London has picked up an unlikely bragging right this summer: the best reviewed casino anywhere in Europe.
Grosvenor Casino, St Giles, tucked into the heart of the capital’s theatreland, has come out on top of a new study ranking the best casino in each of Europe’s ten most visited cities. It scored 4.8 out of 5 on Google Reviews, the highest mark recorded anywhere in the research, ahead of venues in Paris, Vienna, Amsterdam and Rome.
The ranking comes as Europeans plan their next city break, with London, Paris and Amsterdam regularly topping wish lists for a long weekend away. Casinos aren’t usually the first thing that comes to mind when people plan a trip, but the research suggests they’re often part of the experience once visitors arrive, whether that’s a deliberate night at the tables or a spontaneous detour after dinner.
London Takes the Podium
The St Giles venue sits a short walk from Covent Garden and the West End’s theatre district, and its gaming floor covers American roulette, blackjack, three card poker, Punto Banco and Shoot Dice. That mix of a central London address and a broad games list appears to have won over reviewers more than any other casino on the continent.
Paris took second place through Club Circus Paris, scoring 4.5 with its 31 poker and dealer tables, while Vienna’s Casino Baden completed the podium on 4.4. Madrid’s Casino Gran Via I Poker Room and Amsterdam’s Holland Casino rounded out the top five.
The study drew on visitor numbers for Europe’s ten most visited cities between 2019 and 2023, then matched each destination to its highest rated casino on Google Reviews. Istanbul didn’t feature at all, since Turkish law prohibits casinos in the city. Barcelona and Rome tied for sixth, while Athens, Milan and Venice took the bottom three places.
A City That Still Draws the Crowds
London and Paris were, alongside Barcelona, the most visited cities on the list, each pulling in more than ten million inbound visitors a year between 2019 and 2023, excluding the pandemic years. That scale of footfall through central London inevitably means more people walking past a casino floor on a night out, and more reviews left behind afterwards.
It also points to a broader shift in how UK players engage with casinos, whether they’re at a table in St Giles or logged in from home on a Tuesday night. Deposit habits have moved along with the venues themselves: contactless and mobile payments are now the default for plenty of casual players, and a quick tap on a phone has largely replaced queuing at a cashier’s desk. Apple Pay in particular has become a standard checkout option for anyone topping up an account before a night out, according to Gambling.com, home of the UK’s Apple Pay casino sites.
Any operator taking UK deposits, whether it’s on the floor in St Giles or through an app, still answers to the same regulator. The Gambling Commission requires every licensed operator to display responsible gambling tools and age verification clearly, regardless of how a customer chooses to pay.
The Rest of the Field
Away from the capital, the ranking shows a fairly even spread across the continent. Madrid’s Casino Gran Via I Poker Room, in fourth on 4.2, has a classical, old world feel that contrasts with Amsterdam’s sleeker Holland Casino just behind it on 4.1. Barcelona’s Casino Barcelona and Rome’s Slot Palace Le Palme Roma tied for sixth on 4.0.
At the other end of the table sit Athens’ Regency Casino Mont Parnes, Milan’s Casino di Campione and Venice’s Casino Di Venezia, each on 3.8 or 3.9. None of them scored badly by any measure, but next to St Giles’s 4.8, the gap is hard to ignore.
For Londoners weighing up whether a trip abroad is worth it just for the tables, the numbers suggest the answer might be a short walk to the West End instead. Anyone comparing the cost of a European city break against a night closer to home can find more on London’s business travel scene here on London Post.
