Rooftop bars: London from above

Rooftop bars: London from above

Seeing and being seen, while sipping on a cocktail. Or enjoying a mouthful and letting the breeze awaken your senses. Where? In London, of course!
 

Rumpus Bar
Vodka martini. Shaken not stirred. The Rumpus Bar on the roof terrace of the new Mondrian Hotel is furnished with so much gold, copper and velvet upholstery that you feel as if you are back in the glamorous era of the old James Bond films. Throughout the hotel you will see the glint of metal and brass fittings. Designer Tom Dixon took his inspiration from the maritime past of the hotel in the famous Sea Containers building on the south bank of the Thames. Standing on the terrace on the 12th floor, drink in hand, you have a wonderful view of St Paul’s Cathedral. And it’s obvious that the London of the 21st century is spiralling upwards – the city is undergoing a skyscraper boom. 

20 Upper Ground, SE1, Tues + Weds 17–1, Thurs, Fri + Sat 17–1.30 (reservation required), Tel. +44 (0)20 37 47 10 00; Underground: Blackfriars
www.morganshotelgroup.com/mondrian/mondrian-london

Aqua
The Shard – the 310-metre high, sharply pointed building with a façade made completely from glass, close to London Bridge and designed by Renzo Piano – is a shining example of the trend for tall buildings. Visitors get goose bumps when they stand by the windows of the Aqua Bar on the 31st floor and look out on a spectacular panorama. Alongside the view, the main feature here is the cocktails, for example the “City Lights”, which is made from genever, apricot liqueur and lime juice.

Level 31, The Shard, 31 St Thomas Street, SE1, Mon–Fri 7–10.30, 12–22.45; Sat + Sun 9–15.30, 18–22.45 (reservation required), Tel. +44 (0)20 30 11 12 56; Underground: London Bridge
www.aquashard.co.uk

Radio Rooftop Bar
The Radio Rooftop Bar on the 10th floor of the ME Hotel in Covent Garden offers drinks, tapas and a view of the city. Time Out magazine’s satirical description of the atmosphere is “a ‘Sex and the City’ destination for long-legged model types”.

ME Hotel, 336–337 The Strand, WC2, Mon–Wed 12–1, Thurs–Sat 12–3, Sun 12–22.30 (reservation required), Tel. +44 (0)845 601 89 80/+44 (0)20 73 95 34 00; Underground: Temple
www.melia.com/hotel/united kingdom/radio-rooftop-bar

Boundary Rooftop Bar
If you prefer to rub shoulders with London’s creative avant-garde, head further east. Among the trendy pubs in Shoreditch, you will find the Boundary Rooftop Bar on the 10th floor of a boutique hotel, where you can look out between the olive trees over the roofs of the East End.
 
2–4 Boundary Street, E2, Mon–Sat 18–24 (reservation required), Tel. +44 (0)20 77 29 10 51; Underground: Liverpool Street
www.theboundary.co.uk

Dalston Roof Park
The relaxed Dalston Roof Park, which is also in east London, has a casual atmosphere: bright green lawns, colourful flower borders and a wide range of bottled beers on the roof of a former printworks in Hackney. This is allegedly where you will find more artists to the square mile than anywhere else in the city.

The Print House, 18 Ashwin Street, E8, Mon–Fri 9–17 (in summer), Tel. +44 (0)20 72 75 08 25; Underground: Dalston Junction (1 min.) or Dalston Kingsland (3 min.)
www.bootstrapcompany.co.uk

Frank’s Café
Creative students have opened up new territory in Peckham in south London. There’s a definite feeling of excitement in the air. In particular in Frank’s Café on the 10th floor of a car park where the in-crowd meets in the summer months to drink Campari. The most important thing is to visit on a day when there’s no wind.

10th floor, Peckham multi-storey car park, 95A Rye Lane, SE15, Tues–Fri 17–23, Sat + Sun 11–23 (summer only), reservations only possible Tues–Thurs; Train from Victoria or London Bridge to Peckham Rye
www.frankscafe.org.uk

Midnight Apothecary Pop-Up Garden
One of the many surprises that south London has to offer can be found in the old port district of Rotherhithe. Alongside the Brunel Museum, a spiral staircase leads up to a small roof terrace. This is the Midnight Apothecary Pop-Up Garden, an idyllic setting where flowers, herbs and vegetables grow around a small cocktail bar. The basil for your basil daiquiri will be freshly picked and sometimes a local resident plays the guitar. It’s magical here on a summer evening. Just how you’d like London to be.

Railway Avenue, Rotherhithe, SE16, only open in summer, Tel. +44 (0)7917 54 84 75 or info@thecocktailgardener.co.uk; Train to Rotherhithe (a 1 minute walk) www.thecocktailgardener.co.uk/midnight-apothecary

Text: Josephine Grever