Milan
Retro Cuore has heart and soul by the bucket-load with its vintage '50s furniture, TVs screening cult films, and Hawaii Five-O cocktails including piña…
Must-see nightlife in Italy
San Polo & Santa Croce
Set between the Rialto Bridge and Rialto Market, and with outdoor seating on the Grand Canal, Ancora is ideally positioned for a restorative spritz after…
Venice
This cheery yellow mini-palazzo (mansion) is fuelled by a steady stream of coffee and cocktails that cost less than you’d expect given the designer chairs…
Milan
This squat lies somewhere between an arts-and-culture centre and a nightclub. It offers an array of wild dance nights, political conversations and art…
Milan
It’s a discreet place, the kind that doesn’t even have a sign – just two shopfront windows. But inside it’s brimming with charm, a cosy jumble of…
Milan
Drinks with a view are the USP of this dock-side conservatory bar, which serves up breakfast, coffee, snacks and aperitivo from dawn until dusk. In winter…
Monti, Esquilino & San Lorenzo
Like any good speakeasy, this bar lies underground, and visitors are expected to formally request entrance via a doorbell; they also need to pay €5 for a…
San Polo & Santa Croce
Cosy and chic, this popular wine bar serves a range of exemplary wines from all over Italy as well as craft beers. Traditional bar snacks are available,…
Naples
This humble, piazza-side bar is named in honour of La Sanità's most famous son, the late comedian Totò (lovingly nicknamed 'The Prince'). While it lacks…
Venice
All the style you’d expect from an Italian beach club, with bronzed regulars in enormous sunglasses sprawled on lipstick-red designer chairs well past…
Bologna
Part of a homegrown, sustainably focused brewpub chain born in Piozzo, Bologna's Baladin sits inside the Quadrilatero's gourmet Mercato di Mezzo. In…
Southern Rome
This small, snug enoteca (wine bar) in Garbatella is run by two knowledgeable brothers who suggest the best wines from their 300-strong list without…
Naples
Market shoppers refresh with a bargain spritz at this outdoor kiosk, surrounded by the produce and bustle of Vomero's Mercatino di Antignano. Prices range…
Modena
This Piazza Grande establishment manages the delicate juxtaposition of trendy (uber-contemporary decor) and old (cobbled central-square location) without…
Oltrarno
The focus of this modern enoteca, small interior packed jaw to jowl with tables, is organic wine. Locally sourced products ensure a delightful early…
San Polo & Santa Croce
This osteria, named for Casanova’s licentious poet pal Giorgio Baffo, is actually a converted chapel stripped to its naked brick walls. With strong spritz…
Ferrara
The oldest osteria in the world (according to Guinness), this scruffy-meets-stylish wine bar was already an established drinking den in 1435. Titian drank…
Sorrento
If you prefer sipping your cappuccinos while gazing out over the Bay of Naples, head to this pleasant, modern cafe in Villa Comunale. While the drinks and…
Naples
This threadbare bar has developed a cult following for its €1 Aperol spritz, drawing hordes of students and travellers wanting to get happy on the cheap…
Venice
Just a footbridge away from San Marco, this shoebox of a corner bar overflowing with happy drinkers offers quality wines and abundant cicheti (Venetian…
The Veneto
Adorned with hulking wooden machinery, this atmospheric, canalside wine bar occupies a restored 16th-century mill. Swill a coffee, or settle in with a…
Monti, Esquilino & San Lorenzo
Fafiuché roughly translates as 'playful' or 'unusual' in Piedmontese dialect, and this narrow, bottle-lined bar more than lives up to that. Come to…
Taormina
A Taormina landmark since the dolce vita 1960s, this achingly expensive see-and-be-seen cafe has served them all – Tennessee Williams, who liked to watch …
Matera
This diminutive microbrewery spills out onto the adjoining piazza, providing tables, occasional live music and permanent good cheer to help the range of…
Trento
This sprawling, perennially popular 1920s beer hall (complete with fermenting brew in the corner) is a Trento institution. Beer is the main draw here,…
Milan
Combining two of Milan's favourite things: aperitivo and sushi, Chinese Box can't really go wrong. Which is why punters cram into this hip little bar to…
Genoa
If you're keen to taste the best of Italian wine and not on a multiple-region trip, this bar breaks out of the local-is-best mould and offers a long list…
Pistoia
This old-world cafe and pasticceria (pastry shop), with genteel waiting staff dressed in black ties and suits, is a lovely spot to drink coffee and eat…
Venice
After long museum days, Fujiyama offers a relaxing but pricy alternative to espresso bolted at a bar. Rainy days call for pots of organic genmaicha tea…
Rivendita Libri, Cioccolata e Vino
Trastevere & Gianicolo
Think of this as Ground Zero of Rome's recent crackdown on debauched drinking. The drinks of a million hen parties – French Kiss, Orgasm and One Night…
Monti, Esquilino & San Lorenzo
The ambience here is laid-back and the surrounds atmospheric – we just wish that the quality of the food was better (supermarket-quality cheese straight…
Tridente, Trevi & the Quirinale
Sleekly sexy and popular with workers in suits from nearby offices, Moma has a small stand-up cafe downstairs, with a nice little deck outside where you…
Naples
Al fresco tables, water pipes, and cafe nosh spanning hummus to ful (a fava-bean dip) and felafel: this Italo-Arab bolt-hole is laid-back, raffish and the…
Monti, Esquilino & San Lorenzo
San Lorenzo's signature neighbourhood bar is a chilled place to hang with students over a drink, snack or meal. The interior is modern and welcoming…
Monti, Esquilino & San Lorenzo
Novelty value is what the Ice Club is all about. Pay €15 (you get a free vodka cocktail served in a glass made of ice), don a (completely unflattering)…
Milan
Bhangrabar is famous for its cushions and its couscous and curry aperitivo, served with a side of African percussion on Fridays. Indeed, music and other…
Northwestern Tuscany
A good deal of the waterfront area as it appears today was built in the 1920s and '30s. Several of the buildings, such as Puccini's favourite, Gran Caffè…
Caffè e Pasticceria U. Giuliani
Monti, Esquilino & San Lorenzo
Our recommendation of this 1897 cafe comes with a couple of caveats: we don't recommend paying for table service or eating anything other than the…
Lecce
Open throughout the day, this cool restaurant/cafe/wine bar has most needs covered, offering a range of teas, cocktails and aperitivi. It's open for…
Rimini
With eight dance floors, evergreen Baia Imperiale is one of Europe's largest clubs, and 'smells of the echoes of Rimini's past' (as one local put it)…
