48 Hours of Drinking in London

100 Club draws a steady local crowd in Oxford Street. Booking is recommended on weekends. Walk-ins are usually possible early in the evening. Drop bags. Find a hotel-adjacent bar within a five-minute walk. Order something simple to anchor yourself to the city.

Frank's Cafe draws a steady local crowd in Peckham. Booking is recommended on weekends. Walk-ins are usually possible early in the evening. The polished room you'd take a first date to. Sit at the bar. Talk to the bartender. Stay one drink — you're scouting, not committing.

The Green Man Putney draws a steady local crowd in Putney. Booking is recommended on weekends. Walk-ins are usually possible early in the evening. Walk into the city's drinking quarter (the heart of the night, not the tourist version). Two drinks, two rooms. Pace yourself — Saturday is the long day.

A Bar with Shapes for a Name draws a steady local crowd in Hackney. Booking is recommended on weekends. Walk-ins are usually possible early in the evening. Sunset. Find a rooftop. Order whatever the house specials around sundown. Take photos but don't lose 90 minutes to your phone.

The American Bar takes reservations for most sittings. Walk-ins welcome at the bar itself, but tables book up fast on weekends and for the evening pianist sessi Eat somewhere with serious bartending built in. The right room is one you order both your dinner and your nightcap from.

Aqua Shard occupies the 31st floor of The Shard, one of the most recognisable views in London. The bar overlooks the Thames eastward toward Tower Bridge and Can The bar that made you book the trip. The pre-research one. Reservation-only ideally. Stay until last call.

Artesian was named the World's Best Bar four years running between 2012 and 2015 and remains one of London's most accomplished hotel cocktail rooms. The Chinois Mary, Mimosa, or whatever low-ABV house play the room runs. Eat. Pay. Walk.

The bar's signature serve. Martini Ambrato vermouth and Carpano in perfect balance. The essence of simplicity and craft, this is what aperitivo drinking should Find the hotel bar at your departure airport equivalent — somewhere quiet, low-volume, well-staffed. End the trip on a martini and a clean conversation.