The 11 Best Cocktail Bars in Athens

Line

Named The Best Bar in Europe on Europe's 50 Best Bars 2026, and No. 8 on the World's 50 Best Bars in 2025, Line is the Kato Petralona project of Vasilis Kyritsis and Nikos Bakoulis (The Clumsies) with Dimitris Dafopoulos (Three Cents). In a former art-gallery warehouse, the bar runs a circular, zero-waste model: house-fermented fruit wines (the 'Why-ins', made with winemaker Thanos Georgilas), its own beers and sourdough, and drinks like the Delusional Margarita of mustard, ketchup and potato water.

Order this: Delusional Margarita (reposado tequila, mustard, ketchup, potato water, spices)

Baba au Rum

Thanos Prunarus's 'Rum and Cocktail Society' has flown the flag for Athens since the start, a back bar of more than 400 rums, an aviation-themed narrative, produce from local farmers and a standing tribute to Tiki. Eleven consecutive years on the World's 50 Best Bars list, sitting at No.27 in 2025. It won World's Best Spirits Selection at the 2024 Tales of the Cocktail Spirited Awards. It sits at No. 14 on Europe's 50 Best Bars 2026.

Order this: Baba's Zombie (five aged rums, fresh tropical juices, bitters, spices, falernum)

The Bar in Front of the Bar

What began in 2021 as a pop-up hatch covering a closed indoor bar became No.2 on Europe's 50 Best Bars 2026: a street-side, zero-waste stand with no indoor seating, a digital sign of rotating one-liners, and eight daily-changing cocktails built from prep scraps on classical structures. Founders Alexandros Tselepis, Konstantinos Theodorakopoulos and Simeon Papanikolaou run traditional sibling Rumble in the Jungle behind it. 'Streets are the new family.' It sits at No. 47 on the World's 50 Best Bars 2025.

Order this: C.R.E.A.M. (icy tsipouro, mastic and Greek herbs with a warm white-chocolate and coconut float)

Barro Negro

Athens' first tequila and mezcal bar, and the world's first designated 'Paloma Embassy', Barro Negro brings the energy of Oaxaca to Klafthmonos Square. Founders George Kavaklis and Stelios Papadopoulos run an agave-education program alongside tacos and serves like the Birria Martini. Five consecutive years in the World's 50 Best top 100 (No.62 in 2025) and No.13 on Europe's 50 Best Bars 2026.

Order this: Los Abuelos (Elala blanco tequila, Bruxo X mezcal, olive oil, herbal liqueur, fennel, aromatic salt)

The Clumsies

Opened in 2014 by Greek World Class champions Vasilis Kyritsis and Nikos Bakoulis with Lefteris Georgopoulos, Thanos Tsounakas and Giorgos Kaissaris, The Clumsies fills a restored neoclassical townhouse with its all-day philosophy of 'perfect imperfection', coffee and food by day, DJs and dancing by night, regional Greek ingredients in the glass throughout. Once No.3 in the world (2020), No.30 on Europe's 50 Best 2026; ask about The Room, the hidden fireplace-and-billiards space for six to ten.

Order this: Mediterranean Gimlet (Star of Bombay gin, 'Greek salad cordial' — tomato water, cucumber, red pepper, olives, oregano)

Avra Bar

The sea-view destination bar of the Four Seasons Astir Palace on the Athens Riviera, Avra runs an ingredient-led list under award-winning bar manager Nikos Tachmazis, Greek-accented classics like a Paper Plane on mountain-tea bourbon or a Dirty Martini with Assyrtiko and olive-oil vodka, plus seasonal serves, elevated snacks and live DJs at the water's edge in Vouliagmeni.

Order this: Grass (Chopin wheat vodka, mezcal espadín, cucumber distillate, lemongrass, fresh-grass gomme)

Norman Athens Bar

Segreto Athens

The 7 Jokers

A fever dream of a bar near Syntagma, bamboo ceiling, a masked mannequin halfway up the wall, technicolor fairy lights, The 7 Jokers has been an industry after-shift institution for two decades. The list runs creative (the house tsipouro signature mixes pineapple, red chilli, bitters and lemonade) and the night slides happily into beers and shots.

Tiki Bar Athens

'The Original Exotica Bar since 2007', Athens' first tiki bar sits in Makrygianni near the Acropolis, pouring Mai Tais, Zombies and Painkillers over food that borrows from many cuisines, with DJs spinning across the decades.

Order this: Mai Tai (aged rum, orgeat, lime, orange curaçao)

Upupa Epops

Hidden in a courtyard in Kato Petralona, Upupa Epops runs from morning coffee and brunch straight through to late-night cocktails, handcrafted drinks 'made to be enjoyed slowly, shared freely, and remembered long after the last sip', built on house touches like the bar's own spiced rum and homemade falernum.

Order this: Art Brut (vodka, strawberries, lemon, balsamic cream, herbal liqueur, peach, oleo saccharum)