The World’s 11 Best Countries for Day Drinking

If you learn only one word of German before your next trip, let it be frühschoppen, the German word for day drinking with friends.

In Germany, getting tipsy before noon is so common that it has its own word: Frühschoppen, which roughly translates to getting drunk in the morning with friends. So feel free to order a little “liquid bread” with breakfast before heading over to your nearest local bar (which likely opens around 11 a.m.).

If you’re the kind of day drunk who likes to get stuff done, head to Italy where your kindred spirits are drinking coffee the right way: you can order your coffee “corrected” with a shot of alcohol inside.

Simply head to your local café and order a “caffè corretto” (coffee, corrected in Italian) and they’ll bring you a shot of espresso with a shot of local alcohol – usually grappa, Sambuca, or brandy – poured in. It’s the best way to get just the buzz you need for all the sightseeing you can squeeze in before your next coffee break.

Mexico specializes in a variety of delicious ways of getting drunk before lunchtime. You can do it with Micheladas (like Bloody Mary’s but with beer) and Champurrados (Mexican hot chocolate spiked with hard liquor and best had with churros), or try something a little more interesting in the countryside.

There, you can find El Pajaretes: barn parties held during milking time. During almost any day of the week (but especially on Sunday) people gather at around 5 a.m. to add coffee or cocoa, sugar cane, and 180 proof moonshine made from sugar cane to milk straight from the teat. Squirt, drink, repeat.

Day drinking in Norway can start very early in the morning–ideally, the one directly following drinking done the night before.

And to help with the required stamina is a Norwegian drink called Karsk. The directions for making Karsk are as follows: take a glass, put a coin in it, pour coffee in until you can no longer see the coin and then pour a local 96% moonshine over it until you can see the coin again.

We have a feeling you’re going to like Norway a lot.

Ireland invented the Irish coffee, one of day-drinking’s favorite drinks. And you can get it (or a pint) starting at around 7 a.m. at Ireland’s Early Houses: bars that open even earlier than Ireland’s other bars, which open at 10:30 a.m.

Some even serve full Irish breakfasts if you’re still eating solid food at this point in your vacation.

Argentina has a reputation for having terrible coffee which is why wine is often seen as the better choice for the two-hour long, lazy brunches that make Argentina such a delightful place to relax.

And because this is wine country, you can spend your entire trip brunch boozing through Argentina’s beautiful and varied wine regions. Soak in surreal vistas dotted with cacti and flooded with shoulder-high pampas grass or framed by sandstone canyons–all while half in the bag.

Unless medically necessary, there’s never really any reason to be sober in Denmark. The nightlife here is so legendary that even Wednesday nights out have a tendency to last until Thursday afternoon when the good “Morgen Fests” (Danish for morning party) are already underway. Head out on a Friday and you may not sober up until Sunday evening

But even if you don’t like to chase your drinking with house music and MDMA, there’s no reason to put the bottle down. Simply take it outside and spend the day drinking in parks Nørrebroparken, Kongens Have, Enghave Parken, or spend time with it on the beach, or bring it with you to score a little weed in Christiana’s hippie commune.

Portland is great at squeezing drinking into all of the day’s activities. You can drink while you’re doing your laundry, while playing mini-golf, or while telling everyone you’re at the library.

But Portland’s best day drinking can be had during brunch, P-town’s best meal of the day. No matter where you go, you’re sure to find great meals–think lemon ricotta pancakes and polenta and braised beef paired with artisanal cocktails that are great, boozy hangover cures (in hair-of-the-dog fashion) with whimsical names like Corpse Reviver, The Golden Vlad, and Lace Panties.

If you want to do your day drinking alone, consider making a stop in Bugey, France. One of this wine region’s best-kept secrets, it’s a great place to avoid the crowds while sampling one of the best breakfast wines on earth: Bugey-Cerdon.

This bubbly beverage tastes like berries, is low-alcohol, and may pair better with breakfast pastry than any other drink on earth. And because it’s cheap (around $20 per bottle), you can drink it from breakfast until dinner–where it also pairs well with dessert.

In Ibiza, partying all night is for amateurs. Real drinkers follow it up in the morning at Ibiza’s beach bars which may be an even better way to turn up. The drinks are craftier, the DJ’s are as well known, plus there’s plenty of food and a better chance of spotting a celebrity while you lay in the sand.

Here, it’s always soju-o’clock. You won’t be out of place asking for a bottle with lunch (or even breakfast) and you might even find that you have company. And because soju only has slightly more alcohol content than wine, you can sip it all day. Which is good because they only serve it by the bottle.