Rooftop bars in Barcelona

Barcelona has no shortage of rooftops that treat the sunset as the entire program. Terrassa Pulitzer books DJs instead.

From May to October the terrace runs #BuenasTardesPulitzer, and the booking is the thing worth knowing about. Wednesdays go to concerts from the independent scene – pop, electronic, funk – while Thursday through Sunday rotates DJ sessions drawn from actual Barcelona clubs and collectives rather than whoever the hotel has on retainer. That single decision is why the crowd skews local, and why the lineups have got better year on year instead of settling into background music for people taking photographs of the skyline.

It helps that the space doesn’t read as a four-star hotel amenity. A block off Plaça Catalunya on Carrer de Bergara, it’s low wooden furniture, cushions in undyed colors and enough greenery to lose the building underneath you – closer to a friend’s very good terrace than to a lobby that happens to have gone upstairs. The kitchen works in sharing plates: truffle croquettes, Andalusian-style squid with citrus mayo, a chicken tikka sandwich, a properly made ensaladilla rusa. The cocktails hold up their end.

The season is short and the room is small, so check who’s playing and go on a night that suits you.

La Isabela at Hotel 1898 is the kind of rooftop that was made for leisurely afternoons. Right on La Rambla – one of the busiest stretches in the city – it manages to create what the hotel itself calls an “oasis of total calm,” perched above the bustle with skyline views, loungers and an old-school elegance that suits the grand 19th-century building below.

It’s one of the rooftops people most love because it feels central without feeling chaotic, and brings panoramic 360-degree views over the city. If you’re looking for a classy place to sit and enjoy a cocktail – this is it. Tables, greenery and a small rooftop pool keep it sophisticated, making it ideal for a long lunch, sunset drink or stylish pause.

Non-guests can access the terrace (though the pool is reserved for hotel guests). Where else would you want to while away the long summer evenings?

The man behind this hotel is an Egyptologist. That is not a line most rooftop bars can offer.

Jordi Clos founded the Derby Hotels Collection and also founded Barcelona’s Egyptian Museum, and he has furnished his hotels the way a collector would rather than the way a procurement department would. The Claris holds over 400 antiquities – more than seventy Egyptian pieces among them, plus Roman mosaics and sculpture, Turkish kilims, English furniture and work by the Catalan painter Josep Guinovart – with a small museum of its own on the first floor. The building is neoclassical, dating to 1883, and became a hotel in 1992. La Terraza del Claris has been up top ever since, back when nobody thought of a roof as somewhere to send guests.

What that buys you now is restraint. The terrace is small, low-lit and deliberately discreet, looking out over the Eixample rather than performing for it, and the pool stays reserved for guests – which means it never converts into a day club at two in the afternoon. The kitchen leans Mediterranean and seasonal, with dishes like a white asparagus vichyssoise with crab tartare, or rice with red prawns and beach squid, and the cocktail list is longer and better than a hotel terrace strictly needs.

Go when you want the view without the scene. Those are rarer than they should be.

Most of the city’s rooftops come attached to a hotel, which means that whatever you’re drinking, you’re drinking it inside somebody’s amenity. Enter NIMURA, which sits on top of a paper shop.

The paper shop is Raima, and calling it that undersells it. Núria Raja opened it on Carrer Comtal in 1986, having worked out that a city full of designers, architects and illustrators had nowhere serious to buy paper. It has since spread across six floors of a building whose bones go back to 1513; a renovation left the original 16th-century walls exposed. Today it bills itself as the largest stationery store in Europe, and NIMURA is what happens at the top of it.

The framing is a meeting place for artists and creatives rather than a bar that happens to have a view, and the space is built for it: a gallery, a hall of around 220 square meters wired for sound and video, a bar, a terrace and the roof above. Programming runs on three things – music, art and drinks. Expect artist demonstrations, workshops with established and emerging makers, talks and concerts from people working in Barcelona right now. Even the furniture is second-hand, reclaimed and restored in-house, which puts it of a piece with the shop below, where everything on the shelves is raw material and somebody else is meant to make something of it.

Come up for a drink and you’ll probably end up at something. That’s rather the point.

Housed in an 18th-century building on Plaça del Duc de Medinaceli in the Gothic Quarter, Soho House Barcelona mixes old Barcelona bones with the brand’s signature cool aesthetic. The rooftop is the obvious star, with a pool and wide views over Marina Port Vell, the sea and the city beyond.

In classic Soho House fashion, the rooftop has the look of a very chic private hideaway, where sunbeds, cocktails and sea views are ample. It feels more exclusive than the city’s more public rooftops, as standard access is for members and guests. But if you happen to be in the in-crowd, you’ll get to experience the city through the hotel’s art collection and program of events spotlighting local culture and creative life.

On the food side, the menu offers typical Mediterranean cuisine, with tapas, seafood and dishes made from locally sourced ingredients, while Cecconi’s on the ground floor adds Northern Italian classics to the mix.

Note: Soho House is a private members’ club. The rooftop, pool and restaurants are open to members and hotel guests only.

Barcelona rewards anyone willing to go up a few floors, and the seventh turns out to be about the right height – above the block, but not so high that the city stops feeling like a place you live in.

UMA House Trafalgar stands on Carrer de Trafalgar, at the seam where the Born gives way to the Eixample. It traded as Yurbban Trafalgar until the group folded it into their UMA House line, so the name on the door is new while the building, the staff and the terrace are the same. Its sister property, Yurbban Passage, still runs its own quieter terrace next door under the old name, which makes an easy second stop.

The roof is the reason to come. A small pool, loungers and a bar open onto a genuine 360-degree turn around the city – church spires, water tanks, the odd modernista rooftop and the Collserola ridge behind it all. The offer is cocktails and bar snacks rather than a full dining room, which suits the space: this is a terrace for a long drink at the hour the light goes gold, not a place you book a table and stay put. Non-guests are welcome, though the pool belongs to the hotel.

Go up for the last of the sun, then walk it off downhill into the Born.

Set above the hotel Serras on Passeig de Colom, The Rooftop – you may know it as El Sueño – comes with the kind of views that remind us why we fell in love with Barcelona. You can see across Port Vell, Barceloneta and a sweep of Mediterranean blue. Rather than going full party rooftop, this one is a lot more relaxed. There’s a chic terrace with a plunge pool, loungers and a relaxed open-air setup that makes the place feel more like a boutique hideaway than hotel bar.

But it’s more than just a drinks stop. The rooftop is tied to the hotel’s Informal restaurant, and the offering includes light Mediterranean dishes. On the drinks side, there’s plenty to tempt you into staying for “just one more.” Standout signature cocktails include the Smoky Business with mezcal, Laphroaig, yuzu purée and Pedro Ximénez, a Cucumber Smash with Hendrick’s, elderflower, cucumber and lemon, and Nostra Paloma with Patrón Reposado, Passoã, grapefruit and lemon.

Tope is the kind of rooftop that serves up sunshine, skyline and, interestingly, tacos. Perched on top of The Hoxton in Poblenou, it’s a sky-high taqueria, pairing Mexican-inspired food with some seriously impressive city views. If you like bright flavors, easygoing drinks and that holiday mood Barcelona does so well, then you’ll like this place.

There’s an open-air terrace with outside seating by the rooftop pool made for whiling away long afternoons that effortlessly slide into sunset. Think music, margaritas and a front-row view of the Sagrada Família – what more could you want?

On the menu, you’ll find all the classics of a taqueria: tacos, tostadas, quesadillas, ceviches and an interesting margarita lineup. A few highlights include the cochinita pibil tacos, tuna tostada with guacamole and chile mayo, quesabirria, and a Tope Margarita made with lime and corn cordial.

Sitting on top of the design-led Casa Bonay in Eixample, El Chiringuito de Casa Bonay trades big panoramic drama for something more intimate: tropical plants, a cozy open-air terrace and a laid-back, beach-bar spirit. The whole idea takes its inspiration from the Spanish chiringuito, but with a more urban twist.

What it’s really known for is the atmosphere – think warm evenings and a lively crowd gathered for al fresco drinks and dinner. The setting is lush and relaxed, with greenery lining the rooftop and sunset giving the space a golden-hour glow.

The menu leans into Turkish Mediterranean flavors, with plenty of options made for sharing. Order meze, grilled meats, vegetables and soft breads, all inspired by Istanbul street-food and open-fire cooking. A few standouts include the hummus, smoky babaganoush and Adana kebab wrapped in lavash, while the drinks list has many cool options like a Cucumber Mule, Paloma or even a White NOgroni if you’re skipping the alcohol.

Contraban is the signature restaurant of the Wittmore Hotel, a boutique adults-only hotel tucked into a narrow alley in the Barri Gòtic. While the hotel itself emphasizes art, design and culture, its culinary offering has garnered notable acclaim – the restaurant is recognized by the Michelin Guide.

For Contraban, chef Alain Guiard drives the kitchen, presenting an “emotion-based” menu that draws inspiration from the creative process itself. The menu changes with the seasons, but some examples include: the scarlet prawn carpaccio with sour cream, lime and chives; wild duck magret, spec and polenta risotto with gordal olives; or the marinated salmon, soy and yuzu.

And the setting? A cozy interior with book-lined walls, soft lighting, and a courtyard with a vertical garden, alongside a rooftop terrace (Sobreatico) offering a more informal version of the dining experience. It’s modern, elegant and très chic.

Barcelona is a low city. The Eixample tops out around eight floors and holds that line for kilometers, which means a terrace twenty-three floors up isn’t just high – it has the sky more or less to itself.

That terrace is Nobu Rooftop, on top of the Nobu Hotel in Sants, a few steps from the station and an easy train in from the airport. There’s a pool, loungers, shaded cabanas and a bar running cocktails and small plates, with the city laid out flat below and the Sagrada Família breaking the skyline in the middle distance. It draws sun-seekers through the afternoon and a livelier crowd once the light drops – and you don’t need a room key, which is not something you can say about every hotel roof in this guide.

The rest of the building rewards the trip. The Nobu restaurant proper sits on the 23rd floor, serving the Japanese-Peruvian cooking that made Nobu Matsuhisa’s name; he built the group with film producer Meir Teper and Robert De Niro, and it now runs across five continents. Nobu Bar handles premium sake, cocktails and light bites in a smaller, darker room, while Kozara works the other direction entirely – Mediterranean bowls, salads and smoothies, with terrace seating of its own.

Come up an hour before sunset and let the rest of the evening arrange itself.

Designed by the world’s hottest hotelier Ian Schrager (of Studio 54 fame) and Barcelona tastemaker Lázaro Rosa-Violán, it’s no surprise that The Barcelona Edition hotel has become an instant hit with travelers and locals alike. Besides the refined yet understated rooms, this trendsetting urban resort conceals a slew of sleek spaces that Barcelonins will be proud to call their own.

On the ground floor, Bar Veraz is a handsome but informal, all-day restaurant serving creative Mediterranean dishes, local wines and craft beers. The leafy rooftop bar offers spectacular views and is one of the city’s most coveted spots for sunset sips. Hidden at basement level, the clandestine Cabaret restaurant offers a multi-sensory experience with its creative tasting menu, sultry cocktail bar and titillating dance performances.

For a dose of after-dark conviviality, the Punch Room is an intimate, oak-paneled speakeasy specializing in punch, cocktails and liberal self-indulgence.

Sometimes I think “traveling like a local” is overrated. Locals are busy with everyday life, work, going to the gym, perplexing relationships and… normality. No, I want to travel, and indeed live, like the jet set, like the rich and famous, like a devilish debauchee.

And that’s why I’m recommending Azimuth, which is unquestionably one of the sexiest hotel rooftops in Barcelona. Its credentials are strong, what with being perched atop the glitzy new Almanac (5* grand luxury), and the views are everything you could wish for from your fling with the highlife. Sip a Manhattan by the pool and feed your ‘gram with golden sunset selfies. Take your friends, impress a date, or go alone and assume the role of someone far more glamorous than your true self.

This is a genuine glimpse of the good life we were all fantasizing about when we first arrived in Barcelona. A playground for the unbridled. An escape from your daily grind.

This sleek, colorful lounge and restaurant in the Barceló Raval hotel was designed by Catalan artist Jordi Galí. The sophisticated décor is complemented by a Mediterranean menu of tapas and fusion cuisine featuring Mediterranean, Arabic and Asian influences.

The menu is surprisingly inexpensive for a four-star hotel and reflects the group’s spirit of inclusion, appropriate to the gritty character of the surrounding Raval neighborhood. The restaurant offers a complete tasting menu with a range of tapas, a main and dessert (minimum two people). The Sunday brunch, Bloody Mary or Mimosa included, draws tourists and locals alike.

Stop by at night for a well-mixed cocktail, and from May through October head to the rooftop terrace for spectacular, 360-degree views of the city.

The Axel Hotel in Barcelona is a gay hub for locals and tourists alike. The rooftop bar, open from April (weather permitting), takes center stage for every self-respecting gay man or boy for miles around, especially for its Friday night early(ish) drinks.

Head to the top floor of the hotel at around 10pm to check out the fantastic views of the city. You don’t have to be a guest to drink at the Sky Bar, although dress to impress – this is where the glamorous boys go to see and be seen. There are tons of great cocktails to be had, and generous measures of ice-cold gin ‘n’ tonic. The music is chilled, with a mixture of funky, electro and house.

There are plenty of places to sit around the terrace, or next to the small but perfectly-formed pool, including some comfy sofas and quieter nooks and crannies for kissing your man of the moment.