drink in venice

No such thing as nice beer in Italy. Gastronomically speaking, that is the only thing the italians do not do well. If you need a good beer find an Irish Pub. Most good sized Italians cities have at least one. The guinness will cost you an arm and a leg but its worth it when craving a good beer.

NOT Harry's Bar, it is a waste of time and very expensive. The Lowenbrau Bar at the foot of the Rialto Bridge (San Marco side) is right on the canal, as is the cafe at the foot of the Accademia Bridge (Accademia side) Both have outdoor tables in good weather. For people watching Via Garibaldi, Castello, is fun and it has outdoor cafes.

There are some redeeming breweries and a growing movement. Check out this posting from Parla Food http://www.parlafood.com/birra-del-convento-carrobiolo/, and see the related posts at the bottom. I'm sure you can find some of the beers Katie mentions in her blog somewhere in Venice. Also, this is a a Rick Steves pick, I beleive http://www.birrarialacorte.it/en/. They have quite a beer list and great reviews on Trip Advisor.

Baladin beer is a Belgian style beer brewed by a small outfit in the foothills near Cuneo, Piemonte. Our local brew pub serves it and it is excellent though pricey. There are numerous other artisanal breweries in N Italy maybe you might find some in Venice. Otherwise the big brewery beer that I like is Nastro Azzuro, one of the Peroni lables, a basic lager.

gary, I like Nastro Azzurro and sometimes buy a six pack to drink at home during the summer. I enjoyed stopping by Harry's Bar to try a Bellini (they were apparently invented there). Yes, it was overpriced, but I had to try at least one. It was crowded, but the "people watching" was quite entertaining.

As Venice is so touristy, it's easy to get a good beer. Personally I never make a trip to Venice without having a few points at the Devil's Forest Pub, near the Rialto bridge. Bartender is from Liverpool, they have the usual stuff on tap (Guinness, Kilkenny, etc). There's a couple more good ones too, the Inishark and one that used to be called the Fiddler's Elbow but is now just called the Irish Pub I believe. Most of the bars and restaurants in the city have German beer on tap as well. You'll go broke in Venice before you'll go thirsty.