Forget your regular neighborhood spot! Around the world, some pubs and bars have popped up in the most unexpected and unusual places. Whether it’s sipping cocktails while doing laundry or enjoying a pint in the Antarctic, these drinking establishments offer a unique experience.
Ready for a tour of the world’s weirdest bars? Here are 10 pubs located in truly unusual locations.
Wasbar: A Bar in a Laundromat
Doing laundry just got a whole lot more fun! Wasbar, a franchise in Belgium, creatively combines a laundromat with a bar and restaurant. Perfect for those who dread wasting time waiting for the washing machine, Wasbar provides a place to eat, drink, and socialize while your clothes are getting clean. You can do a load of laundry while sipping on coffee, fruit juice, beer, or cocktails. The Ghent location even has a hair salon!
Floating Bar and Restaurant Lamu: A Bar in the Indian Ocean
Imagine enjoying a drink while gently bobbing on the Indian Ocean. The Floating Bar and Restaurant Lamu, located between Lamu Island and Manda Island in Kenya, is a unique structure built on a platform that floats on hundreds of pressurized barrels. Given that the whole bar is floating, there’s no electricity, so the drinks are stored in coolers filled with ice. They also offer plenty of fresh seafood.
Cahoots: A Bar in an Underground Air Raid Shelter
Step back in time at Cahoots, a 1940s-themed speakeasy located in a disused underground air raid shelter in London. Specifically, the Kingly Court Underground Station. The bar features a subterranean space in the old tube station, complete with a life-size tube carriage (that’s a train car). Patrons of the train car bar can sip on drinks with fun, era-appropriate names such as “Dig for Victory,” “Uncle Sam’s Snack Box,” and “Keep Marm and Carry On.”
Alux Restaurant & Lounge: A Bar in a Cave
Venture underground to Alux Restaurant & Lounge in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, a bar built inside a naturally-formed cave adorned with stalactites and stalagmites. With moody lighting in shades of pink, green, and blue, the bar highlights the impressive rock formations. In addition to the main dining area, there are also private caves (called VIP Vaults) for a more intimate setting.
The Fenn Bell Inn: A Zoo Pub
Combine your love for animals and pubs at The Fenn Bell Inn in Kent, England. This unique establishment is both a pub and a zoo. The owners began taking in rescue animals, eventually obtaining an official zoo license, making it the first pub to be granted this license. While you enjoy your drink, you can see parrots, monkeys, lemurs, meerkats, and more. The profits from the pub are used to pay for the cost of the animals.
The William Creek Hotel: A Pub in the Australian Outback
Located in the arid and unpopulated Australian Outback, The William Creek Hotel Bar on the Oodnadatta Track near Lake Eyre provides a crucial pit stop for travelers to restock on water, food, and fuel. Other pubs in the middle of the Outback include The Birdsville Hotel, which is on the Simpson Desert Racing Carnival Trail, and Mt. Dare Hotel, which sits on the Western edge of the Simpson Desert.
The Yeoman Warders Club: The Exclusive Pub in the Tower of London
Located within the walls of the Tower of London, The Yeoman Warders Club (aka The Keys) is a private bar that only serves the Tower’s ceremonial guards, called Yeoman Warders or Beefeaters, and their guests. The bar is also staffed by Beefeaters, who take turns working two-week shifts pulling pints. To become a Yeoman Warder, candidates need to have served in the armed forces for a minimum of 22 years and gained a medal for good conduct.
El Avión Restaurant and Bar: A Bar in a Grounded Airplane
El Avión Restaurant and Bar in Costa Rica features a Fairchild C-123 Provider that was bought by the CIA during the Iran-Contra Affair of the 1980s. The interior of the plane was converted into a bar, where patrons drink margaritas, beers, cocktails, and wine. People can even sit in the cockpit of the grounded plane.
Faraday Bar: A Bar in the Antarctic
The Faraday Bar is located at the Vernadsky Research Base on Galindez Island in the Antarctic. It was originally built to bring laughter and a feeling of warmth to what was the most miserable and unloved base in the Antarctic. Supply shipments to the island only come in once a year, so they also distill their own vodka, making it one of the most remote pubs and distilleries in the world.
Neptune Bar: A Bar on an Unpopulated Island
Pulau Sikeling, one of Indonesia’s unpopulated islands, is home to the Neptune Bar. For just a few days a year, a rundown shack becomes a lively drinking joint for the hundreds of competitors taking part in the Neptune Regatta, who bring everything they need with them—including beer, rum, ice, cups, and food.
Raise a Glass to the Unusual!
These unusual pubs and bars offer more than just a place to grab a drink; they provide unique stories and experiences. Whether it’s the novelty of sipping a cocktail while doing laundry, exploring a bar within a cave, or enjoying a pint in the freezing Antarctic, these drinking spots are certainly worth a visit for those seeking something out of the ordinary.
Which of these unusual bars would you most like to visit? Leave your comment below!
