Secret Soho

With a coveted view over Carnaby Street, this hotel rooftop bar is a little-known escape from Soho’s buzz. Though it’s something of a daytime suntrap, blankets are provided for when the chill sets in. Prices are pretty reasonable considering for a central location.

Behind a discreetly-marked green door in Chinatown, Opium’s three floors are a mecca for those in search of hedonism with a side of dumplings. Hunker down with some contemporary dim sum, or sample the Apothecary Bar’s Asian-inflected cocktail list.

Behind an anonymous blue door, down some slightly shabby stairs, you’ll find Trisha’s (aka New Evaristo Club, aka The Hideout), a strange little bar that, thanks to its diminutive size and eclectic clientele, has the air of a private party.

Accessed via Milroy’s, London’s oldest whiskey shop, this place lurks behind a bookcase – once that’s pushed aside a tiny staircase leads to the subterranean bar. Feeling like a Bond villain yet? Order a Smoking Gun cocktail, and they’ll smoke the whiskey in front of you.