An idea for your travels – Rooftop Bars!

A cruise that visits so many fantastic cities and towns offers the chance to revel in a new destination and explore in one of my favorite ways…

Rooftop Bars are the perfect recess

I admit it – I am a sucker for rooftop bars. I find the atmosphere so freeing, particularly when I’ve been traveling, and I arrive at a beautiful location overlooking a foreign city that I have longed to visit. I find that rooftop bars showcase the beauty of their particular city.

Finding the top rooftop bars

Settling in at a rooftop bar with an amazing view and crafted cocktail creates a sense of indulgence and relaxation, which is the ultimate recess.

When you are traveling, I think taking a list of rooftop bars for a good-sized city is the perfect resource for an impromptu break in your sightseeing. For most major cities, you can google ‘CityName top rooftop bars’ and get a great list of places to try. I suggest not planning a specific spot to visit, but instead take the list of the various locations throughout the city, so then you can make a spontaneous stop when it strikes your fancy during your explorations. Rooftop bars usually attract locals also, so they aren’t just touristy, and sometimes it’s fun to end up chatting with a local.

Local Specialty Cocktails

One of my favorite things is to try the specialty cocktails, rather than order wine or a standard drink. Rooftop bars tend to have very interesting drink menus, often featuring local spirits or cordials, so it’s another way to get a sense of a city or destination.

Sometimes I’ll select a hotel based on its rooftop bar, or one nearby, like the one I choose in Barcelona in the Gothic Quarter right across from the Cathedral. It was the perfect location for exploring, but the rooftop was a key decision point too. What an ideal way to start a vacation!

And while I am a big fan of rooftop bars when traveling overseas, I also think they’re a lot of fun locally or when visiting cities in the US. When I met up with some other travel business owners in Washington DC, we found this great rooftop bar several blocks from our hotel, and it was fabulous to look out over the monuments of Washington and enjoy the busy chatter of all the locals who had just got off their government-related work.

I will give a shout out to the corollary of the rooftop bar, and that is the mountainside al fresco bar, particularly when it overlooks the water. When I was in Italy with my mom a few years back, I planned a particular stop at a place I knew about in Positano, with a terrace and fabulous views of the water and Capri below.

Even though it’s winter, a rooftop bar is a grand spot to spend part of your vacation. Now is a great time to map out some spots to check out on your next vacation, and you can anticipate the opportunity to enjoy fresh air, cityscape views, and relaxing refreshments.