Best-of list · Country Lists
The 10 best bars in France for 2026 — from Paris's Little Red Door to Lyon's Vertigo to Bordeaux's Blackbird. Detailed editorial notes — neighbourhood,
The short answer
10 ranked rooms follow. How we picked is at the end of this guide.
France's bar scene is engineered around two traditions: the Parisian cocktail bar (which since Experimental Cocktail Club opened in 2007 has gone from sleepy to globally significant) and the French wine bar, which still leads the world. The 10 below run from Little Red Door's conceptual menus to Septime La Cave's natural wine to Marseille's Vieux-Port view. Lyon, Bordeaux, Nice, and Strasbourg all add regional weight — but Paris remains the centre of gravity.