Nightlife

Nightlife in Venice is varied. Heavy on the traditional concert halls and opera houses, when it comes to something a little less staid, the options are a bit more limited compared to many cities in Italy.

Venice is a relatively quiet town in the early evenings: couples take an evening stroll and the city’s maze of streets echo to the sound of chatter and laughter. Locals and visitors sit in piazzas sipping coffee or a glass of wine as the setting sun melts into the waterways.

The city has a long tradition of classical music and there's always a concert going on somewhere in the town. Several churches also host classical music concerts from prestigious local and international artists. Tickets for these events can be bought from the church box offices and can be booked in advance to avoid disappointment.

But, as if in response to the charge that Venice had no late-night bars or gigging venues of note, a few places have opened up in the student-orientated Dorsoduro in the last couple of years. Here, the Campo Santa Margherita has recently become the place where Venice's young and beautiful gather, and it has a few trendy cafés and sophisticated bars.

Another area that draws in the younger, livelier crowds is in Cannaregio, alongside the Fondamenta della Misericordia. Other popular haunts among the locals, meanwhile, include Campo San Bartolomeo at the foot of the Rialto Bridge and nearby Campo San Luca.

But owing to problems with noise pollution, Venice is not terribly well catered for by clubs and wild, late-night bars. Most young people tend to head for Mestre where there's more space and less restriction on noise. Other than that, the locals break for Jesolo or nearby Padua on the weekends for a big night out.

And the fact that its young people have to head elsewhere in a mass drunken exodus every Friday and Saturday night is the defining feature of the city’s nightlife. Venice just isn’t geared up to be a party town, it’s far too well-mannered to really let loose.

And why should it be? A place as stunningly beautiful, stately, ancient and serene as Venice doesn’t have to try to be anything other than what it is.