The Best Bars in the Umbrian City of Perugia, Italy

A classic bistro meets wine bar, with a menu scribbled in white on the glass doors, this sunshine-yellow, split-level dining room strikes a fabulous balance between traditional and trendy. Many come for a full-blown dinner, but it’s just as atmospheric to sit up at the bar, on high, cushioned stalls, and try a few wines by the glass. Young staff and an innovative menu mean it attracts a hip twenty- and thirty-something crowd, so sit back and soak up the buzz.

Craft-beer aficionados make a beeline for this weird and wonderful pub, where a bicycle dangles from cavernous stone arches and the bar is cluttered with ale mats and street signs. The menu lists dozens of brews, with names as diverse as Peek a Boo, Caramel Fudge and Dead Guy Ale. Ask the knowledgeable, friendly staff for their favourite pints to get a good steer. You’re likely to make a few local friends in this mingly joint.

Sitting out on this elegant, canopy-shaded terrace, you’ll see mile upon mile of quaint Perugian buildings and leafy hillside spread out below. It’s part of a restaurant, Ristorante del Sole, but those in the know flock to its glam, cream-cushioned sofas for an Aperol spritz and a board of crudités and salami, in a less formal setting with the same vertiginous view. Stop by around 7pm for happy-hour deals on aperitivi.

Flirting couples occupy tall bar stools in this low-lit, intimate cocktail bar, with striking murals and motifs of skeletons and demon barmen painted onto the walls. Frothy cocktails in long-stemmed glasses come topped with dried flower petals or candied orange slices. This is the place to get something technical, like a violet mojito or a plum caipiroska. DJs get the party going late at night, as drinkers flow out into the streets for a breather.

Tribute rock bands and bewigged drag queens provide raucous entertainment at this students’ choice in prominent university town Perugia. Aperitivo snacks are generous, with a small buffet available to early evening drinkers. After 9pm, it turns party animal, with a young and lively crowd swigging beers, dancing in its cavernous indoor space, listening to live jazz or playing beer pong.

As the name and logo suggest, this hip, cluttered, football-mad pub is the place to go for an icy pint of something. Whether you’re into glossy black serves of Guinness, American pale ales or microbrewery IPAs from Abruzzo, the lads here will have something for you. The inside is absolutely tiny, so collect your beers and loiter in the streets outside, along with a pack of friendly young locals.

A softly curving, ice-white interior meets an earthy stone bar and a huge blackboard at this stylish hangout, sushi bar and gourmet-burger vendor that also specialises in upmarket cocktails and sparkling wines. This means you can get boujee bar snacks like fried courgette flowers and delicate anchovies with a fancy round of drinks. Try the green tea, ginger and gin-infused Matcha Ale or the whisky, amaro and Aperol fusion Paper Plane, sitting at smart white tables on the pavement outside.

A faded, peeling facade hides this bijou wine bar, deli and restaurant close to the city’s Etruscan well, its small outdoor deck elevated just enough to watch the people strolling by. Glam couples and local professionals pick at boards of salami, soft cheeses and tapenade-topped bruschetta, ordering bottle after bottle of sparkling Franciacorta or plummy Umbrian red. The interior is even cosier, a short tunnel of exposed stone decorated with floury salamis and prettily packaged pasta and panettone.