Bars London Speakeasies and Hidden Bars
Behind an unmarked door, a fridge, or a shopfront that lies: the best hidden bars in London.
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Bars
Where to drink well in London, from world-ranked cocktail rooms to hidden wine bars.
London drinks as well as anywhere on earth, and the competition keeps its bars honest. Our bar guides map the best of it: world-ranked cocktail rooms, grand hotel bars, hidden speakeasies, natural-wine rooms and the neighbourhood favourites worth building a night around.
From the best bars in Soho and Mayfair to where to drink champagne, whisky or a perfect martini, these guides are chosen for the rooms, the bartending and the occasion all at once. Find the right place for a first drink, a long night or somewhere quiet to talk.
Bars 
Bars The Best Bars in Angel
Angel after dark: the backstreet cocktail dens, Irish whiskey rooms and wine bars that drink far better than Upper Street lets on.
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Bars The Best Bars in Bermondsey
Victorian arches and a cobbled street: the agave dens, gin cellars, sherry bodegas and barrel-aged taprooms that make Bermondsey drink so well.
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Bars The Best Bars in Borough
Borough after the market closes: the wine cellars, art-deco cocktail rooms and rooftops that pour the best drinks south of the river.
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Bars The Best Bars in Brixton
South London after dark, the market-arcade wine rooms, tropical rooftops and cocktail dens that make Brixton the best night out below the river.
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Bars The Best Bars in Camden
Camden after dark: the rum shacks, canalside taprooms, music bars and rooftops that have always done a London night out a little louder.
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Bars The Best Bars in Canary Wharf
Skyline rooftops, a floating steakhouse bar, a velvet-lined speakeasy and a Nelson-era riverside pub: the Wharf after the trading floors empty.
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Bars The Best Bars in Chelsea
Where to drink in Chelsea: the best cocktail rooms, hotel bars and King's Road favourites, chosen on merit.
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Bars The Best Bars in Clapham
South London after dark: the cocktail rooms, wine bars and terraces that make Clapham worth the night.
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Bars The Best Bars in Clerkenwell
Clerkenwell after dark: apothecary cocktail dens, all-day wine rooms and craft-beer temples tucked between the old print works and St John's Square.
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Bars The Best Bars in Covent Garden
Grand hotel bars, hidden rooms and theatreland classics: the best bars in Covent Garden.
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Bars The Best Bars in Dalston
Kingsland Road after dark: the award-winning cocktail dens, vinyl listening rooms and dance-till-late bars that give Dalston its drinking reputation.
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Bars The Best Bars in Farringdon
Where Smithfield meets Clerkenwell after dark: apothecary cocktails, all-day wine, craft beer cellars and a Victorian pub.
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Bars The Best Bars in Greenwich
Riverside taverns, a basement jazz den and a rooftop above the Thames: where to drink in maritime Greenwich after dark.
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Bars The Best Bars in Hackney
Hackney after dark: the listening bars, natural-wine rooms, rooftops and beer halls that East London does so well.
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Bars The Best Bars in Kensington
Kensington after dark: the hotel cocktail rooms, hidden basements, wine cellars and flower-clad pubs that drink far better than the postcode lets on.
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Bars The Best Bars in Knightsbridge
Where to drink in Knightsbridge: legendary hotel bars and glamorous cocktail rooms, chosen on merit.
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Bars The Best Bars in London
Our pick of the best bars in London, from world-ranked cocktail rooms to quiet hotel classics.
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Bars The Best Bars in London Bridge
Riverside terraces, railway-arch dens and skyline rooms: the best bars around London Bridge.
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Bars The Best Bars in Marylebone
Where to drink in Marylebone: world-class hotel bars, cocktail dens and village favourites, chosen on merit.
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Bars The Best Bars in Mayfair
The hotel bars, hidden rooms and grand classics that make Mayfair London's best drinking quarter.
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Bars The Best Bars in Notting Hill
Where to drink in Notting Hill: tiki dens, Portobello cocktail bars and neighbourhood favourites, chosen on merit.
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Bars The Best Bars in Paddington
Canalside wine, a basement speakeasy and one of Britain's oldest mahogany bars: where to drink in Paddington once the trains stop mattering.
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Bars The Best Bars in Peckham
Rooftops, wine bars and railway arches: the bars that make Peckham one of London's best nights out.
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Bars The Best Bars in Shoreditch
East London after dark: the cocktail dens, natural-wine rooms and rooftops that define Shoreditch.
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Bars The Best Bars in Soho
Soho after dark: the cocktail dens, wine rooms and institutions that make it London's best drinking village.
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Bars The Best Bars in South Kensington
Museum-quarter drinking done properly: rock-and-roll hotel bars, a clubby townhouse cocktail room and the cult dens behind South Kensington's grand white stucco.
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Bars The Best Bars in Southwark
From a Shard sky bar to a railway-arch taproom: the cocktail dens, rooftops and wine rooms that make Southwark drink well after dark.
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Bars The Best Bars in Spitalfields
Where the old market meets late-night London: speakeasies behind fridge doors, a world-ranked basement and a rooftop above the City.
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Bars The Best Bars in Vauxhall
South London by the river: a Georgian-cellar cocktail den, a floating barge bar, craft-beer arches and the cabaret tavern that made Vauxhall famous.
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Bars The Best Bars in Victoria
Victoria after dark: royal hotel cocktail rooms, self-pour wine, a rooftop over the station and London's first craft-beer pub.
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Bars The Best Beer Gardens in London
Sun traps, riverside terraces and leafy hideaways: the best beer gardens in London for a sunny day.
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Bars best taprooms london
Six London brewery taprooms worth the trip, from a Bermondsey railway arch pouring beer at five degrees to Hackney Wick's tank bar. Real opening days, real addresses.
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Bars The Best Cheap Rooftop Bars in London
Best Cheap Rooftop Bars in London: chosen on merit by Lamplit London.
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Bars The Best Cocktail Bars in London
Where the drink itself is the point: the bartenders, the rooms, and the seats you will not want to leave.
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Bars The Best Dog-Friendly Pubs in London
The London pubs where a wet nose at the door gets a water bowl, a biscuit and a spot by the fire before you have even reached the bar.
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Bars The Best Gastropubs in London
Six London pubs where the kitchen works as hard as the cellar, from Fulham game to a scruffy Waterloo dining room that started it all.
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Bars best happy hour london
Six London bars where the early-evening deal is worth turning up for: a £7 Swift aperitivo, two-for-one on the tenth floor of The Standard, flat nine-quid cocktails in a Spitalfields basement.
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Bars The Best Hotel Bars in London
You do not need a room to drink in London's grandest hotel bars. Here is where to go.
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Bars jazz clubs london
Six London rooms where the music is live, the lights are low and the night runs late.
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Bars live music london
From a Gothic chapel in Islington to a Soho jazz basement, the London rooms where live music still sounds the way it should.
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Bars best natural wine bars london
Cloudy, low-intervention bottles and the rooms that pour them properly. Six London wine bars, from a Hackney Road pioneer to a Peckham rooftop, where the list rewards trusting the staff.
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Bars nightclubs london
Six London nightclubs worth staying out for, from a Farringdon institution to a King's Cross warehouse with a garden.
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Bars The Best Nightlife in London
Superclubs, queer institutions and Funktion One systems: where London actually goes out after midnight.
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Bars best private members clubs london
Six of London's notable private members clubs, from Annabel's to 5 Hertford Street, with honest notes on what each is for and how membership actually works.
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Bars pub crawl london
A walkable Soho run of five characterful pubs, from a grand Victorian gin palace to the half-pints-only bohemian bolthole.
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Bars The Best Pubs in Battersea
Battersea drinks well: riverside terraces, a theatre above the bar and a country boozer hiding behind the square.
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Bars The Best Pubs in Bermondsey
Tiled Victorian corners, river-jetty decks and a mile of railway-arch taprooms: Bermondsey drinks better than almost anywhere in south London.
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Bars The Best Pubs in Camden
Camden drinking done properly, from tiled Victorian boozers to a wood-fired gastropub with a Michelin nod.
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Bars The Best Pubs in Chiswick
Riverside towpath boozers, an Edwardian gin palace and a grand Victorian dining pub, all within a short stroll of Chiswick High Road.
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Bars The Best Pubs in Clapham
From a 240-foot Victorian bar to a garden that runs straight onto the Common, Clapham drinks well in every direction.
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Bars The Best Pubs in Covent Garden
Alley taverns, etched-glass gin palaces and ten-pump ale houses, all within a few theatrical minutes of the Piazza.
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Bars The Best Pubs in Farringdon
Six Farringdon pubs where the beams are real, the ale is properly kept and the ghosts of Smithfield market still linger.
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Bars The Best Pubs in Fitzrovia
Bohemian ghosts, Sam Smith's prices and a pie room upstairs: Fitzrovia drinks like nowhere else in the West End.
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Bars The Best Pubs in Greenwich
From a Dickens-haunted riverside tavern to a robata-grill gastropub, Greenwich pours the finest pints in south-east London.
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Bars The Best Pubs in Hackney
From a Michelin-crowned dining room to a riverside terrace and a brewpub spilling into Victoria Park, Hackney drinks well in every direction.
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Bars The Best Pubs in Hammersmith
Riverside terraces, a record-breaking snug and a Brackenbury roast: Hammersmith drinks far better than its flyover suggests.
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Bars The Best Pubs in Hampstead
Six Hampstead pubs where the fires are real, the roasts are serious and the Heath is always waiting outside.
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Bars The Best Pubs in Highgate
Village boozers on the hill, log fires below the Heath, and one of north London's best walk-in roasts.
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Bars The Best Pubs in Islington
From Orwell's model boozer to a wisteria-hung Georgian garden, Islington keeps the highest concentration of proper pubs in north London.
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Bars The Best Pubs in Kensington
Flower-clad frontages, panelled snugs and walled gardens: Kensington keeps some of London's most handsome pubs, and locals guard them well.
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Bars The Best Pubs in Marylebone
From an 18th-century free house with original drinking booths to a piano that still runs three nights a week, Marylebone keeps its pubs close and characterful.
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Bars The Best Pubs in Mayfair
Mayfair drinks far better than its handbag-shop reputation: Georgian coaching inns, three-time award pie rooms and walls of mounted stag heads, all minutes from Bond Street.
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Bars The Best Pubs in Notting Hill
The best pubs in Notting Hill: handsome locals, gastropubs and flower-clad classics, chosen on merit.
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Bars The Best Pubs in Richmond
River-flooded terraces, hilltop views and Georgian pubs facing the green: Richmond drinks better than almost anywhere in London.
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Bars The Best Pubs in Victoria
Behind the station forecourt and the coach crowds, Victoria keeps a run of proper pubs, from an etched-glass Victorian survivor to Pimlico's temple of craft beer.
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Bars The Best Pubs in Wapping
Five proper riverside pubs where the Thames does the talking, from a 500-year-old smugglers' tavern to a Sam Smith's terrace on the cobbles.
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Bars The Best Pubs in Waterloo
Cask ale on Roupell Street, whole roasts on The Cut and a river terrace by Blackfriars: Waterloo drinks far better than its commuter reputation suggests.
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Bars The Best Pubs in Wimbledon
Common-side fires, a 1950s ale house frozen in time, and a proper village Sunday roast, all within a short walk.
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Bars The Best Riverside Pubs in London
Six old taverns where the Thames slaps against the terrace and the pint tastes better for it.
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Bars The Best Rooftop Bars in London
The terraces worth the lift, for the view, the crowd, or both, the moment London opens up.
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Bars The Best Rooftop Bars in London with a View
Best Rooftop Bars in London with a View: chosen on merit by Lamplit London.
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Bars The Best Rooftop Bars in the City of London
Best Rooftop Bars in the City of London: chosen on merit by Lamplit London.
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Bars The Best Rooftop Bars near London Bridge
Best Rooftop Bars near London Bridge: chosen on merit by Lamplit London.
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Bars best summer terraces london
Six London terraces worth the gamble on a clear evening, from a riverside spot under Tower Bridge to a King's Road garden and a roof in the City that catches the last of the sun.
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Bars The Best Whisky Bars in London
Backbar shelves that read like a library: where to drink whisky properly in London.
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Bars The Best Wine Bars in London
A short, clever list and a few good plates: the London wine bars worth a detour.
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Bars The Oldest and Most Historic Pubs in London
Sawdust floors, smugglers' bars and rooms where Dickens drank: the London pubs that have been pouring pints since before the Great Fire.
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Bars Where to Drink Champagne in London
Where to drink champagne properly in London, from grand hotels to a station platform.
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