Rooftop bars

Citorah PickRooftop bar · Barceloneta

NOXE

Citorah says A Japanese fine-dining restaurant with a cocktail bar and club on the 26th floor.

Citorah PickRooftop bar

La Galana

Citorah says A rooftop terrace over the city centre, for cocktails and food.

Citorah PickRooftop bar · Gothic Quarter

L'Àtic

Citorah says No entry fee, no minimum spend and no booking: the best old-city view in Barcelona for the price of a drink.

Citorah PickRooftop bar · Eixample

La Terraza del Pulitzer

Citorah says A roof terrace six floors up, just off Plaça de Catalunya, with DJs and bands.

Citorah PickRooftop bar · Eixample

La Dolce Vitae

Citorah says The Majestic's rooftop restaurant and bar looks out over the Sagrada Família, the sea and the skyline, and it's open every day of the year.

The catch It's the priciest drink on this list: the menu sets a minimum cocktail price of €20.

Citorah PickRooftop bar · Eixample

Terrat

Citorah says The Mandarin Oriental's seasonal rooftop, with panoramic views above Passeig de Gràcia.

The catch The months it opens aren't published, so check before you go out of summer.

Citorah PickRooftop bar · Bairro Alto

Park

Citorah says Park is the rooftop bar Lisbon locals send you to, partly for the bar and partly for the joke of finding it. It sits on the top floor of a multi-storey car park in Bairro Alto — you walk into what looks like an ordinary parking garage, take the lift to the top, and step out into a leafy terrace bar with a long view over the city to the river and the 25 de Abril bridge.

Citorah PickRooftop bar · Avenida Liberdade

Sky Bar

Citorah says The Sky Bar on top of the Tivoli on Avenida da Liberdade is the city's polished rooftop standard — cocktails, a DJ, a view down the grand boulevard. Smart crowd, central, busy on weekend nights.

Citorah PickRooftop bar · Baixa / Chiado

Entretanto

Best for a sunset drink before a Bairro Alto night

Citorah says The Entretanto rooftop on the Hotel do Chiado has one of the most central views in Lisbon — straight across the rooftops of Baixa to the castle on its hill. Compact, well-placed, excellent for a sunset drink before a Bairro Alto night.

Citorah PickRooftop bar

Hotel Mundial rooftop

Citorah says The Hotel Mundial rooftop looks across to the Castelo de São Jorge floodlit on its hill — one of the best castle views in the city, and less hyped than the Avenida rooftops.

Citorah PickRooftop bar

TOPO

Citorah says TOPO sits on the sixth floor of the Martim Moniz shopping centre, with a direct castle view. Relaxed, design-led, a younger crowd than the hotel rooftops.

Citorah PickRooftop bar

Sky Garden

Citorah says The Sky Garden crowns 20 Fenchurch Street — the "Walkie-Talkie" building — with three floors of landscaped public garden and an open-air terrace 155 metres up. The view is the best free panorama in London: the Shard at eye level, the Thames threading through the City, St Paul's below.

Citorah PickRooftop bar

Frank's Cafe

Citorah says Frank's Cafe is the one locals actually love. It sits on top of a multi-storey car park in Peckham, it's open only in summer (roughly June–September), and it has been a south London institution for over a decade.

Citorah PickRooftop bar

Savage Garden

Citorah says A 12th-floor terrace near Tower Bridge with one of the best Tower-and-Thames views in the City. Polished, cocktail-led, after-work-into-evening crowd.

Citorah PickRooftop bar

Florattica

Citorah says A plant-draped rooftop near Aldgate — prettier and more relaxed than the glass-and-steel City norm, strong for a golden-hour drink.

Citorah PickRooftop bar

Netil360

Citorah says On top of Netil House in London Fields — a Hackney rooftop with an east London view, a relaxed crowd, and a programme of events through summer. The east-London counterpart to Frank's.

Citorah PickRooftop bar

Peckham Levels

Citorah says The wider Peckham rooftop-and-warehouse cluster — Peckham Levels (another car-park conversion) and the Bussey Building rooftop — runs the younger, later, more music-led version of the rooftop evening.