Visit Paris: Where To Drink Now

You don’t need excuses to visit Paris, but here’s one more: It’s one of the world’s most vibrant cocktail capitals.

From historic bars to emerging cocktail dens, Paris offers a dynamic take on what makes a memorable bar experience. Here are some of Paris’s best bars to drink at now.

For a Brush with History: The Hemingway Bar, at the Ritz Paris

The Hemingway Bar is one of the oldest cocktail bars in all of Paris, dating back to the founding of the Ritz Hotel in 1898. At the turn of the century, what is now the Hemingway Bar was the Ladies’ Bar, because women weren’t allowed into the main bar. After the first World Wars, the intimate, wood-paneled room became a favorite haunt of Ernest Hemingway; decades later, the bar, located at the back of the Ritz Paris hotel, would be renamed in the writer’s honor and decorated with his memorabilia.

It is seated-only and doesn’t take reservations, so there is often a short wait. But the wait is worth it for world-class luxury hotel bar service from legendary barman Colin Field and his personally-trained staff.

The drinks are on the higher price point (it is, after all, the Ritz), but the pours are generous and the ambiance can’t be replicated. The room, which is cozy to begin with, will be seated all night, and impromptu conversations with fellow bar patrons spark often. Try the Adeline de Grand Marnier, which features cognac, Pineau des Charentes, Grand Marnier and a dash of orange bitters.

The Most Inventive Drinks in the City: Little Red Door

Little Red Door, in Paris’s Marais district, gets a lot of attention for its impressive menus, which interpret themes like architecture into drinks. The current menu, “A Way With Words,” features short poems set against original art and creative cocktail interpretations. Consider the charming Hurroo, which combines Talisker Storm with peaches, melons, and green grass for a concoction that makes Scotch taste like bright spring rain.

Little Red Door is seated-only, and doesn’t take reservations, so there might be a short wait to get in. Once inside, you’ll find warm service, a lively soundtrack and drinks so well-made that you can’t have just one. When in Paris, this is the bar that you should come back to as many times as you can.

Best Spot To Start Your Night: Candelaria

Candelaria, also in Paris’s Marais district and a short block over from Little Red Door, collects awards every year, and for good reason.

The front of the space features a tiny taco stand with very fresh, authentic Mexican food at some of the city’s best prices. After treating yourself to tacos, go past the kitchen door into one of the city’s best bars.

The Mexican-inspired bar features a great agave spirits selection, which the menu highlights. Give the Jarochos a whirl; it’s made with Mezcal Union, El Destilado mezcal, Martini bitter vermouth, pineapple, lime and Jamaican jerk bitters.

Dark and cute, Candelaria is romantic and intimate while also a lively place for friends. Go early to snag a spot at the bar.

Best New Bar For Music Nerds: Fréquence

The bar design at the Fréquence communicates everything: It’s half DJ decks, half bar, and 100% cool.

The bar top features a built-in music deck, and the back bar is filled with an estimated 2,000 vinyl records. Customers can put in requests, but typically the music is handled by either the staff or visiting DJs.

The music isn’t solely the reason to go, of course. Drinks are unfussy and well-constructed and dishes such as the Beef Strogonoff on a housemade bun are more than enough reasons to put Fréquence on your Paris bar check list.

Best Bar For Food Nerds: Copper Bay

From a drink made with tahini fat-washed pisco, to a milk punch made with dill-infused vodka and a Thai basil cordial, Copper Bay is a must-visit for any cocktail enthusiast.

Drink techniques and combination favor culinary pairings. The Deep Sea Sour, for example, features anchovy-infused tequila shaken with fennel syrup, lime and a caper saline. It’s served up; instead of a traditional salt rim, the glass is garnished with shrimp powder made from crushed chips and an octopus stencil.

Best Cool Kid Spot: Combat

Effortlessly cool, the newish Combat, in Paris’s hip Belleville, has friendly, neighborhood bar vibes and a whip-smart cocktail menu. It’s already racking up awards and it’s one of the most buzzed about venues among city bartenders.

Look for drinks made with culinary-inflected base spirits such as a cumin-infused aquavit, thyme-infused gentian, and caper-infused tequila. Linger there on a late weekend afternoon; Combat has outdoor seating, wide-open windows and some of the best people-watching in Paris.

Best Day-To-Night Drinks: Cambridge Public House

Newly opened, The Cambridge Public House is a British pub and high-end cocktail, but set in Paris.

Opening every day at 3 p.m., this is the casual afternoon hangout you’re looking for after a day of shopping and sight-seeing. The food menu includes proper British meat pie, sausage rolls and a British cheese plate. Drinks, made with local ingredients, include a piña colada with white nectarine, goat milk and rum and a milk punch with kombu-infused gin and a Chartreuse highball accented with “forest soda,” a homemade mix of marjoram, birch and oak.

Best Late Night Drinks, Part 1: Le Syndicat

Established five years as a bar that only serves French-made spirits, Le Syndicat has party kid vibes but a drink nerd’s brain.

It’s the kind of place where you might find the bartenders and customers unselfconsciously dancing and singing along to classic hip hop, but that doesn’t mean the drinks are less than stellar.

Stand out drinks on the current menu includes a clarified milk punch made with apple cider eau de vie, a cocktail featuring artichoke-infused Normandie gin and a boozy milkshake with plum and cherry eaux de vie.

Best Late Night Drinks, Part 2: Lulu White

Paris bars typically close on the early side (1 a.m.) but there are a few scattered bars that stay open late and are worth any potential next-day hangovers.

Put Lulu White as your last stop before heading home. Open on weekends until 4 a.m., the bar is unmatched for a raucous ambiance that is likely to include bar sing-alongs, impromptu rounds of shots, and frozen drinks redolent of absinthe.

Popular with both expats and fellow hospitality workers, this is the place bartenders and chefs head to after work, making it one of liveliest places to be at 3 a.m. in Paris.