The top 12 prettiest rooftop bars in Paris

Rooftop Bar at Hôtel Dame des Arts

Few visitors to the rooftop of this slick new Left Bank hotel resist the incredible photo ops – a mighty 360-degree panorama of Paris, from the Sacré-Coeur to the Eiffel Tower and La Défense looming in the hinterland. Very much the place to be (its sibling, the Hôtel des Grands Voyageurs, isn’t lacking in the cool stakes either), the cocktail list runs short but aims high, with notably original signatures like the Ipanema (featuring Campari infused with coconut oil) offered alongside a beautifully tart umeshu-spiked spritz, and premium gin and tonic pairings. The food menu is similarly concise, nominally paying homage to Mexico but ranging further afield via dishes like Georgian-style pkhali (tapenades), which arrive in spinach, beetroot and white corn versions. Do try to get a table on the right-hand side – the bar at the far end also has excellent views – to drink in the splendour of the Eiffel Tower.

Address: Rooftop Bar Hôtel Dame des Arts, 4 Rue Danton, 75006 Paris
Open: April to October
Website: damedesarts.com

Bar Sur Le Toit at La Fantaisie

Forget muzak: as you ride up to the 7th-floor bar of the new Faubourg Montmartre hotel La Fantaisie, you’re greeted by the surreal soundtrack of chirping birds, reflecting the venue’s bucolic tone (Rue Cadet, where it sits, is named after master gardeners Jacques and Jean Cadet). Once you’ve recovered from the candy-striped wallpaper and pink velvet dominating the bar – the hotel’s décor is by maximalist Martin Brudnizki, also behind Annabel’s in London – head out into the secret garden-like terrace, where tables sit amid olive trees. Chef Dominique Crenn, whose San Francisco restaurant holds three stars, has leant a California vibe to the cocktails, which win extra points for their names (the Twin Peaks Swizzle, say). From the roof, you can spot another of the hotel’s joys below: the epic courtyard garden – an explosion of parasols and plants – adjoining Crenn’s on-site restaurant, Golden Poppy.

Address: Bar Sur Le Toit at Hôtel La Fantaisie, 24 Rue Cadet, 75009 Paris
Open: All-year
Website: lafantaisie.com

ROOF at Madame Rêve

You can hear the sparkle of conversation before the lift doors even open. High atop the iconic Louvre Post Office building, in the dreamy Madame Rêve Hotel, this hanging garden is pretty much the definition of a destination bar. Well-heeled Parisians sprawl out playing pool, smoking at the bar, and reclining on the lounge chairs strategically oriented towards the golden sunset. The city also sprawls before their eyes: St. Eustache church, Notre Dame (whose restoration advances apace) and a distant Eiffel Tower all vying for attention alongside the dreamy cocktails and Japanese-style finger food. Arrive early (hotel guests get right of way until 4pm) in “chic, elegant attire” – as the establishment requests – to snag a table with the best views. Then try the Summer Garden (Hendrick’s plus plant caviar, St-Germain and Prosecco) or fresh sushi rolls at the gigantic marble bar (yes, there’s an on-site sushi master).

Address: ROOF at Madame Rêve, 48 rue du Louvre, 75001 Paris
Open: Spring to autumn
Website: madamereve.com

Sequoia Rooftop Bar at the Kimpton St. Honoré

Sandwiched between the imposing Place Vendôme and the spectacular Opéra Garnier, Sequoia unsurprisingly delivers on beauty. Despite the bar’s small size, it has some of the best views of Paris; you can see nearly every major monument in the city. While the bar’s patrons are more tourists than locals (many are hotel guests), the views and hospitality are the reasons to go – indeed, while Paris has its fair share of surly staff, Sequoia is a welcome exception. When it comes to the menu, the finger food (sushi, hummus, etc.) is limited and expensive, but tasty and served with care. There’s also an extensive range of spritzes if you tire of the classic Aperol; the Parisian features Paris-born artisanal plant liqueur Candide. Note that there’s a minimum spend of €40 per head, though you’ll likely go over that if you have a bite and a drink.

Address: Sequoia Rooftop Bar at the Kimpton St. Honoré, 27-29 Boulevard des Capucines, 75002 Paris
Open: Spring to autumn on sunny days
Website: sequoiabar.com

Kitchen Garden Rooftop at Brach

While bars by nature provide a respite from the bustle of daily life, Brach’s rooftop bar lets you escape it entirely. Rare among its kind, the venue doubles as the hotel restaurant’s “potager” (kitchen garden), replete with berries, herbs, a Norwegian bath that can be privatised – and, even more unusually, a chicken coop; the result is unusually tranquil for Paris, with wafts of lavender from the garden drifting through the crowd. At Brach, every detail counts (as one would expect, given that the five-star design was by Philippe Starck). Cocktails, while as expensive as the chi-chi neighbourhood would suggest, are elevated takes on classics: the Aperol Spritz replaces standard prosecco with French Champagne and the Prado deploys premium Cuban rum. The bar snacks are meanwhile virtuous and not to be missed: you can either go for a fruit platter or a market garden basket featuring vegetables with a dip of your choice. While an older clientele might surround you than at other hip rooftop bars (perhaps due to the hotel’s bourgeois location), this only adds to the blissfully serene vibe.

Address: Kitchen Garden Rooftop at Brach, 1-7 Rue Jean Richepin, 750016 Paris
Open: From spring (closed mid-July to late August)
Website: brachparis.com

Maggie Rooftop

Sitting atop the sexy boutique Hôtel Rochechouart and setting a stylish note with its striped green and white awnings, this glamorous rooftop bar in central Pigalle is one of Paris’ best-kept secrets. Maggie has a panoramic view of the city, with a mesmerising spotlight on the Sacré-Cœur Basilica, located just north of here. The cocktails are creative and fun, with spirits from Japan’s haute distillery Nikka Whisky the star of the show; the Yuzu Julep replaces the usual bourbon with Nikka Coffey gin, also swapping out mint for tarragon. On the food front, sharing plates mine newly launched restaurant Maggie’s modern Med-meets-NYC ethos: grilled octopus and sauce vierge riding alongside prime Charolais-beef pastrami toast.

Address: Maggie Rooftop, 55 Boulevard de Rochechouart - 75009 Paris
Open: Now
Website: hotelrochechouart.com

Rooftop at the Hôtel mk2 Paradiso

Most visitors don’t pilgrimage to Nation, but it’s well worth heading east for this cinephile-approved rooftop bar – attached to the first-ever hotel venture by French arthouse cinema giant mk2. You may be confused when you arrive: the hotel’s relatively discreet entrance is next to the chain’s local cinema, and the lift leading to the rooftop bar is also easy to miss. However, once the doors open and you climb the steps, you find yourself in a grassy oasis. Sit in a swing chair to enjoy the sunshine or nab a larger table on the teak deck below – both have views over the neighbourhood’s skyline, with the Eiffel Tower just about visible in the distance. If you seek a substantial meal, this isn’t the place, but for margaritas and typical movie snacks like popcorn and hot dogs, it’s just the ticket – and, on Sunday evenings during summer months, the bar plays classic and cult films starting at 9.30pm.

Address: Rooftop at the Hôtel mk2 Paradiso, 135 Boulevard Diderot, 75012 Paris
Open: Early summer to September
Website: mk2hotelparadiso.com

The Shed at the Hôtel des Grands Boulevards

With only a smattering of tables and views onto the calm hotel courtyard below (though there is one banquette with a street view), The Shed might be Paris’ smallest rooftop bar (it certainly lives up to its name). Teetering above the Grands Boulevards below, one can escape the noisy streets and enjoy a quiet apéro hour high above it all. Given that high-flying owners the Experimental Group started with a pioneering Paris craft cocktail bar, the drinks list has nothing to envy from rivals when it comes to creativity; the cocktails are also markedly well-priced for Paris and split into three categories denoting their ABV: No Shed, One Shed and the boozier Two Shed – the latter including De Notre Potager, a libation featuring infusions and herbs plucked from the bar’s rooftop garden. The Shed also serves snacks such as quesadillas and tartines with tuna, tomato, and harissa made in the restaurant below. If the weather lets you down, retreat to the ground-floor Shell Bar, which is invariably buzzing with sophisticates.

Address: The Shed at the Hôtel des Grands Boulevards, 17 Boulevard Poissonnière, 75002 Paris
Open: Spring to autumn
Website: grandsboulevardshotel.com

Villa M Rooftop

Another Philippe Starck design, four-star La Villa M is a recent addition to Paris’ 15th arrondissement – a lesser-stomped zone not far from Montparnasse and the superb Musée Bourdelle. The leafy green rooftop bar (mirroring the hotel’s sustainable ambitions, as per the foliage-packed façade) seemingly levitates in mid-air, surveying the Eiffel Tower – and, alas, the eyesore that is the Tour de Montparnasse. To drink, there are signature cocktails (such as the mezcal- and vermouth-fuelled Yucatan) and classic favourites (margaritas come frozen or spicy). There’s also a robust wine menu. Rather unusually by Paris roof bar standards, there’s even an extensive food menu, ranging from snackable stuff (tarama or hummus with pita) to top-loaded bruschettas, salads and heartier rib-eye steaks with frites and béarnaise sauce.

Address: Villa M Rooftop, 24-30 Boulevard Pasteur, 75015 Paris
Open: April to September
Website: en.hotelvillam-paris15.com

Rooftop Le Molitor

Fancy having a cocktail at a veritable Paris institution? The Molitor first opened its doors in 1929, allowing the chicest Parisians to swim, drink and mingle around a sublime aquamarine pool. Today, the hotel (reborn a decade after falling into disrepair in the eighties) is a beautifully refurbished relic of Paris’ Années Folles, more akin to Miami than France thanks to its glorious Art Deco architecture. Rooftop Le Molitor allows guests to gather for ambrosial cocktails (drinks partner St-Germain features heavily, from spritzes to the curaçao-spiked Rio de Janeiro 2016) or meals overlooking the iconic outdoor pool and the Eiffel Tower beyond. They also offer regular Sunday workshops in mixology or street art. Reservations for meals are essential, but walk-ins can always grab drinks in the rooftop’s more casual Solarium.

Address: Rooftop Le Molitor, 6 Avenue de la Porte Molitor, 75016 Paris
Open: May to September
Website: molitorparis.com

Le Bar à Bulles at La Machine du Moulin Rouge

Rising above the crooked streets of Montmartre atop concert venue La Machine du Moulin Rouge is that ever-elusive thing known by the travel press (and consistently sought out by the savvy traveller) as a “hidden gem”: Le Bar à Bulles (Bubble Bar in English). The crowd is young and hip – very hip. So hip, that one wonders if they come with the eclectic décor, all mismatched chairs and hanging plants. Sit at an outdoor table under the light of a funky lamp that must have come from a French granny’s house and look onto the Moulin Rouge’s famous giant red windmill (one of the blades famously fell off in April 2024). Drinks are reasonably priced and delectable; their “gintos” are organic, and their wines slant natural or biodynamic. The music can only be described as “Shazam-able”: it’s new, loud and bouncy. The bar also hosts multiple well-attended monthly events (magazine launches, bartending courses, and art talks are all par for the course) and a popular Sunday brunch (reservation essential).

Address: Le Bar à Bulles at La Machine du Moulin Rouge, 90 Boulevard de Clichy, 75018 Paris
Open: All-year
Website: lamachinedumoulinrouge.com