Guide to happy hour in London

Simmons is one of the London bars that has gained a cult following over the years, mainly because it's probably one of the cheapest places to get a cocktail in the capital, especially at happy hour. They have branches all around the city, each offering excellent deals on drinks, with some spots offering buy-one-get-one-free cocktails and half-price spirits and wine. Inside, it's a playground of bright neon lights and funky, retro decor, with live DJs spinning tunes on certain nights (depending on which Simmons you visit).

Barrio has it all: drinking, dancing, brunching and an excellent happy hour, so it’s no wonder it’s a popular London drinking hole. The bars are located all over the city and take inspiration from Latin American vibes, featuring colourful decor and a lively atmosphere. They host a notorious bottomless brunch featuring delicious food, bottomless gin and juice and occasionally musical bingo (depending on which bar you go to).

Salvador & Amanda is a cosy tapas restaurant in Leicester Square, with Art Deco-style windows, swanky leather seats and moody dim lighting. They serve fresh tapas dishes, best paired with their sangria or one of their zingy cocktails. They also host various events throughout the week, from Sangria Hour (every day between 5-7pm) and Tapas Tuesday to Paella Thursday and a range of live entertainment, like Flamenco nights and DJs.

The Exhibit is a local bar, restaurant, event space, and cinema spread across three floors in the heart of Balham. They host a daily happy hour, live DJs, bottomless brunches, quiz nights, films in their cosy cinema, and famous Saturday brunch parties. They have an all-day dining menu, including plenty of vegetarian and vegan options. Enjoy 2-4-1 on their favourite cocktails every day from 4-8pm.

The Rum Kitchen is a quirky Caribbean-inspired bar in the heart of Soho and Brixton. It’s vibrant and lively and comes with a hefty dose of Caribbean culture, colour and creativity. There’s a focus on Caribbean cuisine, like curried goat and jerk chicken, and a selection of fruity rum-based cocktails alongside 100 different types of rum to choose from. Happy hour? More like happy week; they host it every day until 7pm, where you can taste their vast selection of cocktails for just five pounds.

You’ve probably heard of Be At One, or you’ve almost definitely walked past one in the city. They’re scattered all over London and are the perfect place for when you want an unpretentious spot to enjoy a cheap (well, cheap for London) cocktail. They host 2-4-1 happy hours regularly, but each branch has slightly different timings, so it’s worth checking their website to ensure you don’t miss it.

This South American-themed nightclub brings a slice of authentic Latin lifestyle to the streets of London at their two bars in Soho and Temple. You can get stuck into salsa classes every night of the week and enjoy their happy hour offering from 4pm to 8pm daily. Feast on South American dishes throughout the week or take it up a notch on the weekend with their bottomless brunch, which includes 90 minutes of bottomless bubbles, games, competitions and dance-offs.

The Lock Tavern is a neighbourhood pub in Camden with a quintessential pub interior and a spacious garden for alfresco drinks. It’s everything you would expect from a British pub, including the food and drinks they serve. They’ve aptly nicknamed their happy hour, ‘Hoppy Hour’, which gets you £3 beers and £6 cocktails Monday to Thursday.

Supermax is a late-night, subterranean cocktail bar beneath Happy Face pizza in King’s Cross, specialising in cocktails and drinks made with vermouth. The bar is decorated in a retro fashion, with intimate booths and moody dim lighting. Make the most of their popular Aperitivo Hour every day from 5:30-7 pm, where you can enjoy cocktails served with plates of cichetti (small snacks or side dishes) for under ten pounds. If you head there on a Friday, you’ll enjoy DJs spinning Italo disco until the early morning hours.

Hackney Bridge is perched along the canal in Hackney Wick, moments from Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, and offers ample indoor and outdoor seating for drinks and streetfood bites all week long. You’ll find plenty of streetfood vendors serving everything from Filipino and Italian to Japanese and more. Their happy hour offerings regularly change, but past deals have included 2-4-1 Aperol spritz every Wednesday (5-9pm) and 50% off cocktails every Thursday (5-9pm)

The London Cocktail Club is by no means a place to don your fanciest get-up, you can expect full-on party vibes here, dancing on tables and booze-fuelled fun. There are bars all around the city, and all offer a hard-to-beat happy hour of two trademark cocktails for £12 every day. Check their website to see the times the offer runs at your local bar.

Venn Street Records claims to be ‘the home of live music, cocktails and good times in Clapham’, and it’s exactly that. This lively bar serves a mouthwatering menu of pizzas, cocktails, beers, wines and bubbles in their vibrant, music-filled bar on Venn Street. This vinyl-clad bar also hosts a wicked happy hour, offering 2-4-1 cocktails every day from 5-8pm.

Kanpai is the UK's first sake brewery that crafts modern British sake using traditional Japanese techniques. Their sake is made using only four ingredients: rice, water, yeast and koi - a mould commonly found in Asian food. They host regular happy hours where you can enjoy £5 sake or cocktail of the week for only a fiver. The timings change throughout the week, so check in with them before you head there.

The Three Crowns is a Victorian-style pub in the heart of Stoke Newington, where you can enjoy modern British food made with locally-sourced and seasonal produce and live music from DJs and seasoned jazz musicians. Their happy hour is well-known in the area, and you can enjoy offers on cocktails, spirits, beer and prosecco atdifferent times throughout the week - check in with them to confirm timings.

At Heidi Wine bar in Balham, you can enjoy 60 types of wine by the glass from their self-service wine vending machines. Their happy hour is a little more luxurious and includes a discount on glasses of champagne every day until 7pm. The bar is cute, cosy and intimate and makes for the perfect date spot.

The Social is a live music destination that has gained a reputation over the years for being a free-thinking and liberal destination for after-work drinkers. It has two floors - a kitsch drinking room upstairs and a downstairs room that hosts various events, from spoken word to live music, with big names like Aphex Twin and Adele. Although they don’t have a regular happy hour, they tend to announce deals on their social pages, so it’s worth keeping an eye out.