London Rooftop Bars Now So High They Charge by Altitude
Drinkers report nosebleeds, oxygen masks and a 19 pound spritz at cloud level
The capital's drinking scene has reached new heights, quite literally, as London rooftop bars introduce a bold new pricing model in which the cost of a cocktail is determined by how far above sea level you happen to be sipping it.
London rooftop bars now price drinks by elevation
Under the scheme, a gin and tonic enjoyed at ground level remains a reasonable luxury. Carry it up forty floors and the price climbs with you, peaking at a venue so high that staff hand out altitude warnings alongside the wine list.
A spokesperson for the London rooftop bars sector explained the logic. The view costs money, he said, gesturing at a skyline partially obscured by his own breath. We are not charging for the drink. We are charging for the privilege of being above everyone else, which is, after all, the entire point of London.
The deadpan glamour of drinking in the sky
Patrons have embraced the experience despite the obvious drawbacks, which include wind, more wind, and the slow realisation that the famous view is mostly other rooftop bars looking back at you. One reveller described paying 19 pounds for a spritz he was too cold to finish and too proud to admit he regretted.
The higher venues have begun offering blankets, a service that started as hospitality and has quietly become a survival measure. At the very top, drinkers are reportedly issued with a small flag to plant, a foil blanket, and a stern reminder that the lift stops running at midnight.
Why London rooftop bars remain irresistible
Despite the cold, the cost and the queues, London rooftop bars continue to draw crowds desperate to be photographed against a skyline while pretending they come here all the time and are not at all bothered by the wind tunnel currently rearranging their hair.
The capital's elevated drinking spots are lovingly catalogued by Time Out London, which has never met a rooftop it did not describe as buzzy. For the practical visitor, Visit London lists viewpoints across the city, some of which are free and do not require a second mortgage to access.
For those interested in the actual buildings doing the towering, the architectural details are documented by bodies such as the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland and other professional institutes, who think rather more carefully about the structures than the people drinking on top of them.
Critics warn the trend has reached its peak, literally, with one proposed venue so high it would technically require planning permission from air traffic control. The owner remains undeterred. People want to feel above it all, he said. We are simply giving them the altitude to match the attitude.
A handful of venues have begun competing not on height but on depth, opening basement bars marketed as the antidote to the wind. Patrons report that these are warm, sheltered and entirely without a view, which has somehow made them even more fashionable than the rooftops they were built to escape.
For now the city's rooftops glitter on, full of cold, glamorous people, holding warm drinks they cannot afford, gazing out over a view that is, on closer inspection, mostly just more London.
