London’s best views are not always the highest ones — the table, the season, and the hour decide the evening
The rooftop bars London visitors talk about fall into three kinds: the public viewing towers in the City, the hotel terraces along the river, and the restaurants set within the tall buildings of the South Bank. They look similar from a distance and behave very differently on the day. Rooftop bars in London are also seasonal in a way that Dubai’s are not, and the sunset a guest is hoping for may arrive before four in the afternoon or after nine o’clock, depending on the month.
The City towers. Sky Garden occupies the top three floors of 20 Fenchurch Street and combines a public viewing space with restaurants and bars. Free public entry is booked online in timed slots, and guests with a restaurant reservation have access with it, so a restaurant booking is also the most reliable way in.
The South Bank. The Shard holds three restaurants on floors 31 to 33 — Aqua Shard, Oblix, and Hutong — with the Shangri-La Hotel above them from floor 34 to floor 52. This is a vertical neighbourhood in its own right: a dinner here is an evening, not a drink.
The hotel terraces. The smaller, lower terraces on the riverside and in the West End give a different London, closer to the rooftops themselves. Radio Rooftop at ME London, on the tenth floor of the hotel on the Strand, is the type of terrace we mean.
A London rooftop is best chosen by what the evening is for.
A first drink with a client wants a quiet table and a view that does not need explaining. A celebration wants a restaurant with a kitchen, which is why the rooftop restaurants London guests book for birthdays are usually inside the towers rather than on open terraces. A last evening in the city wants the widest view and the latest sunset available.
The practical question is always the same: which direction does the terrace face, and what will the light be doing at the time of the booking?
The city’s rooftops are shaped by the weather. In summer the sunset is late and the terraces are full; in winter it arrives in the afternoon and the best seats are often indoors behind glass. The terrace season runs from late spring to early autumn, with the longest days around the June solstice, when the sun sets after nine o’clock.
Our guides to rooftop restaurants in Dubai and rooftop bars in New York follow the same logic.
Tell us the evening, and we will find the table with the view you want
A rooftop is rarely the whole evening. Our fine dining and nightlife service handles the dinner before and the late table after, and our business concierge team supports client evenings where the room, the table, and the timing all matter.
We choose the terrace by direction and season, not by popularity; hold the table for the hour of the sunset; arrange a sheltered alternative; and book the car before and after. You see the skyline, and none of the planning.
It depends on the evening. The City towers offer public views, the Shard offers dining high above the river, and hotel terraces offer a quieter drink. We choose by direction and season
Yes, and for sunset in summer it is advisable. Tables at the best-placed terraces go first
Sky Garden is a public viewing space on the top floors of 20 Fenchurch Street with restaurants and bars. Entry is free in timed slots booked online, and restaurant guests have access with their reservation
Late spring to early autumn for terraces. In winter the evenings are short, and the best seats are indoors
Yes. The Shard holds three restaurants on floors 31 to 33 alone, and several hotels operate rooftop kitchens
