Entertainment in Venice
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Casinò di Venezia
No opera can match the drama that’s been unfolding at Venice’s gaming tables since the 16th century: Richard Wagner survived the 20-year effort composing his stormy Ring cycle only to expire at the Casino in 1883. To take on the high-stakes tables here, jackets are required and strong constitutions advisable. Wagner’s rooms have been turned into a museum, but the real draws here are the roulette wheels and marathon blackjack sessions. Hotel guests can usually get a coupon for free entry from their concierge, and a free shuttle ferry runs every 10 or so minutes between the Casinò di Venezia and a stop on the Grand Canal, located near Piazzale Roma.
reviewed
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Tarnowska's
Watch your step as you pop down a couple of steps into this elegant hotel bar (locals know it as La Contessa, the Countess), ideal for a cocktail or postprandial brandy. With its polished tile floors, it spreads into several separate spaces. Alongside those having an animated chat over lovingly prepared tall drinks are other folks beavering away at computers, for this is one of those rare things in Venice, a wi-fi spot. The Russian Countess Maria Tarnowska, it is said, had one of her lovers assassinated in this very place.
The Russian Countess Maria Tarnowska, it is said, had one of her lovers assassinated in this very place.
reviewed
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Bar Terazza Danieli
Gondolas glide in to dock along the quay, while across the lagoon the white marble edifice of Palladio’s San Giorgio Maggiore turns into gold in the waters of the canal: the late afternoon scene from the Hotel Danieli’s recently restored balcony bar definitely calls for a toast. Arrive after lunch, and linger the afternoon away over a spritz (€10) or cocktail (€18 to €22) – preferably the sunset-tinted signature Danieli cocktail of gin, apricot and orange juices, and a splash of grenadine. Drinks come with complimentary nibbles and the occasional celebrity sighting.
reviewed
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Teatro Junghans
Cutting-edge theatre takes on a literal meaning at this three-sided stage, nicknamed Teatro Formaggino (Little Cheese Theatre) because it looks like a wedge of cheese. The experimental theatre seats 150, but you’re not expected to just sit there: Teatro Junghans offers workshops on costume design in August, mask-acting in July and September, and commedia dell’arte (archetypal improvisational comedy) in August and September. If you’d rather leave that sort of thing to the professionals, check the online calendar for performances when the company is in residence.
reviewed
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Caffè Florian
If the Torre d’Orlogio (Clock Tower) ever breaks, you can always tell the time by observing Florian’s daily rituals, established since 1720: lovers canoodle over late breakfasts in plush banquettes until noon, uniformed waiters serve gooey hot chocolate on silver trays in lieu of lunch, and the orchestra strikes up a dance number to accompany the popping of prosecco corks and the illumination of San Marco’s portal mosaics at sunset. There’s a €6 music surcharge for piazza seating, so you may as well get your money’s worth and tango.
reviewed
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Qcoffee Bar
One drink grants you access to two modernist master architects through the Querini Stampalia bookstore. Rainy days are right for hot chocolate in Mario Botta’s neoclassical cafe, with white walls framed in black polished-concrete floors, and a harmonious repeating-rectangle theme. Outside, Carlo Scarpa’s clever, Mid-East–inspired concrete irrigation channels bring Venice’s canals indoors, adding industrial-cool to your spritz in the sunny garden.
reviewed
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Musica a Palazzo
Hang onto your wineglass and brace for impact: in these intimate palace drawing rooms, the soprano’s high notes might make you fear for your glassware, and the thundering baritone is felt in the base of the spine. The drama unfolds over 1½ hours of selected arias from Verdi to Rossini, with 70 guests and their drinks trailing singers in modern dress as they pour their hearts out in song, progressing from receiving-room overtures to heartbreaking finales in the bedroom.
reviewed
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Al Mercà
Discerning drinkers throng this upbeat bar for top-notch prosecco & DOC wines by the glass at €2 to €3.50, and scrap dinner plans in favour of cicheti, starting at just €1 for meatballs and mini-panini. Arrive by 6.30pm for the best selection of snacks and easy bar access, or mingle with crowds of stragglers stretching to the Grand Canal docks – there’s no seating, and it’s elbow-room-only at this little gem of a bar.
reviewed
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Cantinone Già Schiavi
Good lungs and long arms are instrumental in procuring orders during Cantinone’s cheerfully chaotic happy hour, when the entire neighbourhood descends for pallottoline (small bottles of beer) with salame crostini (open-face sandwiches with salami) and marinated artichokes. Students, gondola builders and Accademia art historians mingle on the quay out front, parting to greet the neighbourhood nonna (grandmother) and fetch her a glass of Soave.
reviewed
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Muro Vino e Cucina
No velvet rope here, though it’s the kind of snazzy urban place you’d expect to find one, given the aluminium bar, sexy backlighting and see-and-be-seen picture windows. Prices are friendly too, with wines by the glass starting at €2, respectable cocktails from €5, and €1.50 to €3.50 cicheti at the bar. The upstairs restaurant is swanky, but low tables out in the campo are more happening than any VIP lounge.
reviewed
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Harry’s Dolci
The ultimate island retreat for the designer-sunglasses crowd, with the same classic cocktails as sibling venture Harry’s Bar, served under a Tiffany-blue sun canopy along the Giudecca Canal. Service is low-key and the indoor cafe is paved with what looks like vintage subway tile, so don’t go expecting luxury – but you’re welcome to luxuriate in the sun over house-made dolci (sweets) and coffee (€15) until an idea for your next brilliant novel strikes you.
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Café Noir
Morning brings the crowd that was here late last night back for espresso, only a little worse for the wear after all those top-shelf €6 to €8 cocktails. Architecture students, musicians and travellers converge for spritz in the calle (street), where the quickest way to start a conversation is to state any of the following: Calatrava is overrated, Albinoni is underrated, and spritz with Aperol is better than with Campari.
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Collegium Ducale
Spend a perfectly enjoyable evening in prison with this six-member chamber orchestra, whose grace notes in Bach and Albinoni performances escape through the high, barred windows of the converted cell. Opera singers occasionally perform arias with the group, which can get loud in the reverberating stone chamber; ears not trained by blasting MP3 players might prefer concerts in nearby Chiesa diSanta MariaFormosa, where the acoustics are kinder.
reviewed
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Harry's Bar
Aspiring auteurs throng the bar frequented by Ernest Hemingway, Charlie Chaplin, Truman Capote, Orson Welles and others, enjoying a signature €18 Bellini (Giuseppe Cipriani’s original 1948 recipe: fresh-pressed peach juice and prosecco ) with a side of reflected glory. Despite the basic bistro decor, this is one of Italy’s most expensive restaurants – stick to the bar to save financing for your breakthrough film.
reviewed
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Marina Club
Breezy gazebos and candles set the scene for summertime patio parties at the Marina Club, which isn’t actually on the waterfront; it’s near a canal and just down the road from Il Muretto. This club is a sprawling estate with multiple lounges, gardens, restaurants, occasional live music acts and weekend DJ sets that coax sun-bronzed crowds off their lounges. Entry is free but dress stylishly to pass bouncer scrutiny around midnight.
reviewed
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Moscacieka
Minds boggled by a surfeit of San Marco splendour deserve a rejuvenating drink in this upbeat, unpretentious pub, where the bar is pieced together from broken tiles, tables are tucked under exposed-brick Gothic arches and a giant cartoon fly toasts your health on the ceiling. House specials are scrawled on chalkboards, but the guys in black T-shirts working the bar can recommend something from the range of wines, beer, cocktails and sandwiches.
reviewed
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Antica Osteria Ruga Rialto
Although seafood salads and the classic fritto misto e pattatine (lightly fried lagoon seafood and potatoes) – Venice’s answer to fish and chips – earn this osteria (pub-restaurant) a loyal following, drink is the common bond at this place by night’s end. The back room doubles as a gallery of local emerging artists, and the occasional live-music set fills the narrow alleyway with revellers all the way to the Grand Canal.
reviewed
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Caffè Blue
At this coolish student bar you may encounter live music, but it's more likely to be a DJ (Wednesday is a good night). If the DJ is good, the place packs to the rafters and punters spill out onto the street. It can be quiet on midweek evenings, which could be a good time to pop by with your laptop, as they have wi-fi for customers. On Thursday night there's a cocktail happy hour from 21:00 to 23:00. It has a good stock of whiskies, too.
reviewed
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Ultima Spiaggia di Pachuka
Between planned development work and Mose barrier construction, summer beach party nights are becoming more sporadic at this legendary ‘Last Beach’ on the far side of the Lido, with word of free live music events and late-night DJ sets passing via flyer and word of mouth – but that only makes them worth finding. Keep an eye out for flyers around Campo Santa Margherita, and ask what’s happening at Pachuka.
reviewed
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Piccolo Mondo
This teensy disco and bar is a bit of a throwback but perfectly all right in its own fashion. It pulls a strangely mixed crowd of foreigners and locals in search of that late night frisson. Many Venetians would deny ever setting foot in the place, but wander by late at night and you'll find a handful. Otherwise, it's anything from loud young North American students to late-night loungers on the pull. Drinks cost around €10.
reviewed
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Interpreti Veneziani
Everything you knew of Vivaldi from elevators and mobile ring-tones is proved fantastically wrong by Interpreti Veneziani, which plays Vivaldi on 18th-century instruments as a soundtrack for living in this city of intrigue – you’ll never listen to The Four Seasons again without hearing summer storms gathering over the lagoon, or echoing footsteps hurrying over footbridges to a late-night winter rendezvous.
reviewed
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Paradiso Perduto
Paradiso Perduto ‘Paradise Lost’ is a find for anyone craving a cold beer canalside on a hot summer’s night, with occasional live music acts. Over the past 25 years, Italian jazz great Massimo Urbani, troubadour Vinicio Capossela, and Keith Richards have played the small stage at the Paradiso. On Sundays, jam sessions hosted by two independent local labels alternate with local art openings.
reviewed
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Il Caffè Rosso
Sunny piazza seating is the place to recover from last night’s revelry and today’s economic-crisis headlines, until the cycle begins again at 6pm with spritz cocktails and overflowing student crowds. Locals affectionately call this no-name joint caffè rosso because of its red sign, and it earns the nickname nightly with inexpensive spritz with a generous splash of bright-red Aperol.
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Il Muretto
An army of DJs spins mostly house music at one of the hippest summer dance locales set inland from Jesolo and the beach (you will need a car or taxi to get here). Word gets around about events being held here; flyers can be seen floating around bars from Venice to Padua. Club-hoppers will find other hot spots located on the same road, but those who party late at Muretto get to watch dawn arrive through the open roof.
reviewed
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Aurora Beach Club
After a taxing day unwinding on a Lido lounge chair, there’s nothing better than unwinding on a four-poster beach bed. At this bold beach venue, days flow into nights with a parade of diversions: a free library of books and magazines, designated beach sport and chill-out zones, live-music sets, cocktail bars, open-air cinema and weekend DJ sets that will keep you on the dance floor until you face-plant on the sofa.
reviewed
