Our favourite Camden cocktail bars

This Camden cocktail bar is right around the corner from West Hampstead Overground and train station and has been featured on the list of the UK’s Top 50 Bars and the Top 500 Bars in the World list. It’s laidback, the epitome of chill, and best of all, it offers £7 Negronis and Spritzes until 7 p.m. every day.

We have to give it to Heads + Tails for not being too dark—a very bad habit of many cocktail bars—with the right amount of light to admire its swanky yet relaxed interior and the presentation of its cocktails.

The menu is divided into Heads—light and refreshing, and Tails—dark and decadent. We have two recommendations for you: Gunsmoke made with Mezcal and bergamot, and Tokyo Vice which is essentially a Vieux Carré made with Japanese plum sake. Any of the aperitivos and cocktails at Heads + Tails will hit the mark in our humble opinion.

The Gallery is a West Hampstead cocktail bar with a neighbourhood vibe. Pop in on any night of the week and you’ll see people in their 20s through to middle age and older. There’s something really endearing about seeing people across generations hang out in the same place whilst a DJ spins Hip-Hop records.

This Camden cocktail bar manages to feel intimate and relaxing, there’s a balcony overlooking the main area, and the basement space is ideal for private parties, but if you’re looking for something bigger, the entire bar can be hired with a maximum capacity of 180.

It’s quaint with exposed brick walls and tables decorated with candles, but the apple of our eye is the vinyl record collection to the left of the bar. The Gallery is where you’ll find us when we’re in the neighbourhood. They have a veritable library of whisky and a drink for any kind of mood you’re in—beer, spritz, and the beloved cocktail.

There’s no excuse not to journey to the King’s Cross area of Camden, every form of transport and almost every Tube line is here. We frequent the area quite often to visit one of our favourite cocktail bars—Spiritland.

The modern, industrial interior is recording studio meets cool cocktail bar, but with little groovy touches in the lighting and decor and just the right amount of neon lights. This Camden cocktail bar is dominated by massive speakers and a wall of vinyl records.

The signature cocktail menu changes regularly, but we’ve yet to be let down by any of the offers. Go mid-week to experience a different vinyl feature each night or go at the weekend to catch world-class DJ sets. Spiritland is great if you care about music as much as the cocktails, it’s also one of our top-pick places for a private party.

Tabac Bar is a short walk from Kentish Town station and feels miles away from just about anything, and we like that. It’s small with a couple of seats at the bar and tables along the opposite wall. When the weather is lovely they have some tables outside.

It looks like the kind of old-school bar you’d find in some Paris alleyway in the 1950s, filled with beatniks and artists chainsmoking cigarettes in a red and orange-lit space. But for all our talk of writers and bygone Paris, it’s actually unpretentious. Relaxed with a neighbourhood feel, the kind of place where you want to spend several hours sipping cocktails and playing a game of cards.

As for the cocktails, we rate the Holy Water with spiced rum, cognac, and chartreuse, Smokers Delight with Laphroaig, chocolate liqueur, and bitters, and, in general, the bar’s ability to make classics to T, and pretty much any other cocktail you might have a fancy for.

Closest to Chalk Farm Tube station and located in London's Camden Market, The Lucky Club is our favourite rooftop bar for cocktails, pints, spritzes, and everything in between.

Since we’re discussing cocktail bars let it be known that The Lucky Club is one of the few places with a Mezcal Negroni on the menu, and they do a Chai Old Fashioned that’s love at first sip.

The Lucky Club’s contemporary interiors feature pared-back materials, natural planting, foliage, and a neutral colour palette. During spring and summer, this outdoor covered bar is a tropical haven, and during the colder months, it’s transformed into a winter garden with twinkling decor.

With an overall standing capacity of 150 people, its hospitality, vibe, and rooftop setting—so great for both summer and winter sunsets—The Lucky Club is an ideal destination for private hire for a myriad of occasions.

A sybarite is someone who is self-indulgent in their fondness for sensuous luxury. We channel a sybarite vibe when we’re at the Gothic Bar, the jewel in the crown of the St Pancras Renaissance Hotel. The bar takes its name in honour of the building’s Gothic Revival style.

A moody, dimly-lit, and opulent space for lovers of all things Victorian Gothic and Romantic. We love the Gothic Bar for a special occasion, for when we’re feeling decadent—in other words, when we want to flash a little cash on cocktails and maybe even an absinthe pour from a curated selection.

With cocktail names like Diablos Descent and Close The Curtains, along with the dramatic and dark interior, velvet sofas, and gilded features, this Camden cocktail bar is one for when you’re feeling a little flush and devilish.

BYOC Camden’s bartenders mix up cocktail concoctions based on the bottles of spirits you bring with you for a truly unique bring-your-own-cocktail experience. We rate the bartenders at this Camden cocktail bar knowing their trade so well they can make delicious cocktails based on whatever base their customers bring in.

BYOC’s speakeasy vibe extends to its decor, with poker-light chandeliers and tables repurposed from roulette tables. We like that BYOC is a speakeasy experience that actually feels like one whilst still offering something different.

With a capacity for 55 people and conveniently located near Mornington Crescent Tube station, it’s a great spot for exclusive private hire, perhaps a little fancy dress to get you in character as you sit at an old roulette table sipping on cocktails.

If you’ve ever wondered how many magical manuscripts and grimoires are housed in the British Library, well, you’ll have to wonder a little longer as we don’t know either. However, the library is directly across the road from Hokus Pokus which happens to house two centuries of British esoteric literature.

This Camden cocktail bar, an alchemy lab if you will, prefers its botanical concoctions distilled infused, pickled, and smoked. Its potions and elixirs are classified as Smokey Potions, Tea Potions, Tempered Prescriptions, and other entertaining categories.

With a uniquely stylish and fantastical interior by British artist and designer, Henry Chebaane, it blends Steampunk, apothecary furnishing, theatrical lighting, and Victorian-engineered details, and goodness gracious do we love it.

The Racketeer in King’s Cross is a neighbourhood Camden cocktail bar and bottle shop. Inside, the atmosphere feels elegant yet relaxed, blue walls surround a space with a wooden bar and small wooden cocktail tables placed strategically at the many French-style doors.

Whether we’re sitting at little cocktail tables outside or inside, or at the wedge-shaped bar, there’s something easy-going about The Racketeer. Arguably a great cocktail bar at night, we like it in the afternoon.

The Racketeer has a house cocktail menu and wine menu to salivate over, but don’t worry too much as it has bread to mop that up, and cheeses and charcuterie to boot. We recommend the Earl of Sevilla cocktail and the Racketeer Sour, and—you know what? order just about anything, knock yourself out, you can’t go wrong here.

The Lock Tavern is a three-storey yellow brick pub in Camden Town with a roof terrace, beer garden, and a cocktail lounge. The pub has earned its place on the list of our favourite Camden cocktail bars for having all the trappings of a cosy, traditional pub—complete with a fireplace and armchairs—with a love for cocktails.

We like the lively atmosphere, especially when a gig is on, and there’s something to be said about being able to recline in a plush armchair, dressed in jeans and a hoodie, and sipping on an Old Fashioned; cocktails don’t always require you to get dressed up.

The Lock Tavern is an ideal spot for private parties between the terrace, beer garden, cocktail lounge, and pub, it offers all these spaces separately (or combined) for private hire to suit all types of special occasions.