Crowned the world’s best cocktail bar, Dandelyan at London’s swanky Mondrian hotel beckons at all times of day – from boozy afternoon tea – Wyld Tea – to early evening watching sunset over the Thames through the floor-to-ceiling windows, and late night, where the intimate setting is the perfect spot for craft cocktails (including an excellent non-alcoholic selection made with Seedlip, the world’s first non-alcoholic spirit). The menu has been created by multi award-winning bartender Ryan Chetiyawardana aka Mr. Lyan (World’s Best Bartender 2015, Most Influential Britons 2017, Personality of the Decade 2017) and iconic British designer Tom Dixon is behind the bar’s striking interiors, a mix of sumptuous Art Deco design and striking colour combinations – emerald green, pastel pink and copper.

Taking inspiration from the heyday of 1920s havana, Burlock – named after the twine and hemp packaging rum runners used during the prohibition – in Marylebone is one of the largest, and most intoxicating, rum houses in the UK. As well as offering more than 200 types of rum, there is a menu with Cuban and Caribbean inflection to pair with the boozy cocktails in this cavernous good-times basunker. To top it off, there’s a serious happy hour Monday-Friday, 5-9pm.

A zero-waste philosophy, cool aesthetics, an even cooler postcode in South London’s Bermondsey, and enough lush foliage to transport you to the tropical jungle from the urban jungle, Nine Lives is a serious contender for the coolest bar in London. The sustainable theme runs from the upcycled, yet extremely chic vintage interior, to the recycling of food waste in the venue’s compost system, which is used to fuel their own herb and vegetable garden.

An unassuming wine bar in London’s hottest new food and drink hub, 40 Maltby Street offers natural wines from a respected natural wine importer with a concise daily menu of seasonal share plates from a Michelin-starred chef. Drop in for high-quality food and wine in a relaxed setting under the railway arches in Bermondsey’s Maltby Street Market. The city’s chefs have been known to drop in for a drink, and if you visit on a weekend, peruse the market’s like-minded craft food, wine and spirit producers.

It’s mostly about the cocktails at Apples and Pears in East London. Options at this quirky Brick lane cocktail bar range from an eponymous house number (made from vodka, lemongrass, cloudy apple, garam masala caramel and Angostura bitters) to their take on a bloody Mary, the ‘Bloody Marley’, spiked with hot sauce. There’s live music, DJs on the weekend, film screenings, pizzas to soak it all up and an outdoor courtyard that packs out in summer.

The Library Bar at The Ned is not only set in London’s hottest hotel and private member’s club du jour, it’s also an intimate spot for a martini or a glass of Champagne. Tucked behind a sweeping jacquard curtain with a menu featuring 30 Champagnes and a martini trolley for table-side theatrics, there’s old-world charm in abundance. Don’t want your night to end? Check into a room upstairs and scope the London skyline from the rooftop heated pool.

An outrageous old-world cocktail bar set in the headquarters of the secret society that ran Victorian London, The Escapologist is styled as part Victorian member’s club, part Masonic lodge and part avant-garde fantasy. Located in the Seven Dials area of Covent Garden, the bar offers twisted and classic cocktails and a woodfired pizza menu in a kooky old-world setting.

Part pub, part cocktail bar, part dive bar and part restaurant, this US-style dining and drinking den popular in Kensington and Soho has arrived in Shoreditch. Situated in an impressive Grade II heritage-listed building in the heart of East London, Dirty Bones Shoreditch is all about the good vibes. On the menu is NYC-inspired comfort food – think chicken & waffles and hotdogs – and playful cocktails, served to a playlist of old-school hip-hop, funk and soul. In need of a recovery session? There’s a boozy brunch menu on weekends that should set you straight.

The Bourne and Hollingsworth Buildings is a charming North London bar just off Exmouth Market that can take you from day to night. The interior is light and airy, with an elegant drawing-room aesthetic – think velvet couches and opulent floor lamps. If you’re after more than a cheese and charcuterie board, the adjoining greenhouse restaurant serves modern British fare, from minted pea and ham soup and chicken schnitzel with celeriac slaw to Eton mess, and is one of the most Instagrammable spots in town with its hanging plants, French doors and bold floral upholstery. Downstairs, moody basement bar Below & Hidden offers a secret drinking and dancing den for a spot of elegant misbehavior.

Trailer Happiness is a small, subterranean, riotous Tiki bar off Notting Hill’s famous Portobello Road. While rum features (very) heavily on the menu in Tiki classics from a pineapple daiquiri to the infamous Zombie and New Orleans specialty Hurricane Bianca, there is a tight list of alternatives for those who like the kitsch Tiki vibe but prefer to sip beer, wine or Champagne.