Andrew Ratcliff

Winter 2026 update: Sydney’s bar scene doesn’t slow down when the temperature drops – if anything, it gets even better. Think cosy corners, silky red wines, smoky whiskies and perfectly shaken Martinis. Whether you’re chasing a hidden speakeasy, a buzzing neighbourhood wine bar, rooftop cocktails with your girlfriends or a proper pint, we've got your winter watering holes sorted.  These spots offer great drinks, warm hospitality and good vibes. From exciting newcomers to long-time favourites, this guide is curated by our local editors and writers, including Time Out Sydney's Editor Avril Treasure. Grab your coat, Sydney – it’s bar season. Editor’s picks: 🍸 Best for excellent cocktails: PS40 🤫 Best for speakeasy vibes: Eau-de-Vie 🍹 Best for Cuban rums & Daiquiris: The Lobo 🍷 Best for vino from women-led wineries: Famelia 🥃 Best for whisky lovers: Banchō Bar 🇲🇽 Best for Tequila & Margs: Centro 86   Stay in the loop: sign up for our free Time Out Sydney newsletter for more news, food & drink inspo and activity ideas, straight to your inbox. Our list of the best pubs in Sydney Check out our best restaurants here

There’s always time for a tipple when you’re travelling around Australia. Our thirsty country is swimming in stellar watering holes, from world-class cocktail bars and stylish rooftop lounges to cosy neighbourhood wine bars. We’ve even got a handful of contenders on the prestigious World’s 50 Best Bars list to back us up. Our local Time Out editors have rounded up the best bars in Australia right now for all your drinking pleasure. Of course, past Bar of the Year winners from Time Out's Food & Drink Awards feature on the list, alongside beloved institutions and hidden gems recommended by locals. So hit up one of Australia's best bars and see where the night takes you. Editor's favourite bars in Australia: 🏆 Best award-winning bar: Caretaker's Cottage, Melbourne 🤫 Best hidden gem bar: Cantina OK!, Sydney 🍽️ Best bars with snacks worth staying for: Bar Rochford, Canberra 🍽️ The best restaurants in Australia🍷 The best wineries in Australia

A bar crawl in Newtown is the ultimate choose-your-own-adventure for the intrepid thirsty Sydneysider. It's also great if you simply don't like having to take more than a hop, skip and jump between venues. This eclectic Inner West 'burb has more bars than you can poke a cocktail stick at, from lazy beer gardens to rock 'n' roll vinyl joints and everything in between, found all the way down King St and up to Enmore Road. Newtown is one of our favourite boozing destinations – and here are the vert best places to check out on your next visit.  Stay in the loop: sign up for our free Time Out Sydney newsletter for more news, food & drink inspo and activity ideas, straight to your inbox. Looking for food? Check out the best restaurants Newtown has to offer, over here. Want more? Check out our guide the coolest bars in Sydney here.

No one is pretending that cocktails are a cost-effective way to relax or party in Sydney. In a city where a $25 cocktail isn't an uncommon price tag, you really want to know that what's in your glass has been shaken and stirred by the best in the business. Here, Time Out Sydney's local writers, including Food & Drink Editor Avril Treasure, have put together a list of the best places for cocktails in Sydney that you can always trust to give you an outstanding drink in exchange for your hard-earned. You're welcome.  Stay in the loop: sign up for our free Time Out Sydney newsletter for more news, food & drink inspo and activity ideas, straight to your inbox. Want something a bit stiffer? Try one of the the best bars in Sydney. Or still hungry? Try one of Sydney's best cheap eats. Or head up to one of Sydney's best rooftop bars.

Enmore manages to ensure that going out for a drink has all your bases covered, which is a pretty impressive feat considering the size of this little Inner West enclave. Kick off with a Martini at the werid and wonderful Bar Planet, head to banging Bar Louise for a snack and vino, knock back tropical cocktails at Jacoby's, and finish with a free gig at the Duke. Sound like a good time? You bet is it. Stay in the loop: sign up for our free Time Out Sydney newsletter for more news, food & drink inspo and activity ideas, straight to your inbox. In the area? Check out our guide to the best bars in Newtown here Want more? Tick off Time Out's list of the best bars in Sydney

There’s a new basement bar coming October 26 from the good people behind Old Mate's Place and you’ll want to get in quick because it’s here for a good time, not a long time. The hive-mind behind Ginny’s are industry stalwarts, Dre and Gabrielle Walters, Daniel Noble and Adam Cork. For the last few years they’ve been running the busy Clarence Street rooftop bar, Old Mates Place, and when the basement of the same building became available, they couldn’t resist jumping at the opportunity to add another element of flair to the area. The inspiration is Corks’ mother, Ginny, and her travels throughout South-East Asia so the fitout is a knick-knack collector's paradise of all sorts of odds and ends.  More a casual, street-eatery than rollicking, subterranean bar, you can expect to see an array of internationally inspired tacos on the menu along with possibly the best crab sandwich you’ll ever bite into.  The kitchen is helmed by Joey Astorga (ex Smalls Deli, Cho Cho San) and the wine menu by Charlie Casben from Moya’s Juniper Lounge, who has arranged a short, sharp and punchy array of international and Australian vino. The drinks list has been built by the Old Mate's team and rumour has it that they’ll be getting some very special talent behind the bar to deliver some world class cocktails. Although we’d highly recommend making a booking, they will have some spots available at the bar for walk-ins. The pop-up is running for an extremely limited time, with plans to renovate the space

Almost 70 years of history as a coffee shop, Piccolo Bar has completed it’s metamorphosis into Sydney’s smallest (and one of it’s coolest) new bars. Not just an allusion to the quick shot of caffeine keeping the locals going for the better part of a century, Piccolo is a tightly-packed step back in time. Piccolo is tucked away on Roslyn street in Potts Point. Along a row of comparatively underwhelming shops and apartment blocks, the warm, red neon lights run across the sidewalk in an inviting manner not normally reserved for businesses in Sydney’s version of little Brooklyn. It’s a refreshing change of pace for the strip and serves to bring together the rich history of the tiny bar with its contemporary new clothes. Seating just twenty people inside and eight outside (until 10pm), there’s every chance you will have to wait for a seat. We recommend you wait for it. You won’t be disappointed.Once you do score your table, you’ll be greeted by owner, David Spanton, who, like Piccolo itself, is friendly and easy going. In a sea of brocentric and uber-cool bars, a welcome at the door of such lovely and unassuming kindness seems like a rarity in this day and age but it’s authentic, cemented by staff who will always remember you by name. Spanton, the industry stalwart who also owns and runs Australian Bartender magazine is quick to take the time to give a tour of the tiny venue and explain any of the hundreds of pictures that take up whatever free space is on the walls. In this small