Europe’s best bar for 2026 is not in London, Paris or Barcelona. It is tucked inside a former art gallery in an Athens neighborhood most first-time visitors rarely explore.
Line, a fermentation-focused bar in the Kato Petralona area of Athens, has taken the No. 1 position in the inaugural Europe’s 50 Best Bars ranking.
The result also gives Line the official titles of The Best Bar in Europe 2026 and The Best Bar in Greece 2026. Another Athens establishment, The Bar in Front of the Bar, placed second, while Barcelona’s Sips completed the top three.
Line stands apart from the conventional cocktail-bar model. It operates partly as a bar, restaurant, winery, brewery and fermentation workshop, with drinks and food developed through the same low-waste system.
How Europe’s Best Bar Was Chosen
Europe’s 50 Best Bars is organized by William Reed, the company behind The World’s 50 Best Bars, The World’s 50 Best Restaurants and The World’s 50 Best Hotels.
The European list represents the votes of more than 300 drinks-industry experts, including bartenders, bar owners, drinks writers and experienced cocktail travelers. The voting academy is divided into 11 geographic regions across Europe.
Each voter selected seven bars in order of preference based on visits made during the previous 18 months. Voters were required to confirm when they visited and submit supporting evidence such as a receipt, booking confirmation or time-stamped photograph.
Academy members could cast no more than five votes for bars in their home country. Bars also needed votes from more than one country to appear in the ranking.
The organization acknowledges that “best” remains subjective. The result is better understood as a snapshot of current opinion among European bar professionals rather than a scientific measurement of every bar on the continent.
What Makes Line Different
Line was created by Vasilis Kyritsis and Nikos Bakoulis of Athens cocktail institution The Clumsies, working with Three Cents co-founder Dimitris Dafopoulos.
The team chose a converted gallery space outside the densest part of the central Athens bar district. The industrial room is deliberately flexible, functioning as a daytime gathering place as well as a restaurant and late-night drinks destination.
Most of the bar’s identity comes from fermentation. Its team makes fruit wines, beer, vinegars, syrups, bread and other ingredients in-house rather than building the menu entirely around commercial spirits and conventional mixers.
Food is not treated as an afterthought. The kitchen and bar share ingredients, byproducts and fermentation projects, creating a menu in which the drinks and dishes are designed to work together.
The Fruit Wines at the Center of the Menu
Line’s signature drinks are its so-called Why-Ins: fermented beverages made from ingredients other than grapes.
The project applies wine-making ideas to fruits, honey and, in some cases, vegetables. Ingredients have included apples, pomegranates, figs, tomatoes, roses, walnuts and orange blossom honey from Crete.
The more traditional versions rely on fruit, yeast, temperature and time. Others incorporate additional aromas, distillates or fresh ingredients during fermentation, moving them closer to the creative structure of a cocktail.
Because the menu follows agricultural availability, individual drinks may change during the year. Visitors should ask what is currently being fermented rather than arriving with one fixed order in mind.
A Low-Waste Approach That Shapes the Drinks
Reducing waste is built into Line’s production rather than added as a separate sustainability claim. Fruit left from one fermentation can move into another preparation, while leftover spirits, herbs, whey and other ingredients may be redirected into cocktails or food.
Europe’s 50 Best Bars highlighted the Leftover Spritz as one example. The drink brings together leftover spirits with rose, tomato, cardamom and elderflower. Another punch has used rum, milk whey, tropical fruit remnants, burnt butter, herbs and spices.
The bar also works with Greek producers and builds much of its wine selection around domestic, organic and biodynamic bottles. Spent grain from its beer production is returned to a farming partner for use as animal feed.
Is Line Only for Serious Cocktail Drinkers?
Line’s production methods can sound highly technical, but visitors do not need an expert understanding of fermentation to enjoy it.
The menu uses recognizable formats as a starting point, including spritzes, punches, highballs and variations on classic cocktails. Guests can also order house-made fruit wine, Greek wine, beer, coffee or food without committing to a full experimental cocktail experience.
That flexibility makes Line easier to include in an Athens itinerary than a formal, late-night cocktail lounge. It can work for a drink, a meal or a longer visit built around trying several house-made ferments.
What to Know Before Visiting Line
- Address: Agathodemonos 37 at Orestou 1, 118 53 Athens, Greece.
- Neighborhood: Kato Petralona, southwest of the main historic center.
- Reservations: Reservations can be requested through the bar’s official contact channels. Booking ahead is sensible for evenings and weekends following the new No. 1 ranking.
- Telephone: +30 21 1750 7185.
- Email: reservations@lineathens.gr.
- What to order: Ask about the current Why-Ins, seasonal cocktails and food pairings rather than relying on an older online menu.
- Getting there: Line is outside the main concentration of cocktail bars in central Athens. Check the current walking, Metro or taxi route from your accommodation before setting out.
Published opening hours vary across third-party listings, so travelers should confirm the current schedule directly with Line. Menus also rotate as ingredients and fermentation projects change.
Athens Dominated the Top of the European Ranking
Line’s win was not an isolated result for Athens. The Bar in Front of the Bar took second place, giving the Greek capital both of the top positions. Two additional Athens bars, Barro Negro and Baba au Rum, reached No. 13 and No. 14, while The Clumsies placed No. 30.
Five placements in the top 50, including the two highest-ranked bars, establish Athens as one of Europe’s strongest current destinations for cocktails.
For travelers, Line is also proof that the city’s bar scene extends beyond the busy streets around Monastiraki and Syntagma. Reaching Europe’s new No. 1 requires venturing into a less tourist-heavy part of Athens, where the experience is built as much around fermentation, Greek produce and food as it is around cocktails.
