This new West End spot is an art deco oasis a few steps away from hectic Oxford Street. It boasts a strong selection of whiskeys and spotlights less-known classic cocktails, such as the smoky Empire of Light, a mix of mezcal, cocchi torino, and amaro that dates back to 1950 and goes for £20 ($24). There’s a terrace for when the weather behaves. For snacks, consider French toast bites with bacon and chickpea fries; for other kinds of sustenance, a cigar menu.

Walk through a door of Apple repair shop Macsmiths to find this intimate bar—decorated with paintings, plush stools, and plants, like a quirky relative’s house—that specializes in foraged ingredients and minimal waste. Inspiration for the terrific cocktails, all priced at £9.50, comes from the natural world including the Olive Leaf (apple spirit, vermouth, resin-flavored mastika, and rosemary soda). An inflation-beating Happy Hour offers £6 classics including an excellent Espresso Martini.

Ignore the slight bit of worry that you’re walking down the stairs to the bottom floor of a suit shop or a basement flat in East London—once you’ve found it, the brick-lined bar is a gem. Knowledgeable bartenders are eager to spend time going over the creative drinks such as the Bad Mama Jama (rum, pimento, fig, bitters, citrus) and Baklava (pistachio butter and washed Irish whiskey, pictured), both £9. The vibe is miles away from the nearby City of London financial district.

The name reflects the two identities of this Old Street bar run by a pair of industry pros Alex Kratena and Monica Berg. Elementary is the casual venue, with floor to ceiling windows, a long counter and cocktails on tap, like the £4 One Sip Martini. Seasonal offerings include the Watermelon Negroni. Tayēr is more theatre with daily changing cocktails named for ingredients, like the vibrant red Hibiscus + Rose, which also features Campari, vermouth, pisco and blanco tequila.

World’s Best Bar two years running, the Connaught is the standard setter for bars in London and around the globe. Come here to feel like a million bucks, even if you’re just going for one very expensive drink. Martinis famously roll up on a trolley, and Bloody Marys are spritzed with celery “air.” More experimental drinks include the Crayola, a tequila-infused passion fruit concoction. A line of cocktails made with vintage spirits, like a Negroni made with ’70s Gordon’s dry gin, start at £100.

This Soho bar could be just a place to await your reservation at Brasserie Zedel or a nearby show. Instead, it’s an art deco drinks destination that cleverly calls out eras of cocktail greatness. El Presidente is a 1910 rum masterpiece from before Prohibition; the Cosmopolitan is credited to 1934 and features raspberry instead of cranberry. As a bonus, the place serves one of the best grilled-cheese sandwiches this side of the pond.

The pig-shaped door knocker is the giveaway for this Soho speakeasy that’s up a flight of stairs from Jason Atherton’s Social Eating House, which supplies bar snacks and such dishes as a £39 50-day aged rib-eye. Drinks have creative, rotating themes that range from books to music, the current offering. Toast to Elvis Presley with a drink that mixes gin and martini Rubino; the cocktail honoring the Cure features mezcal, Luxardo, and charcoal powder.

The walls are lined with vintage drink posters and taxidermy, the lighting is very low, and the soundtrack is hip-hop. The drinks are destination-worthy at this East London joint that holds on to the feel of a favorite neighborhood bar. The list of cocktails changes daily but leans on classics; on any given night, you might find an expertly made, Champagne-spiked French 75, a Bourbon Sour or a Dry Daiquiri (pictured) with passion fruit and lime juice, each costing £10.

This singular bar-record store-wine store has the vibe of someone’s excellent downstairs rec room with a lot of flashback ’70s and ’80s tunes—it’s the most fun south of the River Thames. Locals Sergio Leanza and Anna Fairhead offer drinks, most around £10, like the South-East Side, a riff on a classic gin fizz made with sparkling mead that’s produced nearby. Other well-known Funkidory drinks include the Kefi, made with rum, amaro, coffee and mastiha (pine-flavored resin).

This Kentish Town institution on Highgate Road had a former life as a public toilet—hence, the name. It has the feel of a dive bar but with inventive, top-notch, quality cocktails. Operating in shadows cast by dim lighting, friendly bartenders make stellar signature drinks, like the Golden Touch, made with scotch, passion fruit, and grape & apricot soda, at a much cheaper price point than at central London bars—£10.

In a subterranean space down the block from Liberty of London, the high-energy Abajo celebrates the spirit of Argentina in the 1980s. Star bartender and owner Tato Giovannoni names drinks for colors: Something Blue (pictured) mixes gin, mezcal, lemonade, and blue spirulina; Something Green combines whisky, chartreuse, and ginger beer. He also riffs cleverly on classics, adding mezcal to a Last Word. Drinks go for £14 to £17. A constant flow of guest DJs and musicians come from around the world.

The city’s premier martini destination—no small feat in London—is headed by local bartending legend Alessandro Palazzi. The drink is made tableside among the imposing royal blue chairs and served ice cold in house dry vermouth-washed martini glasses with gin or vodka. There are also options like the vodka and passion fruit Miss Moneypenny, an nod to longtime guest and James Bond creator Ian Fleming. Be warned: Athleisure garb is not permitted, and the cheapest drink comes for £25.

Carnaby Street may evoke images of 1960s Swinging London, but turn into Kingly Court and down the stairs of Nightjar and you’re transported to the 1920s Jazz Age, complete with live music. Presentation is everything, with inventive glassware—a piña colada is served out of a ceramic whale’s mouth—and top-notch artistry from the bartenders. Name of the Samurai is a flaming, wildly unconventional mix of Suntory Toki, “popcorn tea,” mirin rice syrup, plum, and galangal liquor (£14). Impress a date.