Whether you want to drink in epic views, history, or iconic cocktails, these incredible bars have covered you. From the world’s oldest bar to one housed inside a massive tree in South Africa, we’ve found 50 unforgettable and incredible bars worth traveling the globe for.
Here’s your boozy bucket list.
01. Rick’s Café in Negril, Jamaica, is an iconic drinking institution known for its epic sunsets and the many people throwing themselves off its surrounding cliffs. The well-known beach bar is perched on some epic cliffs above the ocean, and it is a popular spot for cliff divers to plunge into the water 60 feet below.
Flickr/Chris Ford
To learn more about Rick’s Café, click here.»
02. Inside Iceland’s ION Luxury Adventure Hotel, the Northern Lights Bar is designed explicitly for optimal viewing. An hour from Reykjavík, amid mountains and lava fields, sits this glass cage of sorts, which juts out from the end of the hotel and occasionally has astronomers on hand to drop their aurora borealis knowledge.
Courtesy of Hotel ION
To learn more about the Northern Lights Bar, click here.»
03. Bangkok’s Sky Bar, on the Lebua Hotel’s 63rd floor—820 feet in the sky — will have you feeling drunk without a drop to drink. The trippy LED-lit bar changes color every few minutes and has some of the most incredible views of the city. It was prominently featured in “The Hangover Part II.”
Courtesy of Lebua
To learn more about Sky Bar, click here.»
04. Instead of swinging from the chandeliers, drink inside one. The Chandelier Bar at the Cosmopolitan Hotel in Las Vegas features a three-story bar inside a chandelier enveloped in 2 million beaded crystals. The drinks are equally impressive. Many are inspired by the molecular-gastronomy movement and created and served tableside from a modern bar cart.
Courtesy of The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas
To learn more about The Chandelier Bar, click here.»
05. Rated the best bar in the world by the world’s 50 Best Bars, Artesian in London changes its cocktail menu annually. This year, the bar’s theme is “surrealism,” it serves drinks in surreal objects like giant metal ant sculptures, fur cups, and Lego elephants.
Courtesy of the Artesian
To learn more about Artesian, click here.»
06. As the name implies, the Rock Restaurant and Bar is perched on a rock in the middle of the Indian Ocean. Once a fisherman’s post in Zanzibar, you can get there using its dedicated boat service or wait for low tide and wade over.
Shutterstock
To learn more about The Rock Restaurant, click here.»
07. Forget a buzz. You’ll get full-on vertigo at Ozone, the world’s highest bar, on the 118th floor of Hong Kong’s Ritz Carlton, 1,608 feet above sea level.
Courtesy of The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company
To learn more about Ozone, click here.»
08. Harry’s Bar in Venice is about as iconic as the people who have imbibed here—Charlie Chaplin, Orson Welles, and Truman Capote, to name a few, as well as a roster of European kings and queens. But that’s not why it’s iconic: Its accurate claim to fame is the birthplace of the Bellini (white peach juice and prosecco) and the inventor of carpaccio.
To learn more about Harry’s Bar, click here.»
09. It’s widely believed that Ngiam Tong Boon, a bartender at the Raffles Hotel’s Long Bar in Singapore, invented the Singapore Sling in 1915. The original recipe is scribbled on a receipt and displayed at the hotel’s museum.
Flickr/Vasenka Photography
To learn more about The Long Bar, click here.»
10. It’s not surprising that a cocktail bar opened by Grant Achatz, arguably one of the world’s best chefs, would be the bar to raise the bar. Drinks at Chicago’s The Aviary are outrageous molecular concoctions that are essentially art pieces. There are 25 kinds of ice, and cocktails are often brewed on the table side and usually served in fascinating vessels, like inside a ball of ice that needs to be smashed or in beakers heated by Bunsen burners.
To learn more about The Aviary, click here.»
11. Rock Bar in Kuta, Bali, is carved into a cliff face and overlooks the Indian Ocean from a rocky perch 46 feet above crashing waves. Even better than sitting on the water? Having to take a four-person cable car to get there.
Rock Bar
To learn more about Rock Bar, click here.»
12. Consistently ranked one of the best cocktail bars in the world, as well as the best bar in America, The Dead Rabbit in New York’s Financial District is home to 145 types of Irish whiskey, making it the most extensive collection of Irish whiskey in America, and possibly the second largest in the world. Besides whiskey, the bar, opened by two Irish expats, features 72 ambitious and “historically accurate cocktails dreamed up by the 19th century’s most celebrated bartenders.”
Andrew Kist
To learn more about The Dead Rabbit, click here.»
13. Also consistently voted one of America’s best bars, Bar Agricole in San Francisco is an airy, industrial tavern of sorts that features natural wines, showcases farmhouse distilling, and makes outstanding cocktails using local and organic ingredients alongside delectable farm-to-table cuisine.
Flickr/Jennifer Yin
To learn more about Bar Agricole, click here.»
14. While Sean’s Bar is not much to look at now, you can drink in some bragging rights at this tiny tavern in Athlone, Ireland. According to The Guinness Book of World Records, it allegedly dates back to the year 900, making it the oldest pub in Ireland, if not the world. To put it into perspective, that is 200 years before the First Crusade and the year Vikings discovered Greenland.
To learn more about Sean’s Bar, click here.»
15. Clyde Common is hipster even by Portland standards (and not surprisingly attached to Portland’s Ace Hotel). It features farm-to-table cooking, communal tables, and killer cocktails like the Bourbon Renewal (bourbon, lemon, crème de cassis, bitters).
Flickr/Ann Larie Valentine
To learn more about Clyde Common, click here.»
16. The Roaring ’20s are alive and well at London’s Nightjar, a speakeasy that features Prohibition-era drinks, live jazz and blues music, and old-school glamour in spades. Thanks to its master mixologists and theatrical drinks that are as much for the taste buds as they are for the eyes (divided into pre-Prohibition, Prohibition, and postwar categories), it’s consistently ranked among the top bars in the world.
Jerome Courtial/Nightjar
To learn more about Nightjar, click here.»
17. It may not be the most stylish bar in the world or have the latest sound system or flashy mixologists, but Denver’s El Chapultepec makes this list for a good reason. Formerly a Mexican Cantina, it still serves up mean Mexican food alongside cool jazz tunes almost nightly. Open since 1933, “The Pec” was a Jack Kerouac favorite and a popular stop for the music legends Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, and Duke Ellington. Even Bill Clinton picked up his sax and laid down some tunes here.
Flickr/Sfgamchick
To learn more about The Pec, click here.»
18. This opulent bar at St. Petersburg’s Grand Hotel Europe claims to be the home of Russia’s only professional vodka sommelier. And that’s a good thing because the insane menu of more than 30 vodkas—matched only by the number of caviars on offer—requires some expertise.
Belmond
To learn more about Caviar Bar, click here.»
19. In typically modest Japanese fashion, one of the world’s best bars is as understated as they come. Nothing more than a small room on the third floor of a bland office building, Bar High Five in Tokyo is manned by Hidetsugu Ueno, one of Japan’s best-known bartenders. Equipped with tools like a meat cleaver and a thermometer, Ueno will make exquisite drinks after only a few questions on preference. There is no menu at this 18-seat bar.
Flickr/City Foodsters
To learn more about Bar High Five, click here.»
20. La Bodeguita del Medio in Havana, Cuba, claims to have invented the mojito. Whether that’s true or not, its mojito has Ernest Hemingway’s stamp of approval, as a scribble of his on the wall reads, “My mojito in La Bodeguita, my daiquiri in El Floridita.”
Shutterstock
To learn more about La Bodeguita del Medio, click here.»
21. The Soggy Dollar Bar in the British Virgin Islands invented the Painkiller cocktail. What pain on this beautiful island could have led to the drink’s name is unknown, but the bar is named because there’s no dock. In other words, your dollars might get soggy.
Flickr/Ornoth
To learn more about the Soggy Dollar Bar, click here.»
22. You won’t find any fancy cocktails or suspendered bartenders here. Stockholm’s Akkurat is one of the world’s best beer bars, with 20 brews on tap and 600 bottles of beer on its comprehensive menu, including seasonals, limited-edition collaborations, vintage beers, and suds you won’t find anywhere else.
Flickr/Bernt Rostad
To learn more about Akkurat, click here.»
23. What’s better than a drink with a view? A drink with a view of monkeys, as is the case at the Berlin’s 25hrs Bikini Hotel’s rooftop bar, the Monkey Bar, which looks right into the Berlin zoo’s monkey enclosure and features floor-to-ceiling windows for panoramic views of the primates. The cocktail menu is, appropriately, tiki-leaning.
Stephan Lemke
To learn more about the Monkey Bar, click here.»
24. This stunning bamboo dome is about an hour from Ho Chi Minh City. Despite sitting in the middle of an artificial lake, the Water and Wind Café is made entirely of natural materials — even bamboo furniture. The 32-foot-high bamboo- and bush-covered structure was built using traditional Vietnamese weaving techniques without a single nail.
Courtesy of Vo Trong Nghia Architects
To learn more about Water and Wind Café, click here.»
25. Everyone loves a good tiki bar; as far as those go, San Francisco’s Smuggler’s Cove is the world’s best-known. The swashbuckling bar resembles a pirate ship and has a Disneyland vibe, but don’t let the whimsical look fool you: The menu is seriously comprehensive and features around 400 rums, including rarities and vintage editions, as well as 70 intricate tropical cocktails.
Flickr/Frank Farm
To learn more about Smuggler’s Cove, click here.»
26. The Eagle and Child in Oxford, England, is a traditional pub serving old-school ales. It is steeped in history, serving as the place where J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis created their writing group—The Inklings—and becoming a regular stop for Royalist soldiers during the Civil War.
Flickr/Irene.
To learn more about The Eagle and Child, click here.»
27. At the Alux Restaurant Bar & Lounge, you can enjoy a drink in the caverns of Playa del Carmen, Mexico.
To learn more about the Alux Restaurant Bar & Lounge, click here.»
28. Joben Bistro, located in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, transports visitors to the imaginary world of Jules Verne. Inside, there is fictional machinery resembling those described by the author: lampshades shaped like top hats, LED lights that cast a soothing glow, and mechanical gears that stick to the industrial theme.
To learn more about Joben Bistro, click here.»
29. China’s Bar Constellation in Shanghai is a paradise for whiskey lovers. The bar offers more than 300 single malts and an extensive cocktail list.
TripAdvisor Traveler Photo/fefed_l
To learn more about Bar Constellation, click here.»
30. Tucked away in New York’s The Carlyle Hotel is Bemelmans Bar. The bar is named after the popular children’s author Ludwig Bemelmans, whose illustrations of classical books like “Madeline” line the walls.
Facebook/The Carlyle Hotel
To learn more about Bemelmans Bar, click here.»
31. The H.R. Giger Museum Bar, located in Gruyères, Switzerland, is a salutation to the work of renowned Swiss artist H.R. Giger, creator of the title character in the hit film “Alien.” The spooky theme resonates throughout the bar, with ceilings decorated with alien tentacles and chairs resembling skeletons.
To learn more about the H.R. Giger Museum Bar, click here.»
32. Falk’s bar is in the Bayerischer Hof hotel in Munich. It is in the stunning Mirror Hall, which dates back to 1839, and is the only room in the hotel to have survived World War II.
Yelp/Falk’s Bar
To learn more about Falk’s Bar, click here.»
33. For one of the most natural drinking experiences, head to the Baobab Tree Bar in Limpopo, South Africa. The bar is housed in a 72-foot-high tree with a cellar that keeps the beer inside cool for visitors to enjoy.
Werner P
To learn more about the Baobab Tree Bar, click here.»
34. Dance the night away in a setting that resembles a stunning Gothic cathedral at Mirror in Bali, Indonesia. World-class DJs spin in the bar, elaborately decorated with high glass ceilings, hanging cathedral lamps, and breathtaking wall designs.
Facebook/Mirror Bali
To learn more about Mirror, click here.»
35. McSorley’s Old Ale House is a century-old Irish pub in New York that has hosted the likes of Abraham Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt. The iconic drinking spot serves two beers at a time and still maintains some of its original decor from when it first opened, giving you a trip back in time.
Flickr/Riveredger
To learn more about McSorley’s Old Ale House, click here.»
36. Cova d’en Xoroi, located in Alaior, Menorca, is perched about 100 feet above the Mediterranean Sea. It offers stunning water views during the day and spinning DJs that help you party away at night.
Flickr/Emilio Vaquer
To learn more about Cova d’en Xoroi, click here.»
37. In a former brothel in Berlin, Madame Claude is an upside-down bar where tables, chairs, rugs, and book stands are stuck on the roof for a bizarre optical illusion. DJs, live performances, and events take place daily throughout the week.
To learn more about Madame Claude, click here.»
38. The Cave Bar at Hotel More in Dubrovnik, Croatia, sits inside an awe-inspiring natural cavern with multi-colored lighting that makes the natural environment seem like a fantastical escape. Outside, you can enjoy your drink with views of the Adriatic Sea.
To learn more about Cave Bar More, click here.»
39. See some of Helsinki’s best-known landmarks on the Spårakoff Pub Tram in Finland— a historical tram converted into a pub that serves beer, cider, and sparkling wine while taking you on a tour.
Love Europe
To learn more about the Spårakoff Pub Tram, click here.»
40. The Antico Caffè Greco, which opened in Rome in 1790, has served coffee and drinks to regulars including John Keats, Charles Dickens, Mary Shelley, and Lord Byron. Over the years, it has gained a reputation as a hub for writers.
Flickr/Richard, enjoy my life!
To learn more about Antico Caffè Greco, click here.»
41. Sip on drinks while getting up-close views of sea life in the Indian Ocean at Subsix, the world’s first underwater nightclub in the Niyama resort of the Dhaalu Atoll in the Maldives.
Per Aquum Niyama Maldives
To learn more about Subsix, click here.»
42. Le Nid sits at the top of a 472-foot-high building — the Tour de Bretagne — to provide panoramic views of the French city of Nantes. The bar is inside the body of a 131-foot-long bird that scales the perimeters, with eggshell-style tables and chairs that complement the theme.
Facebook/Le Nid
To learn more about Le Nid, click here.»
43. Toners Pub in Dublin has hosted the likes of Patrick Kavanagh and Bram Stoker, and it is said to be the only pub that poet W.B. Yeats ever visited.
Flickr/William Murphy
To learn more about Toners Pub, click here.»
44. The Al Sarab Rooftop Lounge, located in the Bab Al Shams Desert Resort of Dubai, overlooks miles of the Arabian Desert and offers stunning views during sunsets.
Al Sarab Rooftop Lounge
To learn more about the Al Sarab Rooftop Lounge, click here.»
45. Dear Irving is a speakeasy in New York City with four rooms representing different periods. Step back in time as you explore the F. Scott Fitzgerald room (filled with sparkling crystal draping), cozy up in the Abraham Lincoln room (where velvet seating and dark wood create a cozy atmosphere), get groovy in the’ 60s-style JFK room, or drink in luxury under French chandeliers in the Marie Antoinette room.
Yelp/Piper P.
To learn more about Dear Irving, click here.»
46. Barcelona, Spain, has quite the reputation for partying, thanks to bars like Espit Chupitos. You’ll find more than 600 quirky shots there, like its marshmallow shot, which you melt on the spot. The best part is that they’re only 2 euros each.
Yelp/Monica T.
To learn more about Esprit Chupitos, click here.»
47. Jicoo, the Floating Bar in Tokyo, is designed as a futuristic boat that cruises around Tokyo Bay on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays for a booze cruise. The expansive windows allow you to glimpse gorgeous panoramic city views at night while catching live performances inside the bar.
Facebook/Jicoo
To learn more about Jicoo: The Floating Bar, click here.»
48. Every year, the Ice Bar is intricately carved out of a massive ice block inside the Hotel de Glace (Ice Hotel) in Quebec, Canada. Visitors enjoy its impressive designs while they sip drinks poured into ice cups.
To learn more about the Ice Bar, click here.»
49. Beer lovers should head to the bar in Belgium’s Delirium Cafe, located in Brussels. The cafe’s collection is nearly 2,500 beers, including Belgian Abbeys and eclectic brews like banana beer.
Flickr/I am Chenny
To learn more about Delirium Cafe’s bar, click here.»
50. Iceland’s Blue Lagoon in Grindavik is known for its healing effects, thanks to its abundant minerals. The lagoon also hosts a bar, where servers serve cocktails while you rest in the soothing heated water.
Facebook/Blue Lagoon Iceland
To learn more about the Lagoon Bar, click here.»
Like what you’re reading? Subscribe to our top stories.
Discussion about this post