Holiday Cocktails in Vancouver’s Most Festive Places

Warm-up with winter cocktails at taverns, pop-up bars and festive drinking establishments

Vancouver’s dark, winter days still warmly invite all the magic of Christmas. Delightful holiday drinks await Vancouverites and visitors in cozy little taverns and pop-up Christmas bars. While it’s not likely to snow, you’ll still feel the cheer of the season with tinsel and lights abound. To fill yourself up with indulgent cocktails while nestling in to enjoy a fantastic holiday vibe, these are our top 8 picks for where to go in Vancouver. So whether you’re just seasonally in town seeing family or here for the holiday long-haul, you can have your own festive get-togethers. These well-decorated establishments create wonderment that makes you feel like a kid on Christmas morning.

Reflections: The Garden Terrace at the Rosewood Hotel Georgia is known for its holiday-themed, pop-up patio. Located downtown, just a few blocks from Robson Square, Reflections has good reason to be highlighted as a quintessential hang-out holiday spot. It’s the only holiday winter patio in the city. The patio is adorned with glistening lights, snowflakes, and a spectacular holiday tree. Making it even cozier, they offer furry blankets you can cozy up with. You’ll get the warm, winter wonderland feeling the moment you step in.

Their holiday-themed drinks include mulled wine and all types of hot toddies like cognac infused with winter spices. The award-winning bartenders here created their own libation, called Little Helper: It’s a mix of rum, their port concoction and famous house-made eggnog.

Botanist at the Pacific Rim Fairmont transports you out of the cold and into a luxurious holiday setting. Located next to Canada Place, it’s an excellent beginning to a classy, Vancouver evening. The hotel adorns its lobby with stunning holiday decorations and classic Christmas music, creating a warm ambiance.

Famed for their holiday cocktail menu, Botanist brings on the cheer with elegant holiday twists, like its Santa’s Lil Helper made from Christmas Pudding gin. We suggest the Spiced Eggnog and Sweater Weather, a hot toddy with Canadian Whisky to get you warmed up before you catch another “Nutcracker” show.

On the outskirts of Yaletown on Seymour Street, you can visit the cozy snug UVA, which means “grape” in Italian. While they’re well-known for being the best wine bar in Vancouver for 11 years running, we come for their iconic holiday drinks. Their famous Christmas cocktail, Crème de Vie, is irresistible and topped with a toasted ladyfinger. The building itself offers that heritage early 1900’s vibe right down to the terrazzo floors and when dressed up for the holidays, UVA’s got a cozy European vibe.

After a fun evening of shopping at the Vancouver Christmas Market set in Canada Place, enjoy a Glühwein at the Christmas Pyramid. This is an authentic Bavarian experience, where you can warm up your bones while admiring the twinkling lights that surround you. There are plenty of other vendors here with a few German vendors bringing their Christmas specialties to you.

There’s a secret pop-up bar starting up on November 19. While we don’t know much yet, we do know that Tinseltown will have festive drinks, lots of decorations, Christmas tunes, and food like Christmas Pudding.  Based on the pictures, it feels a lot like stepping into a Hallmark holiday card. It’s organized by Hidden, which has created events in Vancouver that have been so popular, they’re almost always wait-listed. Pre-register and pay for the $8 cover charge that gets you in the door.

We love this spot for its British, laid-back feel and during the holidays, they make it cozy by decking out the place with lights, tinsel, and a tree. If you love candy canes, you’ll love what’s on offer at the Cascade Room. This British bar is located in the Mount Pleasant area just off Main Street. While they have all the traditional festive cocktails like eggnog and hot toddies, they have created their own recipe called Candy Fizz.

Sylvia’s Restaurant and Lounge is located right at English Bay at the end of Denman Street and Beach Ave. Their holiday decorations are elegant and extravagant with old wooden bannisters adorned with pine and white lights. The Sylvia Hotel has been a West End staple for over 100 years, and you can feel the history here. If you’ve never made it to Sylvia’s, it’s a great place to visit during the holidays with close friends or for a romantic dinner. For all those who stay in Vancouver and don’t go home for Christmas, this is a great place to get a Christmas set menu on Dec. 24 and Dec. 25. They also have holiday fundraising for various charities around Vancouver, which we love. This is the time to give back right?

The Notch8 Restaurant and Bar is based in the lobby of the luxurious heritage Fairmont Hotel Vancouver. It’s a favorite place to go to listen to live music Christmas cheer with a group of friends. Every day during the holidays, they’ll play jazz and classic holiday music. 

As for drinks, they always make up something new and dazzling every year. The mixologists came up with a sparkling cocktail, French 75. The vibe here is warm and magical with classy, sparkling lights throughout the old style of this beautiful hotel.