30 editor picks across France.
30 bars worth the trip across France, editor-ranked by TableJourney. All France guides.
Chez Tonton on Place Saint-Pierre is the legendary student bar with a square-terrace crowd, tapas plates from 18:00 and the canonical pastis pour.
TipLines pile up Friday from 19:30; the pastis tonton with anchovy tapas is the canonical first-round order.
Bar Hemingway at the Ritz Paris is Colin Field's classic-cocktail temple. Open 18:00-02:00. No standing; book a 19:00 seat for the calmer first hour.
TipOpen 18:00-02:00. No standing; book a 19:00 seat for the calmer first hour.
Carry Nation in Marseille's 6e is a hidden speakeasy named for the hatchet-wielding temperance activist, prohibition-era cocktails behind a door you.
TipOpen Wed-Sun 19:00-02:00; check the website for the entry procedure.
Little Red Door in Paris's 3e Marais runs a menu themed around the chemistry of plants, with custom-distilled spirits. Order the plant-based menu.
TipReservations from 18:00. The Sunday bar manager's pick at €15 is the cheapest cocktail in the room.
Le Mandala on Rue des Amidonniers is Toulouse's longest-running jazz bar, with live jazz sets six nights a week, cocktails and a small back-of-room kitchen.
TipLive jazz sets six nights at 21:30 and 23:30; the cocktails plus charcuterie plate is the canonical evening pair.
Symbiose Cocktail Bar in Bordeaux's Chartrons is the speakeasy behind the bookshelf at Symbiose, with homemade syrups, forgotten ingredients and a working.
TipNo reservations on the cocktail side; arrive 19:00 to claim a stool or stay through dinner for a guaranteed seat.
L'Antiquaire in Lyon's 1er on Rue Hippolyte Flandrin is the classic-cocktail room with a long mahogany bar and an old-fashioned that defines.
TipWalk-in only; arrive at 19:00 for a seat at the bar; closed Sunday.
La Baignoire on Rue des Trois Rois in the 7e Guillotiere is the Art Deco speakeasy behind a discreet doorbell, with a seasonal ephemeral cocktail menu.
TipRing the bell; reservation recommended; closed Monday Standing room when busy.
Bar de Bon-Secours on Rue du Boeuf in Vieux Lyon is the stone-cellar speakeasy beneath an old chocolaterie, with 1920s decor, antique crystal service.
TipPassword entry; open Thursday-Monday from 19:00; closed Tuesday-Wednesday.
La Caravelle in Marseille's 2e hangs over the Vieux Port on the first floor of the Hotel Belle-Vue since the 1920s, the most coveted balcony in the city.
TipOpen daily 7am-2am; jazz concerts Wednesday and Friday October.
Aperture is Julien Escot's pared-back cocktail room on Rue des Trésoriers de la Bourse in Montpellier, opened in December 2018 with wine alongside.
TipEscot won the 2012 world cocktail championship before opening this room; go early, the counter takes no reservations.
Le Sur Mesure runs 32 taps over two floors in the Bouffay quarter of Nantes, half the board downstairs and half upstairs, changing all the time.
TipThe upstairs room came from taking over the next-door unit; it is quieter and holds its own set of taps.
Cave de la Tour on Rue de la Tour has poured Bellet and Provence wines since 1947, fourth generation Gazan family room and the world petits farcis.
Le Syndicat in Paris's 10e mixes cocktails using only French spirits, a rule the bar has kept since opening in 2014. The graffitied facade hides 18 seats.
TipNo reservations. Arrive at 19:00 for stools or after 23:00 once the early crowd shifts elsewhere.
Bisou in Paris's 3e is the no-menu cocktail bar Nicolas Munoz built around five-minute conversations with each guest. Order the no menu, bartender's pick.
TipReservations only; first round €14, refills €12. Ask for a non-alcoholic option and they will build one.
Le 3 by Champagne Thiénot is a champagne bar on a 500 m2 rooftop terrace on Rue du Marc in Reims, open to all visitors from Wednesday to Sunday.
TipCall to secure a table; Sunday opens earlier, at 12:30, and closes at 18:00.
Mama Shelter Toulouse Rooftop on Boulevard Lazare Carnot is a planted hotel rooftop with frozen margaritas, sunset views over the Canal du Midi.
TipSunset to midnight is the busier service; the frozen margarita and the bao bun pair is the canonical summer order.
Bar de La Mirande, in the hotel beside the Palais des Papes in Avignon, serves seasonal cocktails and single malts in a patio and a garden terrace.
TipTea room service runs from 15:00 to 18:00 without booking; the garden terrace looks onto the Palais des Papes.
Point Rouge in Bordeaux's Saint-Croix is the cocktail bar and restaurant in a wing of Chateau Descas, with a menu of around 100 cocktails that walks.
TipThe lounge upstairs is the calmer drinking room; the kitchen of chef Christophe Girardot is the dinner-only sister.
Vintage Bar in Bordeaux's Saint-Pierre is the rue Saint-James rum bar near the Grosse Cloche, pouring over 150 rums with a daily happy hour to 20:00.
TipDaily Happy Hour 16:00-20:00; the bartender will build a comparison flight across Caribbean and Reunion rums.
CODE 23 in Bordeaux's Saint-Pierre is the cocktail and jazz room inside a 16th-century convent on Rue Arnaud Miqueu, with a marble bar, Chesterfield sofas.
TipJazz sets start at 20:30 Thu-Fri; the basement speakeasy is the calmer drinking room and rarely needs a booking.
Nuage mixes cocktails from French-only spirits on Place Bossuet in Dijon, pairing drinks like the Bourgogne Boréale with Burgundy-inspired small plates.
TipOrder the Persil Smash or the Bourgogne Boréale; shareable plates run from six to ten in the evening.
Joker on Place Louise de Bettignies in Lille rewrites its cocktail list every week around house-made juices, syrups, purees and its own infusions.
TipThe card changes weekly, so ask what came in rather than ordering from memory.
La Capsule on Rue des Trois Mollettes in Lille sells no mainstream lager at all, running 28 taps and a bottle list of lambics and sours instead.
TipThe operator counts more than 300 different beers across a year, so the taps change constantly.
Bar Pelican in Lyon's 1er on Rue Terme is the mixology cocktail bar with a long-list of seasonal signatures and a counter that fills weeknights.
TipReserve a counter seat after 21:00; closed Sunday-Monday Standing room when busy.
Bar Sauvage in Lyon's 7e on Rue Montesquieu is the speakeasy cocktail bar tucked behind an unmarked door, with classic-cocktail menu and last orders at 02:00.
TipRing the bell; book a booth ahead by Instagram DM.
La Baguette Magique on Rue Saint-Georges in Vieux Lyon is the speakeasy hidden behind a bakery facade, run by three professional magicians who pair around.
TipOpen Tue-Wed 18:00-23:00, Thu-Fri to midnight, Sat 17:30 to midnight; book online for the show.
Black Forest Society on Rue de l'Arbre Sec near Hotel de Ville is the Bavarian-themed cocktail bar where bartenders in lederhosen pour schnapps.
TipOpen Monday to Saturday from 18:00; Thursday-Saturday until 02:00 or 03:00.
Cigale on Rue de la Loge in Vieux Lyon is the gintoneria with what's likely Lyon's largest gin cellar at 100+ references, warm wood and dim lighting.
TipThe gin and tonic of the day is the order; open Tue-Sun from 18:00, closed Monday.
19:33 pours destination cocktails inside an Orient Express railway carriage a step off Place Graslin in Nantes, and rewrites the card twice a year.
TipAsk which destination the current card is built on; the mezcal and Calvados rounds have both had their turn.
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