The 33 Best Bars in France
Every French bar on the 2026 50 Best lists is in Paris, yet the best bars in France also reach south to Montpellier. In the Marais, Rémy Savage's Bar Nouveau is No. 15 on The 50 Best Bars list for 2026 and No. 5 on Europe's 50 Best Bars 2026: an Art Nouveau bistro at street level, a 90-minute, six-step experience in the basement, and the largest private collection of antique Bimini glassware in the world. Its Jasmine & Vanilla Ramos upstairs becomes a cake downstairs. In Montpellier's historic center, Julien Escot, who was behind the late Baton Rouge in Paris, runs Aperture, where pink neon hangs from a vaulted stone ceiling over a mirrored central bar. Lillet, the wine aperitif first made by two Bordeaux merchants, has its museum and home in Podensac. Bar Nouveau takes no reservations, so arrive near its 3pm opening for a seat. These are the thirty-three we would start with.
★ TOP 1050 BESTPubThe Cambridge Public House
Hyacinthe Lescoët's upscale cocktail pub climbed nineteen places in 2025 to reach No. 20 on the World's 50 Best Bars, earning the Nikka Highest Climber Award and the Ketel One Sustainable Bar Award in a single ceremony. The July 2024 acquisition of Little Red Door expanded Lescoët's influence across two of the Marais' most significant addresses. Bar Manager Nicolas Goradesky oversees a program that integrates sustainability into every decision, waste reduction, seasonal sourcing, energy efficiency, without sacrificing the warmth of a British pub transplanted to Rue de Poitou. The latest lists place it at No. 13 on The 50 Best Bars 2026 and No. 7 on Europe's 50 Best Bars 2026.
8 Rue de Poitou, 75003 ParisDaily 15:00-01:00Full profile
★ TOP 1050 BESTCocktail BarBar Nouveau
Co-founded by twins Sara and Hadrien Moudoulaud alongside Marc Puzzuoli and Rémy Savage, the 2022 World's Best Mixologist, Bar Nouveau distils its program to six cocktails and executes every one with the focus that a limited menu demands. The Art Nouveau setting on Rue des Haudriettes frames modern interpretations of classic and lesser-known French bistro drinks. At No. 15 on The 50 Best Bars 2026 (No. 17 in 2025), this Marais bar proves that constraint can be a creative accelerant. Savage's involvement bridges his work across three Paris venues into a coherent philosophy of quality through reduction. It was a Top 4 finalist for Best New International Cocktail Bar at the 2024 Tales of the Cocktail Spirited Awards. The bar holds No. 5 on Europe's 50 Best Bars 2026.
5 Rue des Haudriettes, 75003 ParisMon-Fri 16:00-01:00, Sat 13:00-01:00, Sun closedFull profile
★ TOP 1050 BESTCocktail BarDe Vie
Alex Francis and Barney O'Kane, both Little Red Door alumni, opened this Montorgueil bar-and-counter-restaurant in March 2025 on strict seasonality and locality: everything from independent French growers and distillers, no commercial ice machines (drinks are pre-batched and held at precise temperatures), kitchen waste upcycled into fruit wines and aperitifs. The core offer is a five-step seasonal drinks tasting. No.34 in Europe's 50 Best Bars 2026 with the Ketel One Sustainable Bar Award, and winner of Best New International Cocktail Bar at the 2026 Tales of the Cocktail Spirited Awards.
22-24 Rue Saint-Sauveur, 75002 ParisWed-Mon 18:00-01:00 (closed Tue)Full profile
★ TOP 1050 BESTCocktail BarDanico
Bar Director Nico de Soto has operated from the former Jean Paul Gaultier flagship on Rue Vivienne for long enough that Danico now functions as an institution of Paris's modern cocktail era. Ranked No. 26 on The 50 Best Bars 2026 (No. 30 in 2025), the program carries the confidence of a venue that helped establish the city's reputation and continues to shape it. Head Bartender Corentin Gaudin runs daily service with a team that balances de Soto's creative vision with the consistency that regulars demand. Danico is the bar that made the 2nd arrondissement a cocktail destination. It won Best International Restaurant Bar at the 2024 Tales of the Cocktail Spirited Awards. It currently stands at No. 19 on Europe's 50 Best Bars 2026.
6 rue Vivienne, 75002 ParisDaily 17:00-02:00Full profile
★ TOP 1050 BESTCocktail BarLittle Red Door
The Rue Charlot pioneer that helped launch Paris's cocktail renaissance reopened in July 2024 under new ownership by Hugo Gallou and Hyacinthe Lescoët, with Oliver Eardley, formerly of The Savoy, London, installed as head bartender. The transition marked one of the year's most closely watched bar stories, and the early program signals ambition: technically precise, narratively driven, and built on the kind of hospitality intelligence that Eardley honed in London's most demanding rooms. Little Red Door's second act may surpass the first.
60 rue Charlot, 75003 ParisMon-Thu, Sun 18:00-02:00, Fri-Sat 18:00-03:00Full profile
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- Le Syndicat★ TOP 1050 BESTCocktail Bar
Le Syndicat
The Organization for the Defence of French Spirits works exclusively with French-produced alcohol, no exceptions, no compromises. Robin Davalo took over direction in November 2022, with Rémy Savage serving as associate director, and the Faubourg Saint-Denis bar continues to prove that France's distillation heritage provides sufficient depth for a complete cocktail program. Calvados, armagnac, cognac, pastis, and domestic gin replace the usual international suspects. Le Syndicat turns a nationalist constraint into creative liberation.
51 rue du Faubourg Saint-Denis, 75010 ParisDaily 18:00-02:00Full profile 
★ TOP 10Cocktail BarLes Ambassadeurs
Head Bartender Arnaud Volte and Bar Director Kevin Rigault deliver the 2025 menu, titled A Sense of Memories, from a room overlooking Place de la Concorde that drips with Parisian grandeur. The program layers seasonal French ingredients with techniques that honor the Crillon's heritage while pushing into contemporary territory. Live music fills the space nightly, and the terrace beneath the arcades provides one of the city's most elegant outdoor drinking positions. Les Ambassadeurs earns its place through setting, service, and ambition in equal measure.
10 place de la Concorde, Paris, 75008Daily 17:00-01:00Full profile- Bar Hemingway★ TOP 1050 BESTCocktail Bar
Bar Hemingway
Twenty-five seats, unchanged decor, and a Dry Martini recipe that has survived every trend the cocktail industry has produced since Ernest Hemingway drank here with F. Scott Fitzgerald in the 1920s. The Ritz's jewel-box bar delivers tailor-made cocktails with a formality that reads as genuine rather than performative, ladies' drinks arrive with a rose, and the bartender remembers your order from your last visit. Bar Hemingway does not compete with modern cocktail bars. It occupies a category they cannot enter.
15 Place Vendôme, Paris 75001Daily 17:00-00:00Full profile 
★ TOP 10SpeakeasyExperimental Cocktail Club
The bar that ignited Paris's speakeasy movement in 2007 still operates without reservations from a Rue Saint-Sauveur basement that looks unchanged from opening night. Part of Experimental, the group that now spans hotels and restaurants across Europe, ECC retains the energy of a founder-led independent: gin-forward, tequila-curious, and resolutely nocturnal. The venue's influence on Paris drinking culture cannot be overstated, every craft cocktail bar in the city traces a line of descent back to this room.
37 rue Saint-Sauveur, 75002 ParisMon-Thu 19:00-02:00, Fri-Sat 19:00-04:00, Sun 20:00-02:00Full profile- Combat★ TOP 10Cocktail Bar
Combat
Margot Lecarpentier, a former lawyer who retrained as a bartender in New York, runs this Belleville venue with a sustainability focus and a cocktail program that now extends into her role as head mixologist for the Alain Ducasse Group. The Minto Martini, built with gin, sake, pear, dry vermouth, and peppermint, captures a style that balances botanical complexity with approachable construction. Exposed brick, bright yellow tiling, and foliage ceiling give the room an energy that Lecarpentier's expanding influence across Paris gastronomy only amplifies.
63 rue de Belleville, 75019 ParisSun-Wed 18:00-00:00, Thu 18:00-01:00, Fri-Sat 18:00-02:00Full profile 
EUROPE'S 50 BESTCocktail BarHarry's New York Bar
Born 26 November 1911, when a Manhattan bar's interior was dismantled and shipped to 'Sank Roo Doe Noo', the phonetic address that let Anglophones direct any taxi to 5 rue Daunou. Run by the MacElhone family for four generations (today Franz-Arthur, Harry's great-grandson), it claims the invention of the Bloody Mary, White Lady, Sidecar, French 75 and Blue Lagoon, keeps 400+ cocktails in the repertoire, and hosts nightly piano from 10pm in the room where Gershwin composed An American in Paris. It currently stands at No. 27 on Europe's 50 Best Bars 2026.
5 Rue Daunou, 75002 Paris, FranceMon-Sat 12:00-02:00, Sun 17:00-01:00Full profile
50 BESTCocktail BarCandelaria
The Marais classic that hides one of Paris's defining cocktail bars behind the back door of a bright, all-white taqueria. Push through and the room turns dark and agave-obsessed, mezcal, tequila and the signature La Guêpe Verte (jalapeño, cucumber, agave nectar), with shredded-pork tacos up front. Open daily.
52 Rue de Saintonge, 75003 ParisOpen dailyFull profile- Fréquence50 BESTCocktail Bar
Fréquence
A cocktail bar in the 11th arrondissement built around vinyl records, with the back bar given over to a record collection rather than bottles. It was founded by Matthieu Biron and Guillaume Quenza. Drinks are made with classical technique, hand-carved ice and house infusions, and floor-to-ceiling windows open onto the street in warm weather.
20 Rue Keller, 75011Mon-Sat eveningsFull profile 
PINNACLECocktail BarLe Mary Celeste
The Marais 'bar à manger' with the circular bar at its center, oysters, natural wine and cocktails in a nautical room of white-washed wood and pastel blues, its bay windows thrown open in summer. Creative shareable cooking rounds out serves like the Invisible Gin (apricot eau de vie, pineapple, ginger). Open every day. It was a Top 4 finalist for Best International Restaurant Bar at the 2025 Tales of the Cocktail Spirited Awards.
1 rue Commines, 75003 ParisOpen dailyFull profile- Ritz BarCocktail Bar
Ritz Bar
The Ritz Paris's astral bar: each evening at 5pm the great lantern ascends to the ceiling in a sound-and-light ritual, revealing the circular bar beneath a projected fresco of zodiac constellations. Director of Mixology Romain de Courcy composes cocktails inspired by nature and the signs of the zodiac, perfumer's intuition, goldsmith's precision, to a soundtrack by Polo & Pan, with tapas from 5 to 10:30pm. Distinct from Bar Hemingway across the hotel.
15 Place Vendôme, 75001 ParisTue-Sat 17:00-23:30 (summer closure 9-24 Aug)Full profile 
PINNACLECocktail BarBar 1802
The rum sanctuary of the Alexandre Dumas-themed Hôtel Monte Cristo in the 5th, dozens of rums open for tasting, including 49 exclusive house cuvées selected yearly since 2018, with structured tasting flights, masterclasses and an on-site rum boutique. The new 'MATIERES' cocktail menu offers twelve original creations at a flat €17, six months in development.
Order thisOld FashionedFlor de Caña 12, Mhoba High Ester, cacao bitters, coconut sugar20-22 rue Pascal, 75005 ParisDaily 15:00-01:00 (cocktails from 16:00)Full profile
Cocktail BarAbstract
Abstract calls itself a full time distillery and a part time bistrot, working out of a room on Rue Duroc in Lyon's first arrondissement. The house makes its own spirits under the name Monochromes: single ingredient bottlings drawn through a bespoke extraction process built to preserve each ingredient's aromatic integrity. Releases carry plain names such as Cucumber, Yellow Bell Pepper, Lemon, Raspberry, Strawberry and Butter, they arrive in small batches with handcrafted bottles, and they form the backbone of what the bar pours. The team behind it includes Remy Savage, Nicolas Minisini, Sara Moudoulaud, Hadrien Moudoulaud, Ismaïl Hamila and Faustine Simorre, gathered, in the house's words, around flavor. Doors open only from Friday through Sunday evenings.
2 Rue Duroc, 69001 LyonFri to Sun 18:00 to 00:00; closed Mon to ThuFull profile- Le CalbarCocktail Bar
Le Calbar
A cocktail bar in the 12th arrondissement whose bartenders work in bow ties and boxer shorts, the detail that gives the bar its name. Its house approach is bespoke cocktails made to the guest's stated preferences, alongside a list of signatures. The business also operates a second site in Geneva.
82 Rue de Charenton, 75012Tue-Sat 18:00-01:30; closed Sunday and MondayFull profile 
Cocktail BarAperture
Aperture takes its name from the diaphragm opening that lets light into a camera, and light is the organizing idea of the room. Open since 2018 on Rue des Trésoriers de la Bourse in central Montpellier, it presents itself as a cocktail club rather than a conventional bar, an inhabited gallery where drinks are conceived as compositions and exhibitions run with the rhythm of the place. Volumes, materials, darkness and reflection are handled deliberately, with light used to reveal, to cut and to tell a story. The house describes itself as a meeting point between taste, image and sound. Wine and snacks sit alongside the cocktail list, and the evening runs late.
2 Rue des Trésoriers de la Bourse, 34000 MontpellierTue to Sat 18:00 to 01:00; closed Sun and MonFull profile- La CommuneCocktail Bar
La Commune
A Belleville cocktail bar specializing in punches served in silver bowls, built on French spirits and produce such as cognac, Armagnac, eau de vie and rhum agricole. The room pairs concrete walls and a marble bar with a planted terrace. It is operated by Domaine Syndicat, the group behind Le Syndicat.
80 Boulevard de Belleville, 75020Full profile 
Hotel BarCopperBay Lancaster
CopperBay Lancaster is the second home of CopperBay, the cocktail bar Aurélie Panhelleux, Elfi Fabritius and Julien Lopez opened on Rue Bouchardon in the 10th in 2014. The trio took over the bar of the Hôtel Lancaster, an eighteenth century townhouse a few steps from the Champs-Élysées, in spring 2024, and brought the original's deep blue palette and yacht club ease to a room of wood panelling, gilt-framed paintings and a round marble bar beneath a tree. The current menu is a tour of France told through French distillers, from heritage houses such as Chartreuse, Drouin and Ferrand to a new generation of independents, and on Thursdays a DJ plays vinyl. Club Oenologique named it among the seven best Paris hotel bars for cocktail lovers.
Hôtel Lancaster, 7 Rue de Berri, 75008 ParisDaily 17:00-01:00Full profile
Hotel BarDelano
Delano is the cocktail bar of Hôtel Le Roosevelt in central Nice, set in an Art Deco room with a cozy, chic atmosphere. The bar serves creative cocktails and a refined drinks selection with local and international snacks and Mediterranean plates. It opens every evening without reservations and can be booked privately for events.
Hôtel Le Roosevelt, 16 Rue du Maréchal Joffre, 06000 NiceDaily from 18:00Full profile
Hotel BarLe Bar du Couvent
Le Bar du Couvent is the hotel bar of the Hôtel du Couvent, a former convent above the old town of Nice now run as a hotel. The bar sits in the cloister, with seats inside or on the terrace. It runs a seasonal cocktail menu that the hotel updates through the year.
Hôtel du Couvent, 1 Rue Honoré Ugo, 06300 NiceDaily 10:00-00:00Full profile
Cocktail BarMesures
Mesures is a cocktail and music bar in the Haut Marais modeled on the Japanese jazz kissa, the listening bars where the record collection and the sound system matter as much as the drinks. It was co-founded on Rue de Saintonge by bartender Guillaume Castaignet, formerly of Castor Club, Hôtel Particulier and Classique Café, and David Asseraf, in a room of dark wood, worn metal and a marble counter, with records played on an all-analogue hi-fi. Castaignet builds each drink on three complementary ingredients, with sake at the center of much of the list, alongside some twenty sakes by the glass, carafe or bottle. Le Fooding counts it among the best cocktail bars in Paris.
58 Rue de Saintonge, 75003 ParisMon-Wed 18:00-01:00; Thu-Fri 18:00-02:00; Sat 17:00-02:00; Sun 18:00-01:00Full profile
Cocktail BarPoint Rouge
Point Rouge is a bar and restaurant on the Quai de Paludate in Bordeaux, working from separate menus for wine, cocktails, spirits and food. The bar serves cocktails and tapas from 6pm until 2am, six nights a week, backed by a deep wine and spirits list. The room sits under vaulted brick ceilings with leather lounge seating.
1 quai de Paludate, 33800 Bordeaux, FranceMon-Sat 18:00-02:00, Sun closedFull profile- Aux Quatre Coins du VinWine Bar
Aux Quatre Coins du Vin
Aux Quatre Coins du Vin is a wine bar, cellar and restaurant by Place Saint Pierre in the heart of Bordeaux. Enomatic dispensers let guests taste some 40 wines by the glass as a sip, a half glass or a full glass, drawn from the four corners of the world and the Bordeaux region. Cheese boards, artisan charcuterie, croque monsieur, foie gras and anchovies accompany the wines.
8 rue de la Devise, 33000 Bordeaux, FranceMon-Sat 18:00-02:00, Sun closedFull profile - Bar de Bon-SecoursSpeakeasy
Bar de Bon-Secours
Bar de Bon-Secours is a hidden cocktail bar in Vieux Lyon, set in the cellar beneath the Ambassade Bonnat & Crozet, a chocolate and syrup shop on rue du Bœuf. Guests ring the bell at the shop front and a bartender leads them down to a vintage room with a jazzy, old-fashioned mood. The drinks revisit old spirits and aperitifs from the Crozet distillery in the Haut-Beaujolais, such as Skos, Arquebuse and Citron-Crozet, poured over ice or mixed into cocktails. Alongside, the bar serves charcuterie and cheese plates from the Monts du Lyonnais, sliced to order on a Roussey slicer.
12 Rue du Bœuf, 69005 LyonThu to Sun 19:00 to 01:00Full profile - BaràgonesCocktail Bar
Baràgones
Baràgones styles itself a society bar, cocktails and more: a cocktail and premium spirits bar on Place Saint-Paul in Vieux Lyon with what it calls a South American and Caribbean atmosphere, a program of themed nights such as its Día de los Muertos weekend, cocktail workshops and private hire. Open Tuesday to Saturday from five.
5 Place Saint-Paul, 69005 LyonTue-Sat 17:00-00:00Full profile - BarbacaneCocktail Bar
Barbacane
Barbacane is a cocktail bar on the Cours Saleya in the old town of Nice. It pairs cocktails with tapas and keeps a cigar cellar, and it is open all day through to late evening. Reservations are taken by Instagram message.
3 Cours Saleya, 06300 NiceDaily 09:30-00:30Full profile - L'OfficineCocktail Bar
L'Officine
L'Officine is a cocktail bar tucked inside the Grand Hôtel-Dieu, set above the Grand Réfectoire restaurant in a space that once served as an apothecary. Guests reach it through the restaurant's kitchens and up a service staircase, arriving in a wood-paneled room with lichen-green banquettes, marble tables and a long balcony facing the great dome. Lighting is low and the mood leans toward jazz. The menu pairs reworked classics with seasonal signature cocktails, and the bartenders will build a drink around a spirit, a flavor or a fruit you name. Alcohol-free cocktails are on the list too, and the snacks run to crispy chicken and charcuterie from the Grand Réfectoire.
3 Cour Saint-Henri, Grand Hôtel-Dieu, 69002 LyonTue to Fri 18:30 to 00:30; Sat 17:00 to 00:30Full profile - Le 1913Hotel Bar
Le 1913
Le 1913 is the historic bar of Le Negresco on the Promenade des Anglais, styled after the English clubs of the early 20th century. Its wood panelling, 19th century wall lights and Louis XVI armchairs have stayed in place since the hotel opened in 1913, alongside a 1683 Brussels tapestry and a crystal whisky fountain. The bar team makes signature and alcohol-free cocktails and pours from a broad spirits collection, with jazz, pop or soul music five nights a week.
Le Negresco, 37 Promenade des Anglais, 06000 NiceDaily 18:00-00:00 (May to September), Daily 17:00-00:00 (October to April)Full profile - TurbineWine Bar
Turbine
Turbine is a wine bar on rue Saint-Jérôme in Lyon's 7th arrondissement, run by three friends who have known each other since childhood and who call the place a buvette and casse-croûte. Postcards cover the walls, next to an Olympique Lyonnais scarf and bottles lined up like trophies. The pour centers on natural wines chalked up on changing slates, with beers and ciders alongside and sparkling zero-proof infusions for anyone skipping alcohol. From the kitchen come small plates such as Kalamata olive tapenade, Jura tomme, a cucumber, daikon and carrot salad with chili sauce, and duck hearts with gochujang and peanuts.
8 Rue Saint-Jérôme, 69007 LyonTue to Fri from 17:00Full profile - Zitto SpeakeasySpeakeasy
Zitto Speakeasy
Zitto is a hidden cocktail bar by the port of Nice, run by the Gigi Tavola group, where guests are asked to lower their voices and push the door to find it. The entrance is a small puzzle, with clues on the bar's page and its Instagram. Inside is a cozy, intimate room where the bar team serves creative cocktails alongside savory and sweet plates, and the bar also hosts mixology workshops. It takes no reservations.
5 Quai des Deux Emmanuels, 06300 NiceWed-Mon 18:30-00:30, Tue closedFull profile
The best bars by city in France
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These 33 are the starting point. The full BarMagazine directory covers every listed bar in France, with a map, filters by bar type, and new openings as we verify them.