Athens' most ambitious cocktail bar storms to the top of Europe's 50 Best Bars, sponsored by Perrier.
What was once a drinking culture built largely around coffee, wine and late-night beers has evolved into one of Europe's most dynamic bar scenes, where closed-loop creativity and local produce meet the city's instinct for sociability, and where drinks start at sundown and stretch into the balmy night.
For the first time, on the night of the reveal of a brand-new ranking, an Athens-based bar takes home the ultimate accolade, as Line is named No.1 and The Best Bar in Europe 2026. This cements both the bar's reputation as a global player (its previously highest ranking was No.6 in The World's 50 Best Bars 2024) and catapults the city into the upper echelons of drinking destinations alongside New York, London, Hong Kong and Mexico City.
Line opened in 2022 in a former art gallery and has risen to become The Best Bar in Europe 2026
Speaking about the bar's win, its co-owners are elated. "Line was born from a difficult time during Covid-19. This is a dream come true," says says co-founder Dimitris Dafapoulous. Fellow co-founder Vasilis Krystis adds: "I don't think we can even think about it right now. We're going to be processing it all night."
It was an historic night for the Greek capital, with fellow Athenian bars The Bar in Front of the Bar, Barro Negro, Baba au Rum and The Clumsies coming hot on Line's heels at No.2, No.13, No.14 and No.30 respectively, and Thessaloniki-based Gorilla taking the No.33 spot.
"There is a natural personality expressed by Greek bartenders around the world," says Kyritsis. "It's in our DNA to express ourselves behind the bar without any rules, which is something that anyone who visits Athens will discover."
Housed in a former art gallery, Line feels more like a creative workshop than a conventional bar: airy, industrial and quietly experimental. Its founders, Kyritsis, Nikos Bakoulis and Dafopoulos, bring serious pedigree from their second bar, The Clumsies, combining modern cocktail technique with a deep understanding of flavour, carbonation and production.
The Why-Ins, made with any fruit except grapes, are one of Line's signature creations
Line's defining idea is circularity. The team ferments fruit wines, brews beer, bakes sourdough and turns by-products back into drinks and food. Its house-made Why-ins (fruit wines playfully named because people ask why they're made that way) rethink Greek produce beyond the usual categories of wine, spirits or cocktails, showing what can happen when a bar starts with fruit, yeast, bread, acidity and time, rather than imported formulas.
"We don't believe we're a sustainble bar, we think we're a bar that has a sustainable way of thinking," says Bakoulis. "That's always been our motivation for our team to keep thinking that way and improving every day."
That balance reflects the wider rise of the Greek bar scene. Athens' best venues are no longer imitating London or New York, they are building their own language from Greek ingredients, Mediterranean habits and local social rhythms. 
The Line team collected the trophy at the inaugural awards ceremony in Amsterdam
Baba au Rum helped establish the city's modern cocktail credibility; The Clumsies proved Athens could compete globally; and newer bars such as Line and The Bar in Front of the Bar are pushing the conversation towards fermentation, sustainability and street-level energy.
Looking forward, where the newfound title could bring challenges, the Line team are ready to face anything.
"It's important to keep humble and take care of your regulars," says Kyritsis. "If we can do it from Athens, anyone can do it," Dafapoulous adds.
Europe's 50 Best Bars 2026
The inaugural list of Europe's 50 Best Bars shows not only the breadth of cocktail culture spread across this diverse region – with bars from Krakow, Innsbruck, Zurich, Berlin, Prague and Copenhagen ranked – but also its richness. 
The teams behind the venues in the first ever ranking of Europe's 50 Best Bars 2026
The Campari One To Watch Award, which is chosen by 50 Best as a rising star bar that it predicts will crack the main list in future editions, goes to Art in Poland's Katowice.
Budapest's bar scene was also celebrated with the subterranean drinking den Hide awarded the SevenRooms Best Bar Design Award 2026. 
Waltz in London opened in 2025 and earned the Three Cents Best New Opening Award
It was also a strong night for London as Waltz – Gento Torigata's achingly chic, Japanese-inspired listening bar – is named the winner of the Three Cents Best New Opening Award.
And the legendary cocktail Maestro Salvatore Calabrese is awarded the Roku Industry Icon Awrad for his dedication to the transformation of London's bar scene, one exquisite martini at a time, over the past 40 years.
The list of Europe's 50 Best Bars 2026 was the result of the vote of more than 300 drinks experts from across the region. Find out more about the voting Academy and how the list is compiled.
The list of Europe's 50 Best Bars 2026, sponsored by Perrier, was revealed at a live awards ceremony in Amsterdam on Tuesday 30 June.
