Bacaro Jazz has run on Salizada del Fontego dei Tedeschi a hundred metres from the Rialto Bridge since 1997, with recorded and occasional live jazz, a ceiling thick with bras left by guests and a kitchen that holds through the late hours.
Tip: The bar runs straight through service so you can drop in for a cicchetto at 18:00 or a cocktail at 01:00. Cocktails sit around twelve euros and the room fills past midnight on weekends.
Address: Salizada del Fontego dei Tedeschi 5546, 30124 Venezia, Venice
Bar Dandolo sits among marble columns and Murano chandeliers on the ground floor of the fourteenth century Palazzo Dandolo at the Hotel Danieli, with classic cocktails, a Gambero Rosso Bar d'Italia history and live piano most evenings.
Tip: Cocktails run around twenty euros; the early aperitivo slot from 18:00 is the calmest window. Afternoon tea service runs 15:00 to 18:00 if you want the room without the bar tab.
Skyline crowns the Hilton Molino Stucky on Giudecca, a former flour mill turned hotel that hosts the city's highest rooftop bar, with a signature cocktail list built around the in house Stucky 1975 Venice Gardens gin and a panorama that runs across the lagoon to St Mark's.
Tip: The hotel runs a free shuttle boat from San Marco Giardinetti; book a sunset slot for the strongest light on the dome of the Salute. Cocktails sit around twenty five euros.
Sagra crowns the fourth floor of the JW Marriott Venice on Isola delle Rose with a 360 degree panorama over the lagoon, an open kitchen running modern Italian and a bar terrace that opens for sunset cocktails before the dinner service takes over.
Tip: The hotel runs a free shuttle from San Marco; arrive 18:30 for an aperitivo seat on the terrace edge before the dining tables claim the rail. Closed through the winter months.
La Terrazza sits on the top floor of the H10 Palazzo Canova a few steps from the Rialto Bridge, with a covered indoor bar and an open terrace section that opens straight onto the Grand Canal traffic between the Pescheria and the Rialto.
Tip: The covered indoor section runs year round; the open terrace is the seat in warm months. A spritz or negroni runs around fifteen euros for the view of the Grand Canal turn at Rialto.
Bar Foscarini tucks a terrace right under the wooden span of the Ponte dell'Accademia on the Dorsoduro side, a canal level deck that takes in the full Grand Canal turn at the Salute and a steady flow of vaporetti past the rail.
Tip: Not a rooftop in the literal sense; the deck sits at canal level under the bridge with the same payoff. Prices skew high for the view, so plan a single drink rather than a meal.
Algiubagio runs a centuries old bar at Fondamenta Nuove 5039 in Cannaregio, with a wide lagoon facing terrace inaugurated in 2009, chef Daniele Zennaro on a seasonal menu and a sunset view straight across to Murano and the cemetery island.
Tip: The terrace is the seat in summer; the inside room takes over from November to March. Sit for a sunset spritz at 19:00 to catch the light on San Michele before the dinner crowd lands.