9 of the best bars in Athens

Café-bars, bar restaurants, dive bars, rooftop bars, after-hours bars, wine bars, jazz bars, whisky bars, spritz bars, beer bars, hotel bars… Athens is a city of drinkers. Hidden in arcades, spilling across squares, squeezed onto pavements, or perched on rooftops, there are bars on every street corner. With a strong cocktail game (three of the world’s 50 best bars are in Athens) and a new generation of bartenders championing Greek spirits and mixers (look out for Otto’s Vermouth, Puro tsipouro, Kernel’s Mahlepi, and 3 Cents Aegean tonics), the city’s fine drinking scene is thriving. After-work drinks are a relatively new thing, as Athenians have discovered the aperitivo, but the party really gets started after midnight.

1. Galaxy

If I had to pick just one bar in Athens, this would be it. Located in a downtown arcade, the snug, leather-padded bar is where the city’s directors, journalists, and curators go to feel comfortably numb. The décor hasn’t changed since 1972, and the music barely acknowledges the advent of the 21^st century. The dry martini is a thing of beauty, and after a couple of rounds the dapper barman will dash you some toast, cheese, olives, and a quirky smear of mustard. If your photograph has made it onto the hall of fame behind the bar, you’re as much of an Athenian legend as Galaxy bar.

Address: 10 Stadiou, Syntagma, Athens

2. Falaina

There’s no good reason why Asklipiou – a busy thoroughfare with narrow pavements and densely packed apartments – has morphed into one of the city’s liveliest nightlife streets, but this tiny bar can take credit for making it cool. Falaina means whale, but ironically the rough-edged space is no bigger than a sprat. Barely a dozen patrons can fit inside, so the shaggy-bearded crowd spills out onto the sidewalk, perching their well-priced cocktails on parked cars. It’s so popular with the young, edgy Exarchia set that they even sell merch in the little shop next door: T-shirts and totes bearing the whale logo, whose pink neon outline glows on the wall.

Address: Asklipiou 39, Neapolis, Athens
Website: instagram.com

3. Baba au Rum

Trendier, more try-hard bars come and go, but Baba au Rum has retained its spot as one of the city’s – and the world’s – best bars since opening in 2009. A mash-up of mid-century modern, Tiki, and Tropicalia, the interior design is as original as the cocktail list. The rum list alone runs to 400 labels, and the Avant Garde cocktails are clever but also eminently quaffable. The passionate bartenders will whip up the best Pisco Sour this side of Lima, if you want something more straightforward. The warren of alleys known as the Historic Triangle is losing its character, as old-fashioned shops and family businesses are ousted to make way for hotels and fast-food joints; but Baba au Rum keeps the local spirit alive.

Address: Klitiou 6, Athens
Website: babaaurum.com

4. Jazz in Jazz

Sultry and sepia-toned, this jazz and whisky bar has been around since 1978. Once the haunt of ageing barflies, a new generation has fallen in love with its speakeasy atmosphere. Every inch of the warmly lit space is cluttered with gramophones, trombones, typewriters, black-and-white photos, and hundreds of vinyl records. The soundtrack covers everything from swing to bebop to jazz standards, the classic cocktails are flawless, and the mood is just right for a first date or a solo malt. Go early to nab a barstool, and don’t show up in the summer: it closes from mid-June to mid-September.

Address: Dinokratous 4, Kolonaki, Athens
Website: jazzinjazz.business.site

5. Latraac

To tap into the experimental electronic music scene, head down to this open-air skate bowl / garden shed café / performance space for artists and musicians. The laidback, hybrid vibe is a perfect fit for the grungy Keramikos neighbourhood, a curious mix of Chinese clothing shops, artists’ studios, bars, and bordellos. The 3D-modelled, plywood bowl was designed and built by skater-architect Zachos Varfis with his bare hands. Hang out in the garden with a spiked apricot soda or Latraac Mule and watch the skaters do their thing. The ramp closes at 10.30, and drinkers drift into the bowl. There are DJ sets every night, occasional gigs and launch parties. Latraac is open from May to October; the rest of the year, its patrons migrate a few blocks away to Bios (which has phenomenal Acropolis views from the rooftop) or Romantso, a co-working community and events space in a repurposed printing house.

Address: Leonidou 63-65, Keramikos
Website: latraac.com

6. Wine is Fine

This Gallo-Greek wine bar brings minimalist chic to a sunny pedestrian street full of ironmongers and fabric shops. With its plain white tablecloths, vintage chairs, and wooden bar, the décor is as stripped back as the low intervention wines. The short, pricey food menu is a decent checklist of bistro classics —pâté, rillettes, soft-boiled eggs with mayo. It’s no-reservations, but even if there’s a wait for a table, this street corner is a great place to loiter with a glass of wine and a casually fashionable crowd. The custom wooden speakers pump out everything from hip hop to ZZ Top — one of the owners used to be a DJ.

Address: Vissis 6, Monastiraki; +30 210 323 0304
Website: instagram.com/wineisfine.athens

7. Au Revoir

Established by two brothers in 1958, Au Revoir is the oldest bar in Athens. Miraculously, every detail of the original décor by modernist architect Aristomenis Proveleggios is intact, from the wicker-panelled walls to the painted ceiling. Generations of actors and directors from the area’s many theatres have knocked back a few whiskies here after curtain call. And who knows how many clandestine couples have kissed up on the smoky mezzanine? Sotiris Papatheodorou, the son of one of the founders, brings the same surgical precision to the long drinks, but caters to a younger crowd who have moved into the Kypseli neighbourhood. This is a bar for long winter nights: there are just a handle of stools on Patission Avenue, where traffic trundles by day and night. Au Revoir closes for July and August.

Address: Patission 136, Kypseli, Athens
Website: instagram.com

8. Taratsa by Lokali

In the summer, tourists hit up the rooftop bars in Monastiraki and Koukaki, but locals stuck in Athens slink up to this secret terrace in Psirri. Down a cul-de-sac and above To Lokali — a leafy courtyard bar famous for its twisted G&Ts — Taratsa (which means rooftop) is a lush little surprise. With a bamboo bar, rainbow-weave stools, and coloured lights strung between the banana plants and bougainvillea, it’s an inner-city oasis. The agave-based cocktails and rum punches will get you in a holiday mood, too: try the Sun Burnt Daquiri (pineapple, lime, tonka, chartreuse, and Angostura rum) or It’s a Sin (fig, lime, agave, firewater, and Tequila Plata).

Address: Sarri 44, Psirri; +30 690 610 305
Website: instagram.com

9. The 7 Jokers

Where do Athenian bartenders go when they finish their shift? To this hard-drinking, party-loving dive bar, which stays open late — very, very late. Decked out like a circus set, with hand-painted murals and a masked mannequin suspended from the ceiling, it’s the kind of place you come for a quick beer and end up doing tequila shots and dancing to The Rolling Stones at 4am. It’s rock and roll and a whole lot of fun.

Address: Voulis 7, Syntagma, Athens
Website: instagram.com