Seven Vienna bars with breathtaking views

Café Bar Bloom

The best place in town to order a view of Stephansdom with your cocktail is Hotel Lamée’s Café Bar Bloom. Head straight for the rooftop bar on the 9th floor of Rotenturmstrasse’s most exciting corner. Nowhere else in town will you see the cathedral’s colourful roof patterns more clearly. The breathtaking views, mixed with the bar’s modern exteriors, top-notch coffee, cakes and drinks make this place a must for girlie afternoons, informal business talks, and lush romantic evenings.

Address: Rotenturmstrasse 15, 1010

Ritz Carlton Rooftop Bar

Photo: Vienna Unwrapped

The sofa strewn landscape of Atmosphere rooftop bar is as vast as the views it invites you to share. Ritz Carlton’s generous L-shaped rooftop terrace allows almost 360 degree views of the city centre, taking in Stephansdom, Karlskirche, the Hofburg’s green copper domed roof and the hills of Ottakring and Kahlenberg. Snacks range from Austrian Rauriser sausages to caviar shots. An out-of-the-ordinary place to impress friends, business partners and yourself.

Address Schubertring 1-3, 1010

Le Loft

Photo: austria.info

You can almost touch the clouds on a rainy day at Le Loft, 75 metres above ground in the Leopoldstadt. The bar and gourmet restaurant, inspired by innovative French/Asian/Austrian cuisine, is part of Hotel Sofitel Vienna Stephansdom. The stunning ceiling painting designed by artist Pipilotti Rist hovers like a canopy over the guests. When it’s dark, its reflection reaches far out into the night sky towards Stephansdom.

Address: Praterstrasse 1, 1020

Dachboden

Photo: Vienna Unwrapped

The lofty café/bar of the trendy 25 Hours Hotel in Lerchenfelder Strasse is the place to toast the rooftop belles of Volkstheater. The chic glass container and terrace overlook the rooftops of the Austrian Parliament, the Natural History Museum and Museum of Fine Arts, and the Volkstheater, to name the most prominent. The relaxed interiors display the hotel’s circus theme. Great for wine, drinks and a few nibbles with friends.

Address: Lerchenfelder Strasse 1-3, 1070

Sky Bar

The rooftop bar of department store Steffl has long been a favourite of local shoppers, tourists in the know, and a chic urban night crowd. A glass lift on Kärntner Strasse takes you up (those with vertigo - look towards the building). During the warm months, make sure you grab space on the terrace viewing Stephansdom. Live lounge music from Monday to Friday.

Address: Kärntner Strasse 19, 1010

Suite Hotel Kahlenberg

If you want to overlook the whole of Vienna from ‘outer space’ head for the terrace café of Suite Hotel Kahlenberg. During the summer months the cool lounge terrace regularly hosts chilled out music events. You can also eat modern Viennese cuisine at the hotel’s restaurant. The best time to be there is when the lights go on over Vienna and the Danube’s bridges during that magical twilight just before sunset.

Address: Am Kahlenberg 2-3, 1190

Coming soon: MQ Libelle

From the autumn of 2016, Museumsquartier is expected to boast a flashy new rooftop space above the Leopold Museum. Dubbed the MQ Libelle, the airy 600m2 glass container and terrace will be open for coffee, available as a space to host events, or simply as a place to hang out and enjoy the views of the Natural History Museum, Museum of Fine Arts and the Ringstrasse.

Address: Museumsquartier, 1060

Native Viennese Barbara Cação is the author of Vienna travel guide Vienna Unwrapped and runs a tourism blog about her home city.