Ten of Europe's Best Rooftop Bars

There is a particular kind of evening that only a good rooftop bar can deliver. The city noise softens a few floors below, the light goes golden, and whatever was stressful about the day quietly becomes irrelevant. Europe does this well - perhaps better than anywhere - because the cities themselves are so extraordinary that looking down on them from above can feel genuinely revelatory. Here are ten rooftop bars that earn that view.

A for Athens, Athens

The name is almost too on the nose, but Athens delivers something genuinely special here. A for Athens sits in the heart of Monastiraki, a neighbourhood already buzzing with energy, and its rooftop terrace puts you directly at eye level with the Acropolis. Not in the distance, not as a smudge on the horizon - right there, lit gold as the sun goes down, close enough that you can make out the columns of the Parthenon while you sip something cold.

The drinks list is well-considered without being overwrought, the staff are relaxed, and the crowd tends to be a good mix of travellers and locals who know the value of what they are looking at. Come for sunset and stay into the evening when the Acropolis floodlights come on and the whole thing takes on an entirely different character. Book a table - this one fills up.

High Note SkyBar, Budapest

The Aria Hotel on Hercegprímás Street is a music-themed boutique hotel a short walk from St. Stephen's Basilica, and its rooftop bar is one of the best in Budapest. The High Note SkyBar sits at the top of the building with an uninterrupted view over the Basilica's dome and, on a clear evening, across the full sweep of Pest towards the Danube. The bar itself is elegant without being stiff - proper cocktails, good wine, and enough space to breathe.

Budapest has plenty of rooftop options, but this one has the edge in terms of location and quality. The Basilica at dusk, the city humming below, a Hungarian Negroni in hand - it is a combination that is hard to argue with. Non-hotel guests are welcome.

Eclipse Bar, Barcelona

The W Hotel at the end of Barceloneta beach is, architecturally speaking, a statement. It rises straight up from the waterfront like a giant sail, and its 26th-floor Eclipse Bar makes the most of that position with views that take in the beach, the Mediterranean, and the city beyond. Barcelona is a city that looks exceptional from above, and the combination of sea air and a well-made cocktail - try the local vermut if you want to go native - makes this feel like the holiday you came for.

Dress code is smart-casual and the bar gets busy from early evening. A table reservation is strongly recommended in summer, when the terrace fills quickly with hotel guests and visitors who have made the trip specifically for this. Arrive as the sun is heading down over the city - the light across Barceloneta at that hour is worth the effort alone.

360° Bar, Dubrovnik

Most cities have rooftop bars that look out over the city. Dubrovnik has one built into its medieval city walls, looking down onto the Old Town harbour and straight out across the Adriatic. The 360° Bar sits just above the Buža Gate on the old fortifications, and the view it offers - the terracotta rooftops of the Old Town below, the deep blue of the sea stretching to the horizon, the island of Lokrum a short distance offshore - is about as good as Europe gets.

The cocktail list is international and reliable, the atmosphere is lively without being rowdy, and the setting more than compensates for the prices, which reflect both the quality and the address. Sunsets here are dramatic in the best possible way. It is the kind of place that makes you want to extend your stay.

La Terrazza, Florence

Hotel Continentale sits on the Lungarno Acciaiuoli, right beside the Ponte Vecchio, and its rooftop terrace is one of the better-kept secrets of Florence. La Terrazza is a small, intimate bar - not a large hotel terrace but a proper perch above the Arno, with the Ponte Vecchio to your left and the hills of Oltrarno rising in the distance. The view down the river at dusk, with the bridge lights coming on and the water going the colour of the sky, is quietly magnificent.

The drinks are good, the food menu is light - Aperol Spritzes and small plates - and the atmosphere is civilised rather than shouty. It is a lovely place to decompress after a day of Uffizi queues and cobblestone miles. Tables are limited, so booking ahead is essential, particularly in summer.

PARK Bar, Lisbon

Lisbon is one of Europe's hilliest cities, which means rooftop bars here start with a natural advantage - you are already halfway up before you even step in the lift. PARK Bar takes things further. It occupies the top floor of a multi-storey car park in the Bica neighbourhood, reached by a utilitarian service lift that gives no hint whatsoever of what is waiting at the top. What is waiting at the top is a wide, lush terrace with sweeping views across the red-roofed city to the Tagus estuary below.

The vibe is relaxed and unpretentious - cold beers, Super Bock on tap, decent cocktails, and a crowd that is entirely unbothered about the fact that they are sitting on a car park roof. Which is rather the point. PARK does everything right without trying too hard, and on a warm Lisbon evening with the light going copper over the river, that is exactly what you want.

360 Istanbul

Istanbul is a city of extraordinary drama and, from the right vantage point, the view of the old city - the minarets of the Blue Mosque, the dome of the Hagia Sophia, the Bosphorus glittering between Europe and Asia - is one of the great urban panoramas on earth. The 360 Istanbul bar on İstiklal Avenue in the Beyoğlu district makes the most of its position on the eighth floor of the Mısır Apartmanı, an early 20th-century arcade building, with a terrace that looks south across the rooftops towards the Golden Horn and the old city skyline.

The bar is well established and the cocktail menu is consistently good. Istanbul can be warm well into October, which means the outdoor terrace season is longer here than almost anywhere else on this list. An evening sundowner with the call to prayer drifting up from the mosques below is a distinctly Istanbul experience, and one that is not easily forgotten.

La Terrazza dell'Eden, Rome

The Hotel Eden on Via Ludovisi has been one of Rome's grandest addresses for over a century, and its rooftop restaurant and bar carries that pedigree onto the terrace. La Terrazza looks out across the Roman roofline with St. Peter's dome visible in the distance and the Villa Borghese gardens to the north - a view that manages to be both spectacular and surprisingly peaceful, given the city's usual energy level at street level.

This is the dressier end of the rooftop bar spectrum - Rome at its most elegant, which is saying something. The cocktail list is impeccable, the service is formal without being cold, and the food, if you stay for dinner, is exceptional. Come for aperitivo hour and let the city talk you into staying longer.

Azotea del Círculo, Madrid

The Círculo de Bellas Artes is one of Madrid's great cultural institutions, a magnificent Beaux-Arts building on Calle de Alcalá whose seventh-floor terrace has become one of the most popular spots in the city for a drink with a view. The Azotea del Círculo is a proper 360-degree rooftop - you can walk the full perimeter and take in the Gran Vía, the Puerta del Sol, the Retiro park, and the mountains beyond the city on the clearest days.

A small entry fee applies, which is redeemable against drinks - a sensible arrangement that keeps the terrace from being overwhelmed. The crowd is a good mix of Madrileños and visitors, the atmosphere is relaxed and social, and the bar stays open late in the summer months, as all good Madrid bars should. It is a quintessentially Spanish evening out, elevated literally and figuratively.

Le Perchoir, Paris

Le Perchoir opened in the 11th arrondissement of Paris in 2013 and became, almost immediately, the rooftop bar that Parisians actually go to rather than the ones that exist primarily for tourists. It sits atop a building on rue Crespin du Gast in Ménilmontant, looking west across the city with the Eiffel Tower in the middle distance and the rooftops of eastern Paris spreading out below.

The drinks are inventive and seasonal, the food is good, and the atmosphere is the particular kind of effortlessly cool that Paris does better than anywhere. It gets very busy - arrive early or book if you can, particularly on summer weekends when half of the arrondissement seems to make the same plan at the same time. There are now other Perchoir locations across the city, but the original in the 11th still has something the others have not quite matched.