Beyond its picturesque canals, grand palazzos, and museums, Venice stands as one of Europe's historic cocktail capitals. Celebrating its fifth edition this October (October 21–25), Venice Cocktail Week honors the city's rich legacy while shining a spotlight on its newest, most forward-thinking bars.
Over the years, the event has gracefully grown into one of the continent's most compelling mixology gatherings, bringing together hundreds of bartenders and industry opinion leaders across more than 50 venues for guided city tours, masterclasses, parties, and brunches.
During the festival, participating local venues offer a special three-drink menu featuring a signature cocktail, a low- or non-alcoholic midday aperitif (Aperitivo di Mezzogiorno), and a bespoke creation crafted specifically for the occasion.
In addition, many host bars welcome internationally acclaimed mixologists for one night only guest shifts.
Ahead of the festivities, here are 7 exceptional bars worth visiting when in Venice.
Bars, Venice, and Spritz: The City's Drinking History in a Nutshell
Venice has been a key destination on the European itinerary since modern leisure travel emerged in the 19th century. The earliest luxury travelers, affluent Americans and wealthy Britons spending a gap year on the Grand Tour, crisscrossed the continent in pursuit of leisure.
During those same years, a new drinking scene took root in the United States. Given high shipping costs and a nascent local wine industry, New York bartenders began stirring spirit-based mixed drinks: Cocktails. These East Coast creations, served in stylish new establishments called bars, set a new standard for hospitality.
When away from home, American travelers arriving in Europe during those years were looking for a proper Martini. Their demand sparked the opening of Europe's first cocktail bars, several of which live to this day under titles like "The American Bar" or "New York Bar" across London, Paris, Vienna, and Venice.
Ever since, La Serenissima has cultivated a remarkable mixological identity, pairing historical grandeur with exceptional drinks served in storied institutions and luxury hotels. This is the birthplace of the original Spritz, made with local Select or Aperol – as well as the Bellini and the Montgomery, the very dry Martini variant first stirred at Harry’s Bar.
In recent years, alongside 18th-century cafes on Piazza San Marco that have poured cocktails for nearly two centuries, a modern wave of innovative bars has elevated local drinking culture, earning spots on 50 Best and Top 500 Bars rankings.
"Venice Cocktail Week is establishing itself as a magnet for the mixology industry and cocktail lovers worldwide. It is a flagship moment on the municipal calendar that fulfills our vision to tell the city's story with authenticity and devotion," Venice Mayor Simone Venturini told Rex.
Behind the festival is entrepreneur Paola Mencarelli, who also launched Florence Cocktail Week, an initiative that helped position the Tuscan capital among Europe's premier cocktail destinations, alongside editions in Cortina, Taormina, and Corsica.
"Venice Cocktail Week showcases the excellence of the city's vibrant mixology scene, reimagining the bar through a contemporary lens while returning each year with invaluable municipal backing," she told Rex.
Arts & St. Regis Bar
Venice has seen a new wave of chef restaurants and luxury hotels opening inside restored historical palazzos in recent years. The St. Regis stands among the most compelling of them, positioned across from the landmark Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute and steps from Piazza San Marco, balancing central access with a miraculously quiet and intimate feel.
2 exceptional lounges are located at the heart of the hotel: Arts Bar and The St. Regis Bar, alongside Giuseppe Ricci's exceptional traditional chef restaurant.
Leading the bars is manager Ludwig Negri along with the F&B director Facundo Gallegos. After honing their craft at top London bars such as The Connaught and The Dorchester, Negri returned to Italy to launch Arts Bar alongside Gallegos.
The space features an elegant lounge and a terrace looking onto the basilica. Its seasonal menu draws inspiration from iconic artworks, from Ai Weiwei to Banksy, with each drink served in hand-blown Venetian Murano glass crafted specifically for the recipe.
Local staples – Spritzes, Negroni Sbagliatos, and Bellinis – are also popular and impeccably executed.
Beside Arts Bar sits the classic St. Regis Bar. While Arts Bar focuses on conceptual drama, the main bar is intimate and focused on execution, drawing a steady local crowd for crisp Champagne cocktails and frigid Martinis.
The clarified Bloody Maria, inspired by the neighboring basilica, moved recently to the hotel menu following a seasonal run in Arts.
For Cocktail Week, the venue launches its new menu with a guest shift by Giorgio Bargiani, the legendary bar director at London's Connaught Bar.
Arts & St. Regis Bar. San Marco 2159, Venezia
The St. Regis Bar
Santa Venezia
The boutique Santa Hotel's bar serves as a primary gathering point during festival evenings – and for all the right reasons. Bartenders, visiting journalists, and drinks industry insiders converge here for early-evening aperitivos or late nightcaps, drawn by precise hospitality, a warm atmosphere, and outstanding drinks.
Opened near the Rialto Market in 2023 under the lead of young mixologist Simone Covan, who also directs the group's venues in Florence and Rome alongside the Fede Cocktail Lab – Santa brings a sharp contemporary edge to the lagoon.
Developed with bar manager Davide Manzi, the seasonal menu takes cues from the Venice Carnival, pairing theatrical presentations with regional ingredients from the Veneto. Traditional classics appear alongside lab-developed variations.
Throughout Cocktail Week, Covan hosts top international guest bartenders nightly inside the dark, moody room, offering a distinct visual and atmospheric contrast to the city's traditional palazzo settings.
Santa Venezia. Riva de l'Ogio 1777, Venezia
Aman Bar
Located in Palazzo Papadopoli, a 16th-century grand palace directly on the Grand Canal, the Aman bar ranks among the most stunning drinking spaces in the world, period.
The palace underwent painstaking restoration before opening as Aman Venice and it retains original frescoes and murals by master painter Giovanni Battista Tiepolo.
Its bar, open to the public during festival days, is inspired by the historic location. Bar director Antonio Ferrara designed a beverage program that mirrors the building's historic scale through modern spirit production techniques.
The Aman Bar maintains an extensive gin selection featuring rare bottlings from independent Italian and international distillers, alongside a curated collection of aged amari. Cocktails pay tribute to the palazzo's preserved reception rooms; drinks like the Indomabile combine gin, vodka, and vermouth infused with fennel seed and mint, finished with edible gold leaf. Other signatures, including Armonia and Meditazione, showcase vacuum distillation and botanical infusions using local lagoon herbs.
Guests sip from fine crystal inside original gilded salons or outdoors on the waterfront terrace. Precise temperature control and ice dilution ensure each drink maintains its balance over time.
Aman Venice Bar. Calle Tiepolo 1364, San Polo, Venezia
Experimental Cocktail Club
Located along the waterfront in Dorsoduro, this Venetian outpost of the buzzed London and Paris group, remains a favorite among locals. The crafted cocktails are well-executed, the music curated, and the crowd sharply dressed.
The menu highlights amari and vermouths sourced across Northern Italy, integrated with wild herbs and botanicals gathered directly from the Venetian Lagoon.
Attracting a noticeably younger crowd than Venice's luxury hotel bars, the compact room along the promenade draws dense crowds, particularly on weekend evenings, with additional seating extending along the canal bank.
Experimental Cocktail Club. Fondamenta Zattere Al Ponte Lungo 1410, Dorsoduro, Venezia
Il Mercante
Positioned in San Polo near the Basilica di Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari, Il Mercante was a pioneer venue in town, introducing contemporary, international mixology standards to Venice.
Founder Alessandro Zampieri anchored the concept around the maritime trade routes of the Venetian Republic.
The cocktail menu incorporates commodities once brought to lagoon ports by merchant fleets, including exotic peppers, ginger, cinnamon, and rare spices. Spanning two levels, the venue features a spacious ground-floor bar counter and a cozy upper lounge.
Il Mercante. Fondamenta Frari 2564, San Polo, Venezia
Harry's Bar
No account of Venetian drinking establishments is complete without mentioning the legendary institution celebrating its 95th anniversary this year. Tucked into a narrow alley near Piazza San Marco, Harry's Bar was founded in 1931 by Giuseppe Cipriani, whose family grew the modest room into a global empire and an enduring tribute to Venetian cooking.
Early afternoon visitors can still encounter Arrigo Cipriani, the founder's son named after the bar, now well into his nineties. Carpaccio was invented here—inspired by the signature red hues of the Venetian painter—alongside the classic Bellini, made with white peach puree and regional Prosecco, and Risotto alla Primavera.
Food aside, Harry's remains fundamentally a cocktail sanctuary whose low wooden chairs once hosted Ernest Hemingway and Orson Welles. Bartenders in white jackets work with quiet precision, pouring drinks into small, stemless, ice-chilled glasses.
The room resists change almost religiously: low wooden tables, simple proportions, and zero interest in contemporary trends. Order the Bellini, the miniature icy Martini, the ham toast, and the carpaccio. While expensive, it remains an indispensable experience for anyone invested in cocktail history.
Harry's Bar. Calle Vallaresso 1323, San Marco, Venezia
The Venice Cocktail Week – Participating Bars
Hotel Bars
- Alchemia Bar, Ca’ di DioArts Bar, The St.Regis Venice
- Bar Biblioteca, Nolinski Venezia
- Bar Dandolo, Danieli, Venezia, A Four Seasons Hotel
- Blue Bar, Excelsior Hotel Resort Lido di Venezia
- Boutique Lounge, Santa Croce Boutique Hotel
- Experimental Cocktail Club, Il Palazzo Experimental
- Herbarium, NH Collection Venezia Grand Hotel Palazzo dei Dogi
- Heureka Chic Bar, Hotel Heureka
- Il Caravellino, Hotel Saturnia & International
- Il Piccolo Bar, Violino d’Oro
- K Lounge Bar / Terrazza Gabrielli, Hotel Gabrielli Venezia – Starhotels Collezione
- Lord Byron, Palazzo Keller
- Orientalbar & Bistrot, Hotel Metropole Venezia
- Palladio Bar, Airelles Palladio Venice
- Skyline Rooftop Bar, Hilton Molino Stucky Venice
- The Bar at Aman Venice, Aman Venice
- The “G” Lounge & Garden Bar, Hotel Nani Mocenigo Palace
- Venice Collection: Il Porto Lounge Bar, Palazzo Veneziano / *The Mask Lounge & Garden, Carnival Palace
- Venixino Lounge & Garden, Donà Palace
- Wagon Bar, Orient Express Venezia
Cocktail Bars
- Blue Drop Venice
- Caffè Florian
- Grancaffé Quadri
- Il Mercante
- Marciano
- Rétro
- Rivoire
- Santa Cocktail Club – Venezia
- Tarnowska’s American Bar
- Time Social Bar
