Line Athens has officially been crowned the Best Bar in Europe in the inaugural Europe’s 50 Best Bars 2026, beating legendary drinking dens from London, Barcelona, Paris and Milan to claim the continent’s top honour. And it’s not that difficult to see why.
Housed inside a former art gallery in the neighbourhood of Kato Petralona, Line feels like an experimental workshop, and not a cocktail bar. Behind the soaring industrial walls, bartenders Vasilis Kyritsis and Nikos Bakoulis have built a fermentation lab where fruit wines, beers, sourdough and cocktail ingredients are all made in-house, with almost every by-product finding its way back onto the menu rather than into the bin.
The result is cocktails that are wildly inventive without disappearing into the territory of ‘interesting, but I only want one sip.’ Classics are reimagined with layers of house-made ferments, while chef Pavlos Kyriaki’s small plates and freshly baked breads make it dangerously easy to stay for another round.
Athens has become one of Europe’s true cocktail capitals.
The award is also another sign that Athens has become one of Europe’s true cocktail capitals. While Line claimed the top spot, fellow Athenian bars The Bar in Front of the Bar, Barro Negro, Baba au Rum and The Clumsies all landed inside Europe’s Top 30, cementing the city’s reputation as a destination worth travelling for with an empty stomach and a healthy drinks budget.
Elsewhere, Barcelona’s celebrated Sips finished third, London’s iconic Connaught Bar rounded out the Top 10, while Edinburgh’s much-loved Panda & Sons picked up the award for Best Cocktail Menu.
But this year belonged to Athens.
For travellers, it means your next trip to Greece shouldn’t end after you’ve ticked off the Acropolis. Save room on the itinerary for Kato Petralona, because Europe’s best drink is waiting.
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