London's Best Bars For Hen Dos

By Helen Glaberson Last edited 56 months ago
London's Best Bars For Hen Dos
Best hen do bars in London: Bunga Bunga
Bunga Bunga

Whether you want to go all out with flashing glow sticks and tacky disco music, or you just fancy a classy cocktail with the girls, take your pick of these great bars.

Bunga Bunga

This tongue-in-cheek Italian Silvio Berlusconi-themed bar and club is where London's bottomless brunch scene began; go along in the day for yards of pizza and forever-flowing prosecco. Return at night for dancing galore. The music is perfectly cheesy — with everyone (literally everyone) — shaking their thing on the podium.

Bunga Bunga, 37 Battersea Bridge Road, SW11 3BA and 167 Drury Lane, WC2B 5PG

All Star Lanes

Best hen do bars in London: Brick Lane
All Star Lanes on Brick Lane

Swish bowling and sexy cocktails are rolled into one at this retro bowling alley — plus, you won't look out of place if you decide to go down the fancy dress route. Once you're done with the lanes, it's time to belt out the tunes in the Country & Western karaoke room (Brick Lane and White City locations). Yee ha!

All Star Lanes, see website for locations in Brick Lane, Holborn, Stratford and White City

London Cocktail Club

London Cocktail Club, Oxford Circus: The best food and drink, eating and dining, restaurants, cafes, bars and pubs near Oxford Street and Oxford Circus. Also great for hen dos
Photo: London Cocktail Club

When it comes to having a wild time, don't worry — you're in safe hands. These guys do naughty cocktails and there's a potent sharing punch served out of a skull bowl. The bartenders will even whip up something off menu for you if one of your hens is in the mood for something different. Hanging lights from the ceiling are periodically swung around by rowdy staff who aren't afraid to get in on the fun. The Bethnal Green location also has a beer garden... winner.

London Cocktail Club, see website for locations all over London including Liverpool Street, Shoreditch, Oxford Circus, Monument, Covent Garden and Bethnal Green.

Nam Long Le Shaker

Best bars for hen dos in London: Nam Long Le Shaker
Photo: Nam Long Le Shaker

Based out west? Head to Nam Long Le Shaker in Kensington, the party place for the rich and famous. Everyone from Hugh Grant to Kate & Wills have headed here to have a go (or watch others have a go) at the bar's renowned Flaming Ferrari rum cocktail — it's pure alcohol, set on fire and slurped up through a straw. You can expect quite the commotion when you order and a lot of bar pounding as you down it in one. Hold back your hen's hair and let's go!

Nam Long Le Shaker, 159 Old Brompton Road, SW5 0LJ

Carwash at Loop

Take you hen do to Carwash at Loop for plenty of cheese and dancing in London
Party hard at Carwash

Don't let the Mayfair locale deter you, there's so much cheese at this gaudy, three-floor disco club that you may as well bring some dipping bread with you. It's the mumma of all retro club nights and holds the title of Europe's longest running disco and pop club. Rollerskating girls greet you with party accessories, then you and your pals can bop the night away away to 80s and 90s classics. Don't be afraid to go all-out on your fancy dress outfits.

Carwash at Loop, 19 Dering Street, W1S 1AH. Saturday nights only.

Sketch

Sketch Bar, one of the best bars for a hen do in London
And these are just the toilets at Sketch Bar

This eccentric 18th century townhouse is like entering a crazy wonderland. From hopscotch sprayed on the corridor floor to the forest-themed bar and alien-like pod toilets, you could spend the whole night here hopping between insane rooms for a hen do to really write home about. It's Alice in Wonderland meets nights out, and it's one hell of a curveball.

Sketch, 9 Conduit Street, W1S 2XG

Hope & Anchor

Hope & Anchor in Brixton is a great place for a hen do in London
Photo: Hope & Anchor

Brixton's Hope & Anchor (formerly Grand Union) is a pretty laid back affair but for summer hen dos it's a big winner thanks to the exceptionally epic beer garden. It's spacious, colourful, filled with fairy lights and you can give the night a VIP edge by booking one of the tiki huts for up to 20 people. These bad boys are heated, so winter hen dos can benefit too. Enjoy built in speakers, VIP waiter service and a cocktail menu packed with the classics.

Hope & Anchor, 123 Acre Lane, SW2 5UA

Old School Yard

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Think 1980s American High School, with table football, retro music and cocktails galore. A chance to dig out the old sweat bands, perhaps? Get the party started with your own private karaoke room, and warm up the vocal chords with a sharing rum punch.

Old School Yard, 111 Long Lane, SE1 4PH

Northcote Records

Drinking and dancing, the perfect hen do combination at this bar in London
Photo: Northcote Records

If you're after a night of non-stop dancing, head to this Clapham live music bar, with acts playing all your favourite cover songs all night long. It's a fun, high-energy crowd and if you like getting sweaty, it's the one for you. It's not humungous either, so you (most likely) won't lose the gang.

Northcote Records, 8-10 Northcote Road, SW11 1NT

The Blues Kitchen

Have a great hen do at Blues Kitchen in London
Photo: Blues Kitchen

Book out the vintage Airstream caravan at the back of this barbecue, blues and jazz joint and they'll stock up the private fridge with your poison of choice. Then when you're ready to get sweaty, unleash yourselves onto the dance floor.

The Blues Kitchen, 134-146 Curtain Road, EC2A 3AR. Also locations in Camden and Brixton.

Cahoots

Cahoots, a top London bar for a hen do
Inside Cahoots.

After a hen do with a difference? Get the rascals down to this hidden basement bar, themed like a 1940s tube station, with a vintage train carriage to boot. Tuck into quirky cocktails in teacups while you listen to live jazz, blues and soul (on some nights) or party away to themed DJ sets on others.

Cahoots, 13 Kingly Court, W1B 5PW

ABQ London

Head do ABQ London for a Breaking Bad themed bars that's all sorts of hen do fun
Photo: ABQ London

If your hen is a fan of Breaking Bad, this is where you need to take her. First, locate the RV, which is parked up inside the bar and can fit up to 35 of your nearest and dearest inside. Once there, don your yellow boiler suit... and you're ready to cook yo'. Armed with ingredients, apparatus and instructions, tackle the science bit (aka make your cocktail). The finished result, if you don't cock it up, is amazing. Bubbling foam, steaming dry ice, colourful foam — chemistry and cocktails might not have been on your radar before but it sure is now.

ABQ London, 18 Bohemia Place, E8 1DU

Little Nan's Bar

Little Nan's: best London bars for hen dos
Photo: Little Nan's

This little south London bar is hipster kitsch from head to toe. Think jumble sale meets 90s teenager's bedroom, covered from floor to ceiling in posters and jazzy wallpaper, with dressing up boxes and even a mix of Pat Butcher memorabilia. Kick off with a boozy afternoon brunch, before unleashing your gang on a bunch of novelty cocktails served out of teapots. You'll also find Little Nan's elsewhere in London, each with their own wild theme.

Little Nan's Bar, see website for locations in Deptford, Fitzrovia and Catford

Piano Works

Great London bars for hen dos: Piano Works
Photo: Piano Works

Live music where you get to choose the song — slip your request on a napkin to the band and they'll churn it out in their own bespoke way, right on the spot. From noon on Saturdays it's a bottomless music brunch, or come later for dinner (or just drinks) and then lots of scraping back chairs and dancing the night away. Oi! Who asked for One Direction?!

Piano Works, 113-117 Farringdon Road, EC1R 3BX and there's a second venue near Piccadilly Circus.

Last Updated 29 July 2019