Best-of list · France Bars
The 6 best bars in Lyon for 2026, from L'Antiquaire's classics to the Smoking Dog's pints. Presquile cocktail rooms and Vieux Lyon pubs, by Tom Callahan.
The short answer
6 ranked rooms follow. How we picked is at the end of this guide.
Lyon is France's gastronomic capital, and it drinks as seriously as it eats, from Presquile cocktail rooms to Vieux Lyon pubs. The six below are the ones worth your evening. We cut four that had closed, moved, or turned out to be somewhere other than Lyon.
L'Antiquaire on rue Hippolyte Flandrin in the Presquile is Lyon's serious classic-cocktail room, an old-fashioned-and-Negroni sort of bar that does the basics properly. It is dark, small and a touch dressy, with the bar running to 3am Thursday to Saturday. Prices sit fair for the quality. Best late evening, for a date or a well-made nightcap.
Full listing & hours →Le Comptoir de la Bourse on rue de la Bourse runs about 60 house cocktails alongside tapas, foie gras toast included, which makes it the after-work-into-late option on the Presquile. It is busier and more sociable than the speakeasy rooms, and the kitchen keeps you there. Go after work midweek, or earlier at the weekend before the queue builds.
Full listing & hours →La Cave d'A Cote on rue Pleney pours regional wines by the glass from around five euros in an 18th-century vaulted cellar, with charcuterie and cheese to match. It is small, intimate and closed Sunday and Monday. This is the value seat for a glass of something local. Go early on a Tuesday for the quiet end of the week.
The Monkey Club on Place Tolozan goes full cabinet-of-curiosities, all Victorian clutter and live jazz, with signature cocktails around 11 euros. The decor could tip into theme-park, but the drinks hold up and the music makes the room. Go in the evening when the band plays. One for an atmosphere-led night rather than a quiet pint.
The Smoking Dog on rue Lainerie has run as an English pub in Vieux Lyon since 1995, with 11 taps and a happy-hour pint at four euros from 5 to 8. This is the kind of room worth keeping, cheap, unfussy, and showing the football and the rugby. The match crowd packs it. Go for happy hour, or any night there is a game on.
Full listing & hours →The Shamrock on rue Sainte-Catherine, up on the Croix-Rousse slopes, is a proper Irish pub with cider, cocktails and live jam sessions most weeks. It runs late, to 3am Tuesday to Saturday, and pulls a student and music crowd rather than a polished one. Cheap and loud, in the good way. Go for a jam night or the quiz, not a quiet drink.