England
We’ve compiled the best of the best in England - browse our top choices for the top things to see or do during your stay.
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1. Albert Hall
City CentreOne of the city's most exciting venues, this former Wesleyan chapel was abandoned and forgotten about for over four decades; it's now a superb indie music hall and clubbing venue retaining many of the site's original features, including an organ and stained-glass windows.
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2. Amused Moose Comedy
SohoThis roving West End comedy night group is often considered the best way to see new talent as well as established household names doing "secret" shows. Famous British comedians like Ricky Gervais, Eddie Izzard, and Russell Brand are among those who have graced an Amused Moose stage, and every summer a handful of the Edinburgh Fringe comedians preview with them. They keep the bar open late (and serve food), and there's a DJ and dancing after the show. Tickets are often discounted with a printout from their website, and shows are mainly on Monday, Wednesday, and weekends.
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3. Artesian
FitzroviaThey don't take reservations at this jewel box of a cocktail bar at The Langham hotel, but you can order a drink while you wait for a chic mirror-top table surrounded by some of London's most beautiful people. The innovative, creative cocktails involve exotic ingredients, like aromatic bitters all the way from Marrakesh, and are simply unforgettable, if pricey. Service is also top-notch, making this a nightlife treat.
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4. Bar Américain
SohoThe Beaux-Arts-style interior of this enduringly popular subterranean bar just north of Piccadilly Circus is so opulent that you'd be forgiven for thinking it had been here since the 1890s. In fact it's a relatively new revival and has been a hit since it was reconverted in 2012, along with the cavernous Parisian-inspired Brasserie Zédel and the racy Crazy Coqs cabaret, which share the premises. The nifty cocktails cover Pre-Prohibition, Prohibition, and Post-Prohibition standards, with additional special menus on occasion.
20 Sherwood St., London, Greater London, W1F 7ED, England020-7734–4888 -
5. Bath Distillery Gin Bar
This distillery produces authentic English gin with the finest botanicals from across the world, including bitter orange, kaffir lime leaf, and English coriander. They have their own atmospheric gin bar on Queen Street, where you can try a range of gin-based cocktails and buy bottles to take home. There are more than 230 gins on the drinks menu, by a large range of distillers, so you're guaranteed to find something you haven't tried before.
2–3 Queen St., Bath, Bath and North East Somerset, BA1 1HE, EnglandNo phone -
Recommended Fodor’s Video
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6. Beach Blanket Babylon
Notting HillIn a Georgian mansion house close to Portobello Market, this always-packed bar is distinguishable by its eclectic indoor-outdoor spaces with Gaudí-esque curves and snug corners—like a candlelit fairy-tale grotto, folly, or medieval crypt. Also perfect for an alfresco lunch or intimate dinner, the cocktails here are the star of the show.
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7. Beaufort Bar
Covent GardenThings could hardly get more glamorous than at the Savoy's lesser-known Beaufort Bar—a black-and-gold art deco–inspired spot with dramatic low lighting that specializes in vintage champagne and an enticing spread of heritage cocktails. Dark and sultry, with a rising cabaret stage once graced by Gershwin and Josephine Baker, this venue has nightly live jazz piano music beginning at 7 pm.
Strand, London, Greater London, WC2R 0EZ, England020-7420–2111-reservations only -
8. Cafe OTO
DalstonA relaxed café, book, and record store by day, and London's leading venue for experimental music by night, Cafe OTO is a Dalston institution. Its programming of free jazz, avant-garde electronica, and much more is enough of a draw that it regularly sells out, with music fans steaming up the windows and spilling out onto the pavement and road outside to smoke during breaks. Café customers are kicked out at 5 pm to make way for sound checks. It's open as a bar (no cover) on nights when no concerts are taking place.
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9. Depot Mayfield
City CentreThis vast cultural venue in the historic former Mayfield railway station showcases the city's industrial past alongside a lively roster of arts, music, industry, culture, and community events. Its atmospheric spaces include the old concourse and the roof-top, open-air platform, and the place is dotted with street food vendors.
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10. Digbeth Dining Club
HockleyIf you want to know where locals come to hang, this is it. Held every Thursday through Sunday, it’s a collection of street food stalls—largely from homegrown cooks—and bars, all with buzzy, fun atmospheres. There’s a heady mix of music, too, and the occasional market. Originally held in the neighborhood of Digbeth (hence the name), it relocated to a former printing work in Hockley in 2021 and its organizers host similar events across the Midlands, including pop-ups everywhere from Warwick Castle to Coventry. It's about a mile from the Jewellery Quarter—get off at the Jewellery Quarter train station and walk 10 minutes.
60 Hampton St., Birmingham, Birmingham, B19 3LU, England -
11. EartH (Evolutionary Arts Hackney)
DalstonEast London’s coolest performing arts venue occupies two huge spaces (one standing, one with unallocated bench seating) in an old art deco movie theater. Original architectural details add to the shabby-hip feel of the place, while in EartH Kitchen, the bar and restaurant on the venue’s second floor, you’ll find Scandi-modern styling (along with delicious cocktails and reasonably priced dishes from a changing roster of pop-up chefs). The wide-ranging and very much on-trend program runs from world music and hip-hop to country, folk, and dance, with stand-up comedy and free sets by leading DJs in the bar.
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12. Experimental Cocktail Club
ChinatownIt's easy to miss the unmarked shabby-chic black door with a scuffed wash of red paint on Chinatown's hectic Gerrard Street main drag, but once you find it and make your way past the sometimes hard-to-please doorman, you'll be in a secret three-floor speakeasy that is also one of London's coolest cocktail joints. With a lively crowd, heavenly cocktails, moody lighting, and a DJ spinning smooth jazz sounds, the vibe is laid-back, sexy, Parisian cool.
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13. FAC 251
City CentreThis club and occasional live music venue brings the old offices of the legendary Factory Records to life with sounds ranging from drum 'n' bass to indie.
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14. Gordon's Wine Bar
WestminsterNab a rickety candlelit table in the atmospheric, 1890s, low-slung, brick-vaulted cellar interior of what claims to be the oldest wine bar in London, or sit outdoors in the long pedestrian-only alley garden that runs alongside it. There are no reservations, so be prepared to line up outside during busy periods, like after work and on sunny afternoons. Either way, the mood is always cheery as a diverse crowd sips on more than 70 different wines, ports, and sherries. Tempting cheese and meat plates are great for sharing.
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15. Heaven
Covent GardenOffering arguably the best light show on any London dance floor, London's first and most famous gay club Heaven is unpretentious, loud, and lively, with a labyrinth of rooms, bars, and live music parlors. Set under the arches at Charing Cross railway station and going strong since 1979, on Thursday through Saturday nights it's all about the G-A-Y club and comedy nights. Check in advance about live performances—they can take place any night of the week. If you go to just one gay club in London, Heaven should be it.
Villiers St., London, Greater London, WC2N 6NG, England0844-847–2351-24-hr ticket line -
16. Jam House
Jewellery QuarterThis is the place to come for live music in the city. The excellent drinking, dining, and dancing venue has live jazz, soul, or funk nightly.
3–5 St. Paul's Sq., Birmingham, Birmingham, B3 1QU, England0121-200–3030 -
17. Jazz Café
Camden TownA long-standing hotbed of cool in Camden, the Jazz Café hosts top acts in mainstream jazz as well as hip-hop, funk, world music, soul, and Latin fusion. On Friday nights, DJs sample club music from around the world while on Saturday Soul City nights, DJs play disco, house, and soul. Book ahead if you want a table in the balcony restaurant overlooking the stage; otherwise you'll be standing (and probably dancing).
5 Parkway, London, Greater London, NW1 7PG, England020-7485–6834-for venue info -
18. KOKO
Camden TownOnce known as the Camden Palace, this legendary venue has lush red decor and gilt-trimmed boxes that recall its past as a Victorian theater, but now is the home of packed dance nights featuring everything from funky house and electronic to club classics and indie, in addition to concerts on the big stage. Headliners who have performed "secret" gigs here include Madonna, Prince, Kanye West, Bruno Mars, Dua Lipa, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Amy Winehouse, while recent gigs range from Angie Stone to Adam Lambert. A renovation following a 2020 fire has added a four-story extension to the original theater and two adjoining buildings, incorporating a good Italian-themed café/pizzeria. A membership gets you access to a cocktail bar in the large roof dome, a summer rooftop bar, an intimate jazz and blues bar, and a recording studio.
View Tours and Activities1A Camden High St., London, Greater London, NW1 7JE, England020-7388--3222 -
19. Le Bar at Louie
Covent GardenOn any given night, ace jazz player Trombone Shorty might work his way through this beyond cool New Orleans–meets-Paris cocktail lounge on the second floor of Louie restaurant. Even if Shorty's not there playing that night, the friendly staff dish out deviled eggs, truffle pizzas, and themed cocktails until 2 am five nights a week.
13–15 West St., London, Greater London, WC2H 9NE, England020-8057--6500Nightlife Details
Rate Includes: Closed Sun. and Mon. -
20. LEAF
City CentreTea shop meets bar and live music venue (with club nights) at this bohemian spot in a former art deco cinema.
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