Venice is notorious for its lack
of decent nightlife, relying
mostly on the handful of late bars
dotted around the city. The most
buzzing area, particularly in
winter, is along the Fondamenta
della Misericordia, in Cannaregio,
where
Iguana, Le Notti
d'Oriente and
Paradiso
Perduto (see listings under
"Bars and snacks") stay
open late and have occasional DJs
or live music. Dorsoduro, on and
around the studenty Campo S.
Margherita, is another good bet,
particularly in the warmer months:
try
Margaret DuChamp ,
Il
Caffè or
Green Pub ,
all of which stay open late. To
really get down, however, there's
only one recommendable option,
Casanova
(tel 041.534.7479), on the Lista
di Spagna. As a huge,
old-fashioned
disco-club it would
be half empty anywhere else, but
in Venice it stays fairly busy
from Thursday to Saturday. The
current regime is salsa (Wed),
student/Indie (Thurs), classic
dance (Fri) and House (Sat), but
don't even think about arriving
before around 2am.
There's a tiny disco over on
the Lido, Nuova Acropolis ,
Lungomare Marconi 22, and Mestre
has several identikit clubs which
are listed in the local press. The
real action is further away, out
in the northern reaches of the
lagoon at Jesolo . Every
Friday and Saturday evening, this
sedate resort transforms itself
into a ravers' haven, as a swarm
of clubs kick into life. Just
stroll into town after 11pm and
you'll find the hot spots. The
problem is that though there are
plenty of buses out to Jesolo,
there's no way of getting back
except to get a lift with someone
- and Jesolo is notorious not so
much for its weekend bachannals as
for what happens afterwards, when
hundreds of inebriated young
Italians go blasting back home.
The Jesolo-Venice road has just
about the highest death toll of
any strip of tarmac in the
country.
