USA Independence Day Special: Days out - New York bar crawl

I'll take Manhattan ÿ on the rocks

Internal links

American Beauty

Wine,whales and song in Washington state

In search of Scarlett O'Hara

When the car ain't the star

Shopping in New England

Grand tours: Hunter S Thompson

Sleepover: A bed for the night in Arizona

To drink in New York's classic hotel bars is to see the manic city at ease. Try a lost afternoon on our north-to-south Midtown trail.

The Oak Bar, Plaza Hotel

The Everett Shinn mural above the bar shows the same scene as the windows overlooking Central Park. Once a gentlemen-only spot, the bar's atmosphere is still a little stiff – as are the drinks.

The Oak Bar, Plaza Hotel, Fifth Avenue at Central Park South, 001 212 546-5330.

King Cole Bar, St Regis Hotel

This warm, dark and woody bar at the upmarket St Regis is dominated by a 28ft mural of Old King Cole painted in 1906 by Maxfield Parrish, illustrator of America's Golden Age. The image of the flatulent, embarrassed king adds levity to the regal surroundings and is not to be sniffed at as you sip your expensive Bloody Mary.

The King Cole Bar and Lounge, St Regis Hotel, 2 East 55th Street, 212 753-4500.

Villard Bar and Lounge, The New York Palace

The hotel describes itself as a "palace" and its bar is certainly deserving of royalty. The only difference between its plush rooms and those at Versailles is that here the peasants are welcome to shout "Bring me a beer! Now!" without being sent to the stockade.

Villard Bar and Lounge, The New York Palace, 24 East 51st Street, 212 303-7757

Bull & Bear, Waldorf-Astoria

This bar generates enough energy to light up Times Square. A stock ticker runs all day, and there are so many mobile phones ringing that it seems as if every city boy at the bar is talking to one who isn't. The clientele is so loyal that regular drinkers won't sit in one another's sections.

The Bull & Bear, Waldorf-Astoria, 301 Park Avenue, 212 872-4900.

The Halcyon Lounge, RIHGA Royal Hotel

Dustin Hoffman comes here for entertainment – and sometimes he also provides it. The actor has been known to stroll up to the piano and play, much to the delight of guests who drop in here for pre-theatre cocktails.

The Halcyon Lounge, RIHGA Royal Hotel, 151 West 54th Street, 212 307-5000.

The Madison Club, The Roosevelt Hotel

An ultra-hip hotel guide said this place was reminiscent of "a very nice airport lounge" but that is unfair. The room evokes a bygone, progressive era that captures the spirit of the president for whom the hotel is named. Raise your beer glass to him here.

The Madison Club, The Roosevelt Hotel, Madison at 45th, 212 661-9600.

Oak Room, Algonquin Hotel

Dorothy Parker, James Thurber, Robert Benchley and Eugene O'Neill were regulars at the Algonquin Round Table. End your old-fashioned bar crawl in the style of one of the famed literary coterie: sozzled, and delivering a devastating quip as you stagger out the door.

Oak Room, Algonquin Hotel, 59 West 44th Street, 212 840-6800.