The Best Rooftop Bars In London

If there’s one thing that’s better when done on a rooftop, it’s literally everything.

And that includes drinking.

Which is why we’ve nobly taken it upon ourselves to put together a comprehensive guide to the very best rooftop bars in London for 2024. And so get ready to raise your glass…

…several floors up.

JUMP TO: EAST LONDON | NORTH LONDON | WEST LONDON | SOUTH LONDON

CENTRAL LONDON

Seabird | Blackfriars

This stunning seafood restaurant is a collaboration with Brooklyn’s Maison Première. And if those New Yorkers know how to do anything, it’s swanky cocktail bars surrounded by skyscrapers. Also pizza and bagels, but you can’t get those here.

Details: Top floor of The Hoxton, 40 Blackfriars Road, London, SE1 8PB | Walk-ins only for drinks
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Forza Wine at the National | Southbank

Sure, Forza Wine’s new central London outpost may not share the same altitude as its Peckham predecessor – but the cocktails here are still at their peak. It’s exactly the kind of stylishly relaxed pre-theatre spot the South Bank was missing, but it’s worth coming here for the natural wines, Italian small plates and soft serves in their own right…

Details: National Theatre, Upper Ground, London SE1 9PX | Book here
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Queen Elizabeth Hall Rooftop Garden | Southbank

An unexpectedly verdant spot atop a brutalist landmark with riverside views, vibrant flower beds stocked with over 200 species of plant life, and a shed bar shaking up cocktails inspired by the garden itself.

Details: Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, SE1 8XX | Reopens 15th May
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Radio Rooftop Bar | Aldwych

The cocktails lean towards the expensive side… but what you’re really paying for here is the view: you can see Tower Bridge, The Shard, St. Paul’s, Tate Modern, Somerset House, the London Eye, and the Houses of Parliament at the same time.

Details: ME London, 336-337 Strand, WC2R 1HA | Currently closed for renovation
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The Rooftop | Trafalgar Square

Now not only can you have a cocktail whilst practically locking eyes with Lord Nelson, you can do it all year round, thanks to the retractable canopies that have been stitched onto this super-central rooftop bar overlooking Nelson’s Column.

Details: 2 Spring Gardens, Trafalgar Square, SW1A 2TS | Book here | Please note there is a min. spend of £50pp
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12th Knot | Southbank

We’re going to level with you here: 12th Knot has a very small outdoor area – it’s just a balcony, essentially. But… the drinks are delicious, and the views take in one of the nicest bits of the Thames. So on balance, it’s totally worth it.

Details: 20 Upper Ground, South Bank, SE1 9PD | Book here

ROOFTOP BARS IN THE CITY & EAST LONDON

Los Mochis London City | Liverpool Street

It’s hard to top an immensely popular Japanese-Mexican fusion restaurant like Los Mochis. Unless, of course, you put the second branch of said immensely popular restaurant on the 9th floor of a glossy city skyscraper, and literally top it with a 30,000sq ft rooftop bar and terrace with DJs, cocktails, and a roving Champagne trolley.

Details: 9th Floor, 100 Liverpool St, London EC2M 2AT | Book here
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The Rooftop Bar at 100 Shoreditch | Shoreditch

Another one to file under ‘balcony’, but this pretty pink-hued drinkery is set along a long stretch across the front of the stylish 100 Shoreditch hotel. If you step outside onto the terrace, you’ll see a beautiful panoramic view looking out over the city across to the west, meaning you might catch a Grade A sunset while you’re up there.

Details: 100 Shoreditch High Street, E1 6JQ | No bookings
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Netil 360 | London Fields

It’s part workspace, part gallery, part café… but despite all their adorable attempts to get your attention, all you really care about here is the rooftop bar. It’s a spacious, festoon-lit terrace with pizzas, pitchers of cocktails, and DJs. And if you want to recover the morning after? The other side of their rooftop is home to half a dozen saunas with amazing views…

Details: 1 Westgate Street, E8 3RL | Book here
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Boundary | Shoreditch

Shoreditch has seen it all: nuns, factory owners, criminals, and prostitutes. Now it boasts a firepit-laden roof terrace with 360-degree views across the chimneys of the East End. And hipsters.

Details: 2-4 Boundary Street, E2 7DD | No bookings for drinks
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Allegra | Stratford

Despite being on the 7th floor, Allegra’s terrace isn’t technically a rooftop bar – because the rest of The Stratford Hotel is somehow magically floating above it, which makes it one of the more architecturally unusual spots to get a couple of high-altitude drinks in…

Details: The Stratford, 20 International Way, London E20 1FD | Book here
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Sushisamba | The City

Perched atop the Salesforce (née Heron) Tower by Liverpool Street, Sushisamba’s rooftop bar combines Japanese cocktails with incredible city views. And a bright orange, life-size, tree.

Details: 110 Bishopsgate, EC2N 4AY | Bookings for meals, drinks on a walk-in basis
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The Culpeper | Spitalfields

The Culpeper’s rooftop bar serves signature cocktails made with herbs and botanicals grown on that very rooftop. Then it throws in a menu of stellar British small plates and a view of the City’s towering skyline as a garnish.

Details: 40 Commercial Street, E1 6LP | Walk-ins from 4pm
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Jin Bo Law | The City

They say no-one’s above the Jin Bo Law…

…probably because it’s on the 14th floor of the Dorsett City Hotel in Aldgate. And while the inside view’s pretty great (the bar is in the shape of an illuminated pineapple), the outside view drops you right in the middle of the City’s eclectic skyline. Oh, and they have a contortionist… ready to serve your martini with a twist.

Details: 9 Aldgate High Street, EC3N 1AH | Book here
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Madison | Bank

A rooftop bar directly overlooking St. Paul’s Cathedral – where you’ll also be treated to DJ sets, Josper grilled steaks & swanky cocktails like the Deluxe Pornstar Martini, which comes with white chocolate angel wings and edible gold.

Details: Rooftop Terrace, One New Change, EC4M 9AF | No bookings for drinks, £20 entry may apply at busy times

ROOFTOP BARS IN NORTH LONDON

Abbey Tavern | Kentish Town

As well as a spacious beer garden and a truly excellent lineup of craft beers, the Abbey Tavern also has a chilled-out roof terrace. It’s the very nearly literal cherry on top.

Details: 124 Kentish Town Road, NW1 9QB | Book here
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Faltering Fullback | Finsbury Park

One of the quirkier, more unusual pubs in London, the FF is virtually hidden within its own foliage. Soak up the atmosphere inside, then soak up the sun outside from its multi-storey beer garden.

Details: 19 Perth Road, N4 3HB | Walk-ins only
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ROOFTOP BARS IN WEST LONDON

Studio Frantzen | Knightsbridge

Studio Franzen is already a pretty incredible restaurant, so adding a roof terrace really is just gilding the lily. And as gildings go, this one’s absolutely lovely. The top floor space is awash with wood, stone, and greenery, all illuminated by the glow festoon lighting. And the view? Well, you’re on top of Harrods overlooking one of the prettiest parts of London, so it’s not terrible. The drinks are all inventive & delicious, ranging from the punchy Nobel (with cherry wine, aquavit, and liquorice), to the Hartass, which involves lingonberry, blackcurrant, sloe gin, yuzushu, champagne, and gold. Oh, and it’s got a roof juuuust in case.

Details: Harrods rooftop, 87-135 Brompton Road, SW1X 7XL | Book here
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The Broadcaster | Shepherd’s Bush

The Broadcaster pub & restaurant comes to you from the people behind The Lighterman, and sits in the White City development that was once home to the legendary BBC telly studios. Head on up to the venue’s open-air rooftop, and you’ll find a large, wood-filled space lined by tables & olive trees, and covered with an extremely useful retractable roof. It all looks down over the iconic courtyard below, and you can see the BBC’s familiar white-dotted Television Centre logo right there at eye-level…

Details: The Broadcaster, 89 Wood Lane, W12 7FX | Book here
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Skylark | Paddington

With its frozen cocktails and jaunty striped parasols, Skylark would feel a million miles from London – were it not for the rooftop views of the city all around you.

Details: 10th Floor, 4 Kingdom Street, London, W2 6BD | Book here
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The Lyric | Hammersmith

Jim Stephenson

Perched on top of the Lyric Hammersmith, the theatre’s roof terrace threatens to steal the show with verdant palms, booze, and a healthy dose of sun.

Details: Lyric Hammersmith, Lyric Square, W6 0QL | No bookings

ROOFTOP BARS IN SOUTH LONDON

Joia | Battersea

It’s another of those uber-swish hotel rooftops where the swimming pool is just a room key beyond your reach. But it’s just as well, because going for a swim would only leave you with less time to enjoy the live music, frozen cocktails, and Portuguese dishes by laureled chef Henrique Sá Pessoa.

Details: art’otel Battersea, 1 Electric Boulevard, Nine Elms, London SW11 8BJ | Book here
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The Midnight Apothecary | Rotherhithe

The term “rooftop campfire botanical cocktail bar with marshmallows” gets thrown around a lot these days. Oh, wait, we’re thinking of the other one. It gets thrown around almost never. But in the case of Midnight Apothecary, it’s justified.

Details: Brunel Museum Rooftop, Railway Avenue, SE16 4LF | Book tickets
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Bussey Rooftop Bar | Peckham

The Bussey Building’s rooftop bar has everything a good rooftop bar should have: cocktails, street food (from Share A Slice), and several floors beneath it.

Details: Copeland Park and Bussey Building, 133 Copeland Road, SE15 4SL | Book here
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Forza Wine | Peckham

Sister to Camberwell’s Forza Win, this rooftop bar also dishes up glorious Italian cooking, cocktails and natural wine. And the panoramic views are alright, too.

Details: Floor 5, 133a Rye Lane, Peckham, SE15 4BQ | Book here
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The Corin | Tooting

Sitting three floors above the busy Tooting Broadway intersection, The Corin not only boasts a pretty spacious and well-dressed roof terrace, but also frequently fills that terrace with live musicians. Add to that some interesting cocktails, pan-Asian dishes, and a retractable roof, and this bar wouldn’t look out of place in Soho.

Details: 54A Tooting High Street, SW17 0RN | Book here
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Frank’s Cafe | Peckham

97% of the people who visit multi-storey car parks after dark do so with the primary intention of scoring a “non-pool related” eight-ball. The other 3% are there for Frank’s Campari Bar: the original and best rooftop-bar-on-top-of-a-Peckham-car-park-specialising-in-classic-Italian-aperitivi, where you can take in the setting sun over the London skyline with a negroni in hand.

Details: 10th Floor, Multi Storey Car Park, 95A Rye Lane, SE15 4ST | Reopens 17th May 2024

If you like rooftop bars… then chances are you’ll like these stunning viewpoints in London, too