First published in 2009, The World’s 50 Best Bars list is voted for by 700 drinks experts from across the world. It’s part of William Reed’s 50 Best brand which also compiles and publishes The World’s 50 Best Hotels and The World’s 50 Best Restaurants. In their own words:
“Incorporating grand hotel bars, secretive speakeasies, quirky salons and classic drinking dens, The World’s 50 Best Bars list is a celebration of the diversity and universality of drinks culture and a reflection of new bar scenes developing all over the world.”
Some individual awards are given, too. This year, Lyaness in London won the Best Cocktail Menu award for their “tightly curated selection of drinks that go big on flavors from unexpected sources”. Caretaker’s Cottage in Melbourne won the Michter’s Art of Hospitality award for their “convivial and disarmingly unpretentious desire to build a community”. And Florería Atlántico in Buenos Aires won the Remy Martin Legend of the List award for being a pioneer of the BA scene.
Our highlights from The World’s 50 Best Bars 2024 are below. If delving a little deeper into the innovation, genius and sheer flavor of the best bars in the world sounds appealing to you, all of them are in Luxury Gold cities, which means they can be incorporated into one of our journeys.
Florería Atlántico, Buenos Aires
Serving natural wine and cocktails through a secret refrigerator door in a florist (what could be more glorious than a place of wine and flowers?), Florería Atlántico is the speakeasy du jour. The cocktail menu tells the city’s multicultural story, with a focus on the communities that migrated to Argentina after democracy was restored in 1983. Choose the Chile for fruity Pisco Capel flavored with soft corn, basil and turmeric.
Swing by on a journey through Grand South America.
Lady Bee, Lima
Through cocktails and small plates, Lady Bee adeptly showcases the biodiversity of Peru and celebrates the humble honeybee, the hardest worker in the world’s ecosystem. The bee motif can be seen throughout decor, garnishes and glassware. There are just five tables and four bar seats. At the honey-colored bar, you can order the namesake cocktail: Lady Bee combines gin, orange, herbs and honey for a taste of everything that’s right with the world.
Discover the best of Peru’s capital on: Treasures of the Incas
For more mixology-related travel inspiration: Our Favorite Classic Cocktails, and the Timeless Hotels To Try Them At
Bar Ben Fiddich, Tokyo
On the ninth floor amid the skyscrapers of Shinjuku, this apothecary-style bar has been a labor of love for the magical mixologist Hiroyasu Kayama (and his white suit) for over 10 years. In a dusky, low-lit space with just eight seats, dark wooden shelves groan beneath Kayama’s concoctions, made using ingredients from his family’s land, like anise, fennel and wormwood. There is no menu. Book a seat at the bar and let your host light the way.
Join us for the ultimate luxury tour of Japan on Majestic Japan
Jewel of the South, New Orleans
Get a potted history of New Orleans’ unsurpassed food and drink culture in this sky blue Creole cottage, resplendent with plant-filled courtyard and parlor rooms. Southern cocktail pioneer Chris Hannah is known for his riffs on the Manhattan (try the Night Tripper), and for reviving classics like the Sazerac (try the Jewel Sazerac). Order anything (or everything) from his Jewel Classics menu. If you like cocktails and are travelling on our Southern Grace journey, consider this magical spot unmissable.
You may also enjoy reading: The History of New Orleans’ Favourite Cocktail, and How to Make It
Locale, Firenze
For a perspective on Florence that you won’t get anywhere else, Locale is a sort of time machine. It’s set in the Palazzo Concini, so it has the frescoes and lavish detail that Florence loves to spoil its visitors with, but it’s also a very modern, light-filled space – impeccably restored – serving futuristic drinks. Throw yourself at the mercy of its genius and order the Giardiniera – blueberries, pickles, rye whisky, champagne and chili. Yes, really.
See Italy in luxury style on: Ultimate Italy
Lyaness, London
Like all of Mr Lyan’s menus along the way, the focus of the menu at his bar in the glamorous Sea Containers, overlooking the Thames, is on exploring complex ideas and thinking about how things could be different. In a large, electric blue room, over a green marble bar, let the staff fling you a Frisbee Fix, which the menu describes like so: “We’re told not to play with our food, but like with this zesty and tropical sour, sometimes it’s just too damn fun. This was the origin of the frisbee; having snarfed the goodies from the local Bridgeport Frisbie Pie Co., 1940s Yale students would fling around the UFO-shaped tins, yelling ‘Frisbie’ to avoid any collisions with an unsuspecting passerby.”
England’s capital is your start point for our Castles & Kingdoms luxury small group journey.
Maybe Sammy, Sydney
Sipping a Pool Side (gin, Martini Ambrato, palo santo, coconut and basil) poured by a bartender in a pastel pink blazer is an experience that should be very high on your Sydney to-do list. Maybe Sammy is not a hotel bar, it’s a bar inspired by hotel bars, with the menu organized according to hotel spaces, like the spa and the lobby. It’s a fun, uplifting, makes-your-day kind of a place.
Bookmark for later: 10 Best Fine Dining Restaurants Around The World
The Cambridge Public House, Paris
In the Marais, where everyone wants to while away their hours, this place combines the relaxed and friendly atmosphere of a pub with a world-class cocktail program. There are craft beers, natural wines, pies and sausage rolls, plus raucous cocktails like the Cigarette after Sex, which is a velvety, earthy and fresh combination of Agua de Jamaica (hibiscus iced tea), with sloe gin and mezcal.
Extend your Ultimate France journey with a few extra days in Paris, and you can while away as many hours here as you desire.
In Full: The World’s 50 Best Bars 2024
1. Handshake Speakeasy, Mexico City
2. Bar Leone, Hong Kong
3. Sips, Barcelona
4. Tayēr + Elementary, London
5. Jigger & Pony, Singapore
6. Line, Athens
7. Tres Monos, Buenos Aires
8. Alquímico, Cartagena
9. Zest, Seoul
10. Paradiso, Barcelona
11. Himkok, Oslo
12. BKK Social Club, Bangkok
13. Connaught Bar, London
14. Double Chicken Please, New York
15. Overstory, New York
16. Lady Bee, Lima
17. Baba au Rum, Athens
18. Coa, Hong Kong
19. The Cambridge Public House, Paris
20. Tlecān, Mexico City
21. Caretaker’s Cottage, Melbourne
22. CoChinChina, Buenos Aires
23. Salmon Guru, Madrid
24. Martiny’s, New York
25. Bar Benfiddich, Tokyo
26. Maybe Sammy, Sydney
27. Superbueno, New York
28. Nutmeg & Clove, Singapore
29. Satan’s Whiskers, London
30. Panda & Sons, Edinburgh
31. Tan Tan, São Paulo
32. Licorería Limantour, Mexico City
33. Drink Kong, Rome
34. Jewel of the South, New Orleans
35. Byrdi, Melbourne
36. Locale Firenze, Florence
37. Scarfes Bar, London
38. Moebius Milano, Milan
39. Bar Nouveau, Paris
40. Mimi Kakushi, Dubai
41. Bar Us, Bangkok
42. Virtù, Tokyo
43. Atlas, Singapore
44. La Sala de Laura, Bogotá
45. Röda Huset, Stockholm
46. Florería Atlántico, Buenos Aires
47. Analogue Initiative, Singapore
48. El Gallo Altanero, Guadalajara
49. Danico, Paris
50. 1930, Milan
