After the day’s exploring
City lights, coastal terraces and sundowners in the bush.
Pictured: Mún Rooftop Bar, Rome
From the journal destinations
A considered shortlist, not a ranking or personal review. 32 different settings across 6 countries.
32 suggestions
RooftopRome · Italy
A skybar on the eighth floor of the DoubleTree by Hilton Rome Monti, looking out over Rione Monti and the domes of Santa Maria Maggiore as the city turns golden at sunset.
RooftopPositano · Italy
The GOLD Sky Bar & Restaurant crowns HVF Villa Franca, a five-star boutique hotel in Positano’s most panoramic position, with a 360-degree sweep from the Amalfi Coast to the Lattari Mountains.
BarPositano · Italy
A colourful open-air cocktail terrace above Positano, pairing Amalfi Coast scenery with a beautifully designed setting.
RestaurantCape Town · South Africa
A contemporary Japanese dining room at Delaire Graff Estate in the Cape Winelands, where Head Chef Virgil Kahn’s à la carte and omakase menus meet one of the region’s most striking interiors.
RooftopCape Town · South Africa
Cocktails and light meals above the V&A Waterfront, in a rooftop setting atop one of Cape Town’s distinctive hotels.
RooftopCape Town · South Africa
The sixth-floor rooftop of the Gorgeous George hotel in downtown Cape Town — a sun-filled poolside terrace built for late-afternoon drinks and long, sociable evenings.
BarCape Town · South Africa
An intimate cocktail bar and nightclub on Regent Road in Sea Point, styled on the glamour of the 1980s — plush pink-and-mauve interiors, premium cocktails and a disco-inspired soundtrack.
BarMykonos · Greece
The Pool & Lounge at Cavo Tagoo Mykonos — an iconic infinity-pool scene a short walk from Mykonos Town, where signature cocktails and light bites come with floating beds and golden afternoons.
RooftopJohannesburg · South Africa
A rooftop bar above the Keyes Art Mile in Rosebank, where a flame-fired kitchen meets curated cocktails and views that stretch towards the Magaliesburg mountains.
RestaurantJohannesburg · South Africa
A 31-key Park Hyatt in a restored 1930s mansion in Rosebank, where The Lounge pours Cape wines and cosmopolitan cocktails and Room 32 serves a refined seasonal menu around a jacaranda-shaded courtyard.
RooftopCape Town · South Africa
A fifteenth-floor dining room atop the Capital Mirage in De Waterkant, with 360-degree views over the city centre, Table Mountain, Lion's Head, the Bo-Kaap and the harbour.
RestaurantCape Town · South Africa
A grand Victorian house at the foot of Kloof Street in Gardens — a collection of candle-lit rooms, a suitcase-stacked bar and a fairy-lit garden that feels a world away from the city.
RestaurantFranschhoek · South Africa
La Petite Colombe at Leeu Estates — the Franschhoek sister of the world-renowned La Colombe, bringing its acclaimed fine-dining experience to the wine valley.
RestaurantJohannesburg · South Africa
Contemporary dining on the seventh floor of The Leonardo in Sandton — at 234 metres, the tallest building in Africa — where a gold-inspired room looks out over the city.
RooftopAthens · Greece
A rooftop cocktail bar above Monastiraki, with the Acropolis making an unforgettable backdrop to an evening in Athens.
BarVictoria Falls · Zimbabwe
An alfresco sundowner spot at Victoria Falls Safari Lodge, where the setting is about the bush and the waterhole rather than a city skyline.
RooftopIstanbul · Turkey
A rooftop terrace bar at the top of The Marmara Pera, offering an elevated setting for drinks above Istanbul.
RestaurantCape Town · South Africa
An award-winning fine-dining room from chefs Ryan Cole and Nina du Toit, set inside the Roundhouse — a national monument dating back to 1786 — above Camps Bay with sweeping Atlantic and Lion’s Head views.
RestaurantCape Town · South Africa
A 30-seat tasting-menu restaurant where the chefs cook nose-to-tail from local, sustainable producers — there is no menu to choose from; you simply arrive and trust the kitchen.
RestaurantCape Town · South Africa
The V&A Waterfront sibling of Rosebank’s Marble, in the historic Union Castle building on Dock Road, where chef David Higgs celebrates South African cooking over fire.
RooftopCape Town · South Africa
A ninth-floor rooftop restaurant and cocktail lounge above Sea Point in the Kove Collection’s Station House, with 270-degree views over the Atlantic and Lion’s Head through floor-to-ceiling glass.
RestaurantMarrakech · Morocco
A Moroccan and Lebanese dinner-show institution in Guéliz, Marrakech’s modern centre, where tagines, couscous and mezze unfold to live music and dancing late into the night.
RestaurantRome · Italy
A modern urban oasis on Via Aldo Palazzeschi, where a restaurant, a club and a garden share one space under the pines — fire-focused Mediterranean cooking that flows into Rome’s longest nights.
RestaurantRome · Italy
Amerigo Troiani’s dining room on Borgo Pio, a few steps from the Vatican, where classic Roman recipes meet carefully chosen seafood in a velvet-refined setting.
RestaurantRome · Italy
A modern Italian dining room in a former church on Via dei Maroniti, two steps from the Trevi Fountain — the evolution of the much-loved ADESSO, with chef Davide Fiorini’s menu and team intact.
RestaurantAthens · Greece
An intimate chef’s-table restaurant in Petralona, where a contemporary tasting menu brings French technique together with Asian and Italian influences in the heart of Athens.
RestaurantAthens · Greece
Modern Greek fine dining in a restored neoclassical house in Metaxourgeio, where seasonal ingredients meet an elegant interior filled with art, decorative mirrors and softly lit details.
RestaurantAthens · Greece
Chef Tasos Mantis’s farm-to-table restaurant in a neoclassical home in Pangrati, with a seasonal tasting menu rooted in Greek produce and herbs and vegetables from his garden in Alepochori.
RestaurantCape Town · South Africa
A not-your-average neighbourhood café-bakery on the ground floor of Station House on Kloof Road, opened in 2022 and named after the Kove Collection founder’s grandparents — Art Deco accents over soft pinks, greens, marble and velvet.
RestaurantCape Town · South Africa
Cape Town’s favourite neighbourhood eatery on the Mouille Point Promenade, where indoor and outdoor seating open onto the Atlantic and the mood is comfortably refined with a quirky, esoteric streak.
RestaurantCape Town · South Africa
A Parisian-inspired bistro and vinyl lounge in the heart of Sea Point, best known for its iconic breakfast culture — slow starts, exceptional coffee and generous plates.
RestaurantCape Town · South Africa
Sophisticated Mediterranean dining on an elevated, open-air terrace above the Camps Bay strip, overlooking the Atlantic Ocean and Lion’s Head — a destination for sundowners and unhurried dinners.
Venue information checked October–November 2026. Confirm current opening, seasonal access, reservations and dress requirements directly before visiting. Rooftop service may depend on weather.
Photography and venue details: the venues’ official websites. Drink responsibly and follow local age restrictions.