London: Top Bars in London

A Cubist-inspired hotel bar on Carlos Place in Mayfair, inside the Connaught Hotel. Designed by David Collins Studio, with silver-leaf walls and a grey bar. Director of mixology Agostino Perrone oversees service. The bar was named World's Best Bar in 2020 and 2021, and has appeared on the World's 50 Best Bars list every year since 2010. Its martini trolley is a signature.

A prohibition-inspired basement speakeasy on City Road in Shoreditch, with live jazz, swing, blues and funk bands every night from 21:00. The cocktail programme draws on pre-prohibition, prohibition and post-war eras, served in vintage glassware. The bar holds the UK's largest absinthe collection and stocks vintage spirits dating to the 19th century. Booking ahead is essential on weekends.

A Bethnal Green cocktail bar on Cambridge Heath Road, opened in 2013 by Kevin Armstrong, Damian Benjamin and Fraser Chapman. The cocktail menu changes daily, drawing from a catalogue of around 900 classic and modern drinks. Taxidermy decor, hip hop soundtracks and exposed brick define the room. It was ranked 21st in the World's 50 Best Bars 2025 and named Best Cocktail Bar in the UK three times by Morning Advertiser.

An intimate Islington cocktail bar created by mixologist Tony Conigliaro, also known as The Bar With No Name. Opened in 2009, it pairs 1950s Milan-inspired decor with scientifically developed cocktails using techniques from culinary and perfumery fields. The upstairs laboratory develops infusions and house-aged spirits. Live jazz runs on Thursdays, with piano on Wednesdays and Sundays.

London's longest-standing cocktail bar, opened around 1893 inside the Savoy Hotel on the Strand. Alumni include Ada 'Coley' Coleman, inventor of the Hanky Panky, and Harry Craddock, author of the 1930 Savoy Cocktail Book. An art deco room with a baby grand piano plays host nightly. Named World's Best Bar at the World's 50 Best in 2017.

A subterranean speakeasy inside Raffles London at the Old War Office on Whitehall. Located in former high-security rooms 006 and 007 that once housed MI5 and MI6 papers. An Aston Martin DB5 used in the Bond films is embedded above the bar. Ian Fleming worked in the building as a Naval Intelligence officer. Sixteen cocktails pay homage to espionage and the OWO.

A 1940s-themed bar on Kingly Court just off Carnaby Street, designed as an abandoned Underground station turned air raid shelter. The Underground space contains two platforms linked by a central passage and a life-size tube carriage. Staff perform in character. A ticket hall pub above operates separately, with a second location at Borough Yards. Drinks are served in hip flasks, milk bottles and ration tins.

London's oldest wine bar, established in 1890 on Villiers Street near Embankment. The vaulted candlelit cellar retains old oak barrels of port and sherry, walls covered in historical newspaper clippings and a covered outdoor terrace on Watergate Walk. Owned by the Gordon family since 1972. Over 80 wines are available, with more than 50 sold by the glass, alongside 15 cheeses and charcuterie.