Bar 33
Speakeasy cocktail bar
Billed as Durham's only speakeasy, on Neville Street since 2016, with bespoke cocktails, premium spirits and alcohol-free options.
📍 33 Neville St, Durham DH1 4EY
Date night: 6 bars
Swipe to see all 6 bars →
Tin of Sardines
Tiny gin and cocktail bar
Durham's smallest gin bar, on Elvet Bridge, with shelves of hundreds of unusual gins, a good cocktail menu, gin tastings and a terrace over the River Wear.
📍 18 Elvet Bridge, Durham DH1 3AA
Old Tom’s Gin Bar
Gin and cocktail bar
A gin bar on the Riverwalk with river views, staff known as ginologists, martinis, sours and spritzes, cheese and charcuterie and gin tastings.
📍 33 Riverwalk, Durham DH1 4SL
Champagne Bar
Champagne and cocktail bar
A glamorous bar in Walkergate by the Gala Theatre with vintage champagne and more than 40 cocktails.
📍 Unit 8 Walkergate, Durham DH1 1SQ
CoHo
Café, restaurant and cocktail bar
A café, restaurant and cocktail bar at Freemans Reach on the River Wear, with views of the castle and cathedral.
📍 Freeman's Pl, Durham DH1 1SW
Zen
Thai restaurant and bar
A long-running Thai and pan-Asian restaurant and bar on Court Lane with a striking interior and a cocktail list that changes regularly.
📍 Court Ln, Durham DH1 3JS
Map: date night
Tap a pin for the bar. Numbers match the list.
Your questions
What are the best date night bars in Durham?
Start with Bar 33, Tin of Sardines, Old Tom’s Gin Bar, Champagne Bar and CoHo. Our full list has 6 bars.
More Durham bar guides
- Hidden and late-night barsHidden and late bars in Durham: Bar 33, The Boat Club, Fabio’s and The Library and more.
- Fun bars for groupsLively Durham bars for birthdays, hen and stag dos and nights out: Tin of Sardines, Old To
- Cocktail trailsReady-made Durham cocktail trails on foot, Elvet Bridge to Silver Street and The Riverwalk
Who wrote this guide
This guide is written by the team at M.AD Agency. We run Cocktail Week, the ten-day cocktail festival held town by town across the UK and Ireland. Since 2022 we have taken it to more than 20 towns and cities and worked with hundreds of bars. We love Durham's bars, so we put this guide together from our own research and trusted local guides.
No bar paid to be included and nobody can buy a place. We check the guide regularly as bars open, change and close.
Our nearest cocktail festivals to Durham
Want your bar in this guide?
Run a cocktail bar in Durham that should be here? Get in touch at hello@cocktail-week.com and tell us about it.