Journal · Cigars · Europe
Where to smoke a cigar in Europe: lounges, clubs and historic merchants
Smoking laws differ across Europe, and a good cigar lounge is harder to find than a good restaurant. These are the rooms, terraces and cigar houses we recommend, city by city.
The rules
In the UK and much of Europe, smoking is banned in enclosed public spaces, so the best experiences are dedicated lounges with their own licence, private clubs or covered terraces. Cigar merchants sell, but most do not have a room to smoke in: check before you go.
Lounges and cigar houses
- Gentlemen 1919 · Paris
A discreet bar near the Champs-Élysées with a cigar cabinet, a smoking room for up to nine and personal cigar lockers for regulars. - Casa Pelletier · Paris
A restaurant-bar with a cigar cellar, individual lockers and a smoking room for around twenty. - Baronne · Paris
A restaurant-bar off the Champs-Élysées with its own cigar cellar and an intimate smoking room. - James J. Fox · London
London's historic cigar merchant, trading since 1787, with a large walk-in humidor and a smoking room upstairs. - Davidoff of London · London
The Davidoff house's London shop, opened in 1980 a few doors from James J. - Boisdale of Belgravia · London
A Scottish restaurant and whisky bar with a walk-in humidor and a purpose-built, heated outdoor cigar terrace. - The Wellesley Cigar Terrace · London
A heated terrace beside Hyde Park Corner, open year-round, with whisky and Cognac pairings. - Tomtom Cigars · London
A small, informal lounge opened in 1997 that pairs good cigars with good coffee, with a strong range of Nicaraguan and Dominican cigars. - Týnská Bar & Books · Prague
A library-lined whisky and cigar bar behind Old Town Square, part of the Bar & Books group that began in New York. - AURA Smokers Lounge · Zurich
A bar and smokers' lounge on Bleicherweg with a large humidor, bespoke cigars and a strong spirits and cocktail list. - Smokers Lounge, Zurich Marriott · Zurich
A hotel smoking lounge on the Limmat with leather club chairs and a long bar list, popular with business travellers. - Cigarro · Warsaw
Around 400 cigars from 50 brands in what it calls Poland's largest walk-in humidor, with a basement club bar for 25 and a ventilated VIP room for four. - Aficionado Room · Warsaw
A cigar and whisky lounge off Marszałkowska with two ventilated leather-lined back rooms, single malts and cigars from Cuba to Nicaragua. - Kruger's American Bar · Vienna
One of Vienna's first exclusive bars, open since the 1920s, with leather furniture, wood panelling and a well-stocked humidor of regular, limited and vintage cigars. - Cigar Lounge, Palais Hansen Kempinski · Vienna
A quiet lounge off the lobby of the Palais Hansen Kempinski, with staff on hand to suggest pairings. - THE BAR & Davidoff Lounge · Frankfurt
A Davidoff smoking lounge and bar inside Frankfurt Airport, for a last cigar before the flight. - Monte-Carlo Cigar Club · Monaco
An ultra-private club in the former office of François Blanc inside the Casino de Monte-Carlo, with around 35,000 cigars from more than 250 references, a walk-in humidor and a terrace over the sea. - Davidoff of Geneva · Geneva
The shop where Zino Davidoff began, trading since 1911 and now the brand's flagship, with a 30 m² walk-in humidor beneath a ceiling of tobacco leaves. - P.G.C. Hajenius · Amsterdam
Amsterdam's grand tobacconist, in the same art-deco building on the Rokin since 1914, with its original interior intact. - Club Pasión Habanos · Madrid
A non-profit smokers' club for habano lovers on the third floor of the Casa Gallardo, with a members' humidor and regular tastings. - Charade at Hotel de' Ricci · Rome
The bar of a small luxury hotel with one of the few indoor cigar lounges in Rome, and a cellar of more than 1,500 wine labels.
