Experimental Cocktail Club hides behind a Cristina Celestino designed lobby door inside Il Palazzo Experimental on the Zattere, with the Paris and London cocktail playbook reworked through Italian spirits, a JNPR no proof menu and a small canal facing garden.
Tip: Walk ins only, no reservations; the hotel desk can hold a table for guests. The Tuesday and Wednesday close is non negotiable and the room shuts for two weeks in January.
Address: Fondamenta Zattere al Ponte Lungo 1410, 30123 Venezia, Venice
Il Mercante runs an 1870s former cafe a few steps from the Frari basilica as one of Venice's serious cocktail rooms, with a Magellan inspired list themed on circumnavigation, a Captain's Death gin signature and a tight kitchen of cicchetti.
Tip: Order the Captain's Death if you like bitter and dry; the bar staff also build off menu. The room sits maybe thirty so reservations on Friday and Saturday avoid the queue.
Bar Longhi is the social hub of The Gritti Palace on Campo Santa Maria del Giglio, with mirrored walls of Murano crystal, eighteenth century paintings, a bespoke Martini Trolley and a small terrace that opens straight onto the Grand Canal toward La Salute.
Tip: Cocktails are nineteen euros, bar bites from twenty two; the terrace seats a handful so book ahead for sunset. Afternoon tea is the calmer slot if the bar feels too formal.
The Bar at Aman sits in the piano nobile of Palazzo Papadopoli overlooking the hotel's Grand Canal garden, with bar manager Antonio Ferrara on a seasonal cocktail list and a 50 Best Discovery listing alongside a small cicchetti programme.
Tip: The garden opens for cocktails from midday in warm months; the indoor salon takes over October through April. The Venice Cocktail Week and Architecture Biennale slots fill weeks ahead.
Metro Venezia Club has run on Via Cappuccina in Mestre since 2012 as the Venice metro area's main gay sauna and recreation club, with a Finnish sauna, whirlpool, dark room, video room, cafe bar, solarium and a roof terrace.
Tip: Historic Venice has no standing gay bar; Metro on the mainland is the scene. Five hundred metres from Mestre station, ten minutes from Piazzale Roma by tram. ANDDOS card at the door.
Trash and Chic has run as Venice's longest standing LGBTQ pop up since 2006, currently using the Molocinque warehouse in Marghera two or three Saturdays a month from September through May, with drag, dancers and a mixed Veneto crowd that travels in.
Tip: Check the Facebook page for the dated calendar; the venue is Molocinque most months but the event also travels to Padova. Cab back to historic Venice is the only late option.
Caffè Florian has run under the Procuratie Nuove of Piazza San Marco since 1720, the oldest continuously operating cafe in Italy, with the resident Caffè Florian Concerto Orchestra playing every evening on the square from spring through autumn.
Tip: The orchestra surcharge is six euros per drink when the band plays; sit at an outside table for the music, the inside salon is cheaper but mute. Closed days in low winter for the orchestra.