if you're not staying at Hotel Danieli, it’s worth a stop to marvel at its bar's over-the-top decor—replete with ornate ceilings, stained glass, marble columns, and chandeliers—inside a 14th-century palace. Though pricey, it's a highly atmospheric place to sample their signature Vesper martini or another cocktail of your choice, usually accompanied by live piano music.

Seeking a laid-back, youthful vibe for late night drinks amid a crowd that spills outside onto a wonderful canal-side terrace in the summer months? Generator is a former warehouse turned hostel with an eclectic bar interior, DJ sets and chat lubricated by a decent selection of drinks. It's also cracking spot to grab breakfast and a beverage during the day.

At this long-standing gathering spot for students and creatives drawn in by the cheap drinks and lively atmosphere, the crowd spills out onto the neighboring cobblestone streets until the early morning hours. Spritzes are slung from a premixed container to keep the line moving, and most customers don’t bother asking for a glass for their bottle of beer. The lack of creature comforts is a part of the eternal charm.

This architecturally stimulating but dimly lit place has such artistic features as recycled fiberglass panels and vintage 1970s furnishings. The music is an eclectic mix of chill-out tunes during the daytime, with more upbeat and vibrant tracks pepping it up at night. Located on a quiet side street near the Duomo, STRAF, inside the hotel of the same name, draws a young and lively, if tourist-heavy, crowd.

Truly one of the most infamous places to have a drink in all of Italy, this bar has cozy nooks and crannies on three levels—all decked out with phallic images of every size, shape, and color imaginable, from bathroom wall murals inspired by the brothels of ancient Greece to giant wooden carvings honoring Dionysus. If you can get past the design choices, the roof terrace has extraordinary views of Taormina and the coast, while a limited selection of hearty pasta dishes are served inside.

With plenty of tables outside on Via Garibaldi, this is a popular Castello hangout for drinking and chatting from aperitivo time to late in the evening. It's also got a cracking selection of cichetti—mainly crusty bread topped with meats, fish, and cheese—to help soak up their excellent selection of Veneto vino.

At this cool backstreet hangout, which is open nightly till the small hours, you can listen to live or DJ-spun music while sipping your choice of a craft beer or cocktail from the lengthy drinks menu. A shorter food menu has a handful of burgers, panini, and desserts. On warm evenings, try to sit at one of the tables outside in the quiet piazzetta.

Just a few steps from Porta Soprana and the Childhood Home of Christopher Columbus, this cavernous basement space offers cocktails, a selection of draught beers, and live entertainment in the evenings, including cabaret, karaoke, and (on Friday and Saturday evening) local bands. There are succulent hamburgers, Ligurian pasta dishes, and other hot snacks on the menu, and the place makes a handy stop for a sightseeing pause during the day, too.

Open since 1984, Big Mama is Trastevere's homegrown institution for live music, including jazz, blues, rhythm and blues, international, and rock. Tables can be booked online for their nightly shows.

This chummy, no-frills pub is too nice to be considered a true dive bar, but the dim lighting, rock playlist, and locals-only vibe make it a reliable spot for a night out. The outdoor tables are so close together that making friends with neighboring revelers is essentially required.