In Venice, ask for Select if you want a spritz with a Venetian connection, or choose your bitter by taste rather than reputation. Aperol is the internationally familiar option, but Campari, Cynar and the bitter-free bianco give you other directions to explore. A spritz is a pre-meal drink, easily paired with a few savoury bites at a bar counter rather than a full sit-down meal.
The Venetian spritz
- Modern Venetian spritz
- Dry white wine, usually Prosecco, with bitter liqueur and soda water
- Before lunch
- Roughly 11:00–13:00
- Before dinner
- Roughly 18:00–20:00
The bitter gives a spritz veneziano its bittersweet character, while soda lightens and lengthens it. Have it as an aperitivo, a drink before a meal. You can make it a short counter stop rather than an evening commitment.
Expect roughly €3–€5 for a spritz at a neighbourhood counter and €6–€10 seated, with prominent tourist locations often costing more. Table service commonly adds around €2–€4 compared with standing at the same bar, although some places use a separate seated menu rather than an itemised supplement.
At the counter, tell the bartender which spritz you want, then follow the bar’s payment arrangement: you may pay directly or be directed to the till first. A restaurant’s coperto, or cover charge, is separate from the drink price, as it belongs to the food-and-table service, not automatically to every spritz. If you intend to sit, ask for the seated menu before ordering.
Select, Aperol, Campari, Cynar and bianco
| Criterion | Select | Aperol | Campari | Cynar | Spritz bianco |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ingredients | Select, Prosecco, soda | Aperol, Prosecco, soda | Campari, Prosecco, soda | Cynar, Prosecco, soda | Still white wine or Prosecco, soda; no bitter |
| Flavour | Bittersweet; herbs, citrus, juniper | Orange and herbs; gentle bitterness | Bold bitterness; herbs and citrus | Herbaceous, earthy artichoke; less sweet than Aperol | Light, crisp, dry and wine-led |
| Ask for | Un spritz con Select | Un spritz con Aperol | Un spritz con Campari | Un spritz con Cynar | Uno spritz bianco |
Select is the distinctly Venetian choice: the Pilla brothers created it in Venice in 1920. It remains commonly available in bacari, the city’s small wine bars, and belongs to their pre-meal drinking tradition. Spritz is a famous Venetian drink, with Select giving it a particular local connection.
Aperol is the internationally familiar Italian spritz and a widely recognised order here. Campari and bianco are also established Venetian orders, while Cynar is recognised but less widespread than Aperol or Campari, so ask whether the bar has it before settling on it.
Choose Aperol for gentle orange bitterness, Campari for a bolder bitter edge, or bianco if you want no bitter liqueur. Select suits an interest in herbal complexity, while Cynar takes you towards earthier flavours. All five fit the same pre-lunch or pre-dinner occasion, so there is no need to choose a different ritual with each drink.
Valeria Boltneva · Pexels License · Edited
Ordering at the counter
Specify the bitter rather than asking simply for “a spritz”. You can ask for “a spritz with Select”. In the Italian wording above, “con” means “with”. If the bartender responds with a list of bitters, choose the one you want in your drink.
For bianco, a follow-up question may concern the wine base. Answer “Prosecco” or “vino bianco fermo”, meaning still white wine, according to your preference.
Select traditionally comes with a large green olive, while Aperol and Campari typically take an orange slice, as does Cynar. Bianco often has lemon or an olive. Lemon or orange peel also appears among Venetian spritz garnishes. A stemmed glass or a simple tumbler are both normal presentations: glassware varies by bar rather than following a fixed standard.
Aperitivo and cicchetti
At a bacaro, cicchetti are the small savoury snacks you choose from the counter display. They might be topped bread, seafood bites or richer fried morsels. Order individual pieces separately from your drink and point to the ones you want if their names are unfamiliar. They are usually priced per piece and eaten standing.
Allow roughly €2–€4 per piece, with larger portions or more expensive seafood toppings pushing the price upwards. Choose by what you fancy eating, not by the expectation that a plate of snacks comes automatically with a spritz.
For pairings, try salty or fried bites with sweeter Aperol, richer savoury toppings with Select or Campari, and seafood with wine-led bianco. Cynar’s earthiness can suit mushroom or cheese bites. These are taste-led suggestions, not fixed combinations. Venetian dishes and snacks offer further ideas if you want to turn the stop into a fuller meal. One drink and one snack are enough for an aperitivo stop, and another round is optional.
Wine, water and the spritz
Before the bitter-based drink, spritz was a simple mix of local wine and water. Bianco keeps the wine-and-water idea closest to the foreground, while the coloured versions put the bitter aperitif at the centre of the taste. Choose bianco if you prefer the wine to lead rather than the flavour of an added liqueur.
An ombra is a small glass of wine, traditionally drunk at a bacaro. It is a separate order, not another name for spritz: some traditional bacari give it particular prominence. If you would rather drink wine on its own alongside your cicchetti, ask for an ombra instead. Spritz belongs to Venetian bar life, but it does not define everything served there.
Sources & fact-checking
Checks against the sources below cover: key figures.
