A broad offering of ales, wines and spirits is all well and good. But what truly makes a good pub or bar is top tipple plus oodles of character, a sense of community and decent selection of scran. If you want to make sure you’re only drinking in the finest establishments out there, let the European Bar Guide’s ranking of the top 100 bars in Europe help you out.
The people behind the guide have scoured the continent for the very best watering holes offering the perfect balance of character, atmosphere, events, value for money, good food and, of course, good drinks. And you’ll find 16 of them here in the UK.
The highest ranking UK bar, coming in at number 21, was the Holly Bush Inn in the village of Makeney, Derbyshire. It scored a near perfect 9.5 out of 10, with EBG loving the ‘dupremely characterful “if these walls could talk” venue’, its ‘customer-focused food’ and its ‘range of beers that would shame some venues in cities’.
There were four new entries to the list from the UK. Norwich’s Arboretum and The Alexandra Tavern both featured for the first time in 82nd and 70th place respectively. The Laurieston made it’s debut landing in 32nd place and Hobo Kiosk in Liverpool made its first appearance, placing 89th.
Here’s the full list of UK bars included in European Bar Guide’s Top 100 Bars in Europe:
- Holly Bush Inn, Makeney (21)
- The Trumpet, Bilston (23)
- Birch Hall Inn, Beck Hole (30)
- The Laurieston, Glasgow (32)
- The Sair Inn, Linthwaite (38)
- Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese, London (40)
- The Blue Bell, York (42)
- Gordon’s Wine Bar, London (44)
- The White Horse, Beverley (47)
- Victoria Inn, Durham (51)
- The Big Six, Halifax (57)
- The Alexandra Tavern, Norwich (70)
- Ye Olde Vic, Stockport (72)
- Arboretum, Norwich (82)
- Hobo Kiosk, Liverpool (89)
- The Canny Man’s, Edinburgh (100)
See what we had to say about the two London bars that made the list here. And explore the overall top 20 bars in Europe here.
Time Out’s favourite boozers
That selection not enough? We’ve got you. Take your pick from our roundups of the best bars in Manchester, the finest pubs in Edinburgh, the Bristol bars you have to try, excellent bars in Glasgow and the greatest pubs across the whole of the UK.
ICYMI: How to get half-price discounts on millions of rail tickets this week.
Plus: These are the UK’s best places to live in 2025, according to science.