American Bar at the Savoy
No visit to London is complete without a drink at the Savoy Hotel’s American Bar, one of the city’s oldest cocktail bars and the birthplace of many a classic concoction. The spot's legendary bartender Harry Craddock fled Prohibition in the 1920s and remained at the bar’s helm until 1939, compiling his creations into the Savoy Cocktail Book—still considered a bartending bible today. Classics share space on the menu with a wide variety of contemporary creations, many of which are inspired by small snippets of London history—like the Policeman’s Hook (whisky, Amontillado sherry, kombu, barley syrup, and bitters), which takes its name from a spot on Great Newport Street where police directing traffic used to hang their coats in the ’30s.
More Bars in London
69 Colebrooke Row
Also known as the Bar with No Name, 69 Colebrooke Row is part alchemist's laboratory and part bar.
Artesian at the Langham
The Langham hotel’s opulent bar has been voted “World’s Best Bar” four times running, and it’s not hard to see why.
Nightjar
Speakeasy-style bars with menu glossaries, experimental ingredients, and secret doors are everywhere, but Nightjar is the real deal.
Dukes
This timeless bar at Dukes Hotel is said to have inspired Ian Fleming to pen the most famous James Bond line of all time.
The Connaught Bar
Housed inside the luxury Mayfair village hotel of the same name, the Connaught Bar took home the “World’s Best Bar” award at 2016’s Tales of the Cocktail festival.
Les Compagnie des Vins Surnaturels
Like its Paris and New York City counterparts, this wine bar offers a wide array of niche and hard-to-find wines available by both the glass and bottle.
Craft Beer Co.
Since the opening of their first pub in July 2011, Craft Beer Co. has expanded to become a mini-empire of seven locations around London.
Hawksmoor Spitalfields Bar
This dark and intimate bar in the basement of steak restaurant Hawksmoor is home to some of London’s best bartenders and their inventive creations.
