The 5 Rooftop Bar You Can’t Miss in Paris
Paris has never been a rooftop city in the way New York or Bangkok are, and the reason is written into
planning law: the height caps that kept the centre at six or seven floors of zinc and limestone also kept the
skyline low enough that a fifth-floor terrace is a viewpoint. So the Paris rooftop bar took a different route
to the same result — it borrowed its height from department stores, hotels and converted riverside blocks
rather than from towers. We went through every bar, terrace and rooftop restaurant with a Google Business
listing across the city that plausibly answers to “rooftop” — 60 of them in total — and weighted each one’s
rating against how many people actually left it, because a 4.8 from three thousand reviews and a 4.1 from
eight thousand are not making the same claim. Five came out clearly ahead, and between them they cover most of
what a rooftop can be here: a free department-store observation terrace, a Philippe Starck glass dome over the
Pont Neuf, an all-hours Sébastopol institution, an Australian bar above the Seine, and a wood-fired terroir
kitchen on the eighth floor of a hotel in the 15th.
Galeries Lafayette | Rooftop, Boulevard Haussmann
The one on this list that Google does not file as a bar at all. Galeries Lafayette
| Rooftop is categorised as an observation deck, and the opening hours confirm what that means in
practice: 10:00 AM to 7:30 PM every day, 11:00 AM on Sundays, which makes it the only entry here that closes
before most of the others have properly started. It sits on top of the department store at 40 Boulevard
Haussmann in the 9th, a few minutes’ walk from the Opéra Garnier, and it earns its place on a rooftop list on
the strength of the terrace itself rather than a drinks programme — this is the daytime, daylight,
photograph-the-rooftops end of the format. 4.7★ from 3,121 reviews, the second-highest rating on this
list. Phone 01 42 82 34 56. We could not read the store’s own page for this terrace — it blocks automated
access — so everything here comes from Google’s verified listing rather than from the venue’s own copy, and
we would rather say that than fill the gap.
Kong, Rue du Pont Neuf
The famous one, and the one with the clearest design pedigree. Kong opened on
26 May 2003 on the fifth floor of a Haussmann building at 1 Rue du Pont Neuf, with an interior by Philippe
Starck and a glass dome that is still the thing people come for; Ara Starck added her own work during a 2013
renovation. It became internationally recognisable almost immediately as the setting of the final episode of
Sex and the City, which is why a bar in the 1st arrondissement has a review count more usually seen
on a monument. The dome is the point: in the venue’s own framing, “each window offers a different view — the
Pont Neuf, the Samaritaine, the Seine, the Louis Vuitton headquarters.” The kitchen runs French technique
through Japanese influence (tataki, gyoza, sashimi alongside wagyu and duck), and the bar leans into signature
work — the Geisha, with vodka, rose, strawberry and champagne, and the Yugen, with rum, pandan and yuzu.
Sunday brunch is 65€ and lunch menus run 42–52€, and Google bands it as the most expensive address
here. 4.1★ from 8,040 reviews — the lowest rating and the second-largest review base on this list, which
is roughly what happens when a room is this photographed and this priced. Open noon to 2:00 AM daily, to 1:00
AM on Sunday. Phone 01 40 39 09 00.
Chouchou, Boulevard de Sébastopol
The highest-rated and by far the most-reviewed name on this list — 4.8★ from 28,364 Google reviews,
which is more than the other four put together and then some. Chouchou opened on
1 October 2019 at 23 Boulevard de Sébastopol, founded by a restaurateur its own site introduces as Monsieur
Shahir, nicknamed ChouChou, and the kitchen sits deliberately between two traditions — Oriental and French —
with an Italian salad with pesto, entrecôte and frites, and tiramisu among the dishes it puts forward itself.
The list is unusual for central Paris in leading with Moroccan wines alongside the French reds, rosés and
whites, and the room holds up to 200 for a private event. One honest note: the venue’s own website presents it
as a restaurant and bar and does not mention a rooftop or terrace anywhere, and Google files it as a French
restaurant — so treat this as the all-day, all-night room on the crawl rather than the one you climb for the
view. The hours are the real headline: 6:00 AM to 2:00 AM seven days a week, and 6:00 AM to 4:00 AM on Friday
and Saturday, the widest window of any address here by a distance. Phone 01 45 08 02 03.
Café Oz Rooftop, Quai d’Austerlitz
The least Parisian and the most straightforwardly fun. Café Oz Rooftop is the
Australian bar on top of the Cité de la Mode et du Design at 34 Quai d’Austerlitz in the 13th, and it makes no
attempt at understatement: its own description of the fit-out runs to “solid wood furniture, surfboards,
imposing crocodiles, enchanting didgeridoos, and Aboriginal paintings,” with imported Australian and New
Zealand beers, cocktails, Jägerbombs and tapas to go with them. What it has that nothing else here does is the
riverfront position — panoramic views over the Seine, with a terrace built for sunset first and dancing
afterwards — plus DJ sets, themed nights including Erasmus parties, and multiple screens for football and
rugby. It is the closing-time champion: 5:00 PM to 2:00 AM on Monday, 3:00 AM Tuesday, 4:00 AM Wednesday, and
5:00 AM from Thursday straight through Sunday. 4.0★ from 10,370 reviews, the largest review base on this
list, at Google’s moderate price band. Phone 06 73 52 10 25.
Pedzouille La Grange, Porte de Versailles
The one furthest from the tourist centre and the one with the most to say about what it serves.
Pedzouille La Grange occupies the eighth floor of the Novotel Paris Porte de
Versailles at 4 Avenue de la Porte de la Plaine, in the 15th — and the house joke about reaching “the 7th
heaven (mistake not, we’re on the 8th)” tells you how seriously it takes itself, which is: not very, on
purpose. The group’s own line is “chez Pedzouille, c’est pas du chichi” — no fuss — and the cooking is
terroir-first, earth and sea over wood fire, developed with chef Gabriele Faiella, previously of Anahi and
Beefbar. What makes it a rooftop bar rather than a rooftop restaurant is that there are three separate bar
concepts up there: L’Abreuvoir, the outdoor Buvette, and Le Cracra, which it calls the first terroir cocktail
bar in the capital and runs from 7:00 PM to 1:30 AM with no reservation needed. The outdoor bar looks at the
Eiffel Tower. 4.5★ from 3,630 reviews, moderate on Google’s price banding, open noon to 1:00 AM every
day. Phone 01 88 33 23 69.
All five, on the map
The interactive map has all 60 qualifying rooftop bars and terraces we found
across Paris, these five marked and numbered, and a button that hands the transit route between them straight
to Google Maps on your phone. Unlike a neighbourhood crawl, this one genuinely crosses the city: the 9th, two
in the 1st, the 13th and the 15th, which is Métro territory rather than walking territory — Kong and Chouchou
are the only pair close enough to do back to back on foot.
Getting the most out of a rooftop night in Paris
Rooftops are the most weather-dependent thing you can plan an evening around, and in Paris they are also
the most reservation-dependent — which makes a working phone from the moment you land less optional here than
almost anywhere. A local eSIM from Airalo covers the maps, the last-minute
table check and the forecast without hunting for a French SIM on day one, and a booked transfer from
Welcome Pickups takes the guesswork out of CDG or Orly at the hour
most flights actually arrive. Rooftop pricing is where card fees stack up fastest — Kong sits in Google’s
most expensive band, and a round at that level with a bad exchange rate on top is a bill you notice — so a
Wise card, or a euro account with N26 if you are
staying longer than a holiday, is worth setting up before you go rather than after the first receipt. Two of
these five sit directly above cultural addresses you would otherwise queue for, so
Tiqets is useful for the daytime half of the same trip. And if you are
moving to Paris rather than visiting, a stay of a month or more is what
Spotahome and HousingAnywhere
are built for — both let you book a furnished place from abroad before you have a French bank account or a
guarantor, which is the actual bottleneck. Booking a table in French, on the phone, is a specific and small
vocabulary; a few sessions on Preply before you travel covers most of it.
Frequently Asked Questions
What’s the best rooftop bar in Paris?
By rating weighted against review volume, Chouchou leads on the raw numbers — 4.8★ from 28,364
reviews, more than everything else here combined — but its own website presents it as a restaurant and bar
without mentioning a rooftop, so it is the strongest room on this list rather than the strongest view.
For a terrace specifically, Galeries Lafayette | Rooftop takes it at 4.7★ from 3,121 reviews in daylight,
and Pedzouille La Grange at 4.5★ from 3,630 for the evening, with an Eiffel Tower view from its outdoor
bar.
Are all five actually rooftops?
Four of them clearly are, and we would rather flag the fifth than stretch it. Galeries Lafayette is filed by
Google as an observation deck; Kong is a fifth-floor glass dome; Café Oz Rooftop is on top of the Cité de la
Mode et du Design; Pedzouille La Grange states its own eighth-floor position and outdoor bar. Chouchou is the
exception — a French restaurant on Boulevard de Sébastopol whose own site never mentions a terrace.
Which one is open latest?
Café Oz Rooftop, comfortably — 5:00 AM from Thursday through Sunday, and no earlier than 2:00 AM any night
of the week. Chouchou runs to 4:00 AM on Friday and Saturday and 2:00 AM otherwise, but it also opens at 6:00
AM, so it is the one covering the most hours overall. Kong stops at 2:00 AM, La Grange at 1:00 AM, and
Galeries Lafayette closes at 7:30 PM — it is a daytime terrace, not a night out.
Which has a view of the Eiffel Tower?
Pedzouille La Grange is the one that says so itself: its outdoor bar on the eighth floor of the Novotel
Porte de Versailles looks at the tower. Kong’s own copy names the Pont Neuf, the Samaritaine, the Seine and
the Louis Vuitton headquarters as what its windows face, and Café Oz Rooftop describes panoramic views over
the Seine — different views, both genuinely elevated.
Do I need to book, and how expensive is this?
Kong is the one to book — Google bands it as very expensive, with lunch menus at 42–52€ and Sunday
brunch at 65€. At La Grange, the Cracra cocktail bar explicitly takes walk-ins from 7:00 PM to 1:30 AM
with no reservation, while the dining room is a different proposition. Chouchou and Café Oz Rooftop both sit
in Google’s moderate price band, and Café Oz in particular is a turn-up-and-see bar rather than a booked
evening.
- 1. Galeries Lafayette | Rooftop — 40 Bd Haussmann, 75009 Paris
- 2. Kong — 1 Rue du Pont Neuf, 75001 Paris
- 3. Chouchou — 23 Bd de Sébastopol, 75001 Paris
- 4. Café Oz Rooftop — 34 Quai d’Austerlitz, 75013 Paris
- 5. Pedzouille La Grange — 4 Av. de la Porte de la Plaine, 75015 Paris