The Best Way to Drink Cocktails in Soho, London
My Night with London Cocktail Tours
I was hosted by London Cocktail Tours for this review, but everything below is my honest take.
If you’ve ever stood outside a row of Soho bars wondering which one is actually worth your time, this tour solves that problem entirely. I spent an evening with Susan L. Schwartz — the drinks writer and podcaster behind London Cocktail Tours — being walked through four bars I’d genuinely never have found, or known to choose, on my own.
Where it starts. We met outside the Palace Theatre on Shaftesbury Avenue, an easy five-minute walk from Leicester Square. Susan was easy to spot, holding her tote bag, and from there it was all on foot — never more than eight minutes between any two stops. Three hours later, we finished on Gerrard Street, having barely noticed the time pass.
I don’t want to ruin the tour for you, so let’s just say the bars themselves were fantatic – a mix of speak-easy and modern cool! What makes it work isn’t just the bars and, of course, the drinks, it’s Susan. Between bars, she pulled out her iPad and showed us archive photos while explaining the history behind what we were drinking and the street we were standing on. We walked right past the old Raymond Revuebar sign and the big Soho mural on Walker’s Court, and she had a story for both. It rained on and off the whole night and the tour just carried on regardless — the bars are all indoors, so it barely mattered.
Practically speaking: it’s £160 per person, runs Monday through Wednesday (you just need to request a date, with confirmation usually coming immediately), and the group stays small — never more than six people including Susan. It’s 18+ only, and there’s no minimum group size beyond needing two people for the tour to go ahead.Each stop included a cocktail and snacks, and the pace never felt rushed.
Who I’d recommend it to: anyone who wants a proper local’s route through the area, anyone visiting London who wants one really good night sorted for them, or a small group looking for something a bit more interesting than a standard bar crawl. If you want bottomless cocktails and a club afterwards, this isn’t that — it’s a slower, more curated evening, and that’s exactly the point.
You can book directly at londoncocktailtours.com.
Amanda O’Brien is the creator and editor of The Boutique Adventurer. She has visited 80 countries and is a member of the British Guild of Travel Writers as well as the IFTWTA. She is passionate about wine had has just completed Level 3 of the WSET. Born in Australia, she lives in London.
