Rooftop Bars & Restaurants with a Skyline View in Frankfurt

Frankfurt is the only major German city with a genuine high-rise skyline, and I’d argue you only really understand the place once you’ve seen it from above. The view from down in the canyon of Neue Mainzer Straße is impressive enough — but it’s above the rooftops, glass in hand and the glowing towers at your feet, that the sober banking district turns into an experience. Over the last few years a handful of rooftop bars and high-rise restaurants have opened, others have reappeared under new names, and a couple of much-praised addresses simply no longer exist. So you don’t fall for out-of-date lists, here are my honest recommendations (as of 2026): which address suits which occasion, roughly what you’ll spend, when you need to reserve — and where not to bother at all.

Right at the top: the NFT Skybar in the ONE Tower

If it’s sheer height you’re after, there’s no getting past the NFT Skybar. It sits on the 47th floor of the ONE Tower in the Europaviertel, on the roof of the nhow design hotel, around 185 metres up — which makes it Germany’s highest bar. The star turn is the wrap-around roof terrace with its 360-degree view: on a clear evening you look right across the whole skyline to the Taunus hills, while directly below you the trains roll into the main station. Inside there’s a stylish bar with creative cocktails, so the NFT works in the rain and in winter too; the terrace itself, naturally, depends on the weather.

Handily, and unusually for a place of this calibre, there are no reservations here — you simply turn up (as of 2026). It’s open Tuesday to Thursday from 6 p.m. to 1 a.m., Fridays and Saturdays until 2 a.m., and closed Sundays and Mondays; last entry is around midnight. The dress code is “smart casual” — tidy but not stiff. If you’re staying at the nhow, you and one companion get up for free. My tip: come early in the evening, claim a spot at the terrace railing and stay for sunset — it’s one of the loveliest sundowners in the city and, incidentally, a sure-fire winner for an evening as a couple.

The classic, with a star: Main Tower Restaurant & Lounge

Presiding over everything, as ever, is the Main Tower. The restaurant and lounge occupy the 53rd floor, around 187 metres up, at Neue Mainzer Straße 52–58. Martin Weghofer’s kitchen holds a Michelin star and serves multi-course menus (five to six courses) behind floor-to-ceiling glass — so this is not an open-air rooftop but a glazed high-altitude dining room, which given the wind up there is no bad thing.

A few things to know before you get too excited: you can only visit with a reservation, and it’s a coveted one — the booking system opens on the 1st of each month for the month after. Restaurant and lounge open Tuesday to Saturday only (kitchen from 6 p.m., the lounge from 9 p.m.), closed Sundays and Mondays, with a multi-week summer closure in high season. The lounge carries a minimum spend of €30 per person. If you just want the view without committing to a full menu, head up by day to the Main Tower’s public viewing platform — far cheaper, and for many visitors the real highlight. For the other spots worth the climb, see my piece on the best viewpoints over the Frankfurt skyline.

In among the towers: 22nd Lounge & Bar in the Eurotheum

The 22nd Lounge & Bar is on the 22nd floor of the Eurotheum, inside the INNSiDE by Meliá hotel at Neue Mainzer Straße 66–68 — just a few steps from the Main Tower, right in the heart of the banking district. The appeal here is less about absolute height than about proximity to the skyline: through the panoramic windows you sit eye to eye with the neighbouring towers, which makes the view of “Mainhattan” feel especially urban and within reach. The menu runs to handcrafted cocktails and mocktails plus small plates, tapas and champagne. It’s a purely indoor address, which makes it a dependable, weather-proof choice all year round. It fills up at the weekend and after work, so reserve ahead.

Italian above the rooftops: Occhio d’Oro at Flemings

One of my favourite addresses for guests who like things a little more low-key is Occhio d’Oro, on the 7th floor of the Flemings Selection Hotel Frankfurt-City at Eschenheimer Tor 2. Even the way up is part of the fun: you ride into the historic building on a paternoster lift. At the top you’ll find a large roof terrace and a striking 360-degree bar with a skyline view, plus Italian cooking with a Tuscan-Florentine slant. The restaurant opens Monday to Saturday from 6 p.m.; if you’d rather enjoy the view by daylight, come for the skyline brunch, served roughly from 12.30 to 3 p.m. The open terrace is seasonal and weather-dependent, while the glazed bar works in cooler weather too. Handily, the Eschenheimer Tor is right on the U-Bahn station of the same name (U1/U2/U3/U8), so you can get here easily without a car. If you’d like to combine height with breakfast, there are more ideas in my article on breakfast with a view in Frankfurt.

Spanish and relaxed: “oben” in the One Forty West

Not every good view needs 180 metres. The “oben” restaurant and skybar sit on the 15th floor of the One Forty West — the tower housing the Meliá Frankfurt City — at Senckenberganlage 13, around 85 metres above the city. The height is more moderate than at the very tallest towers, but you’re close to the Palmengarten and look out from the panoramic terrace over the Westend and, on a clear day, as far as the Taunus. The cooking is Spanish-Mediterranean. Good news for the spontaneous: you can usually get into the skybar without a reservation as long as there’s space, while the restaurant is best booked ahead. By day there’s a skyline lunch (Tuesday to Thursday at midday) and on Sundays a skyline brunch (roughly noon to 3 p.m.). For a relaxed evening with friends, minus the suits-and-ties feel of the banking towers, “oben” is ideal.

By the water rather than on high: Oosten on the Osthafen

Not every skyline view comes from the vertical. Oosten sits right on the Main in the Osthafen (east harbour), within sight of the European Central Bank, and is built around a historic loading crane. From the sprawling terraces, the restaurant and the bar you get a roughly 270-degree view over the river and the skyline — from the water, not from above, and that’s exactly the charm. Restaurant, bar and lounge spread across three floors, and the kitchen is Mediterranean, with fresh, seasonal ingredients. Honestly, the view here at sunset, when the towers are mirrored in the Main, is almost lovelier than from some of the high-rise bars. Perfect for a long afternoon that drifts into the evening.

Summer only: GAIA, the former “Long Island Summer Lounge”

A word of honesty, because plenty of lists still get this wrong: the popular Long Island Summer Lounge on the roof of the car park by the stock exchange no longer exists under that name. Since a 2022 refit the address has been called GAIA — a summery rooftop lounge with Mediterranean food, cocktails and even a pool, in a laid-back beach-club style. It’s on the top parking deck at Kaiserhofstraße 12 in the middle of the city centre, with a wide, all-round view of the skyline. Important: it runs purely seasonally, usually from April into late summer, and there may be a small entry fee. Turn up in winter and you’ll find the gates shut — so check in advance whether it’s open.

With an aircraft panorama: The Roof at the b’mine by the airport

A category all of its own is The Roof at the b’mine Hotel Frankfurt in Gateway Gardens, right beside the airport (Georg-Baumgarten-Straße 1). On the 12th floor you’ll find a 170-square-metre rooftop with restaurant, bar and lounge — and a double panorama you get nowhere else: on one side the planes taking off and landing at Frankfurt Airport, on the other the distant skyline. The hotel is famous for its CarLofts, where guests can bring their car up to the room by lift — a gimmick that fits the playful character of the place. For aviation fans, for the last night before an early flight, or simply as an unusual alternative to the banking district, it’s worth the trip. The S-Bahn reaches Gateway Gardens station in a few minutes from either the airport or the city.

What has changed — and what I’d steer you away from

Two notes that can save you a disappointing evening. First, the 25hours Hotel The Trip at Niddastraße 58 in the Bahnhofsviertel: it’s a charming design hotel with a roof terrace, but that terrace is primarily a sun deck with a sauna for house guests — not the public rooftop bar with a skyline view it’s sometimes made out to be. Lovely if you’re staying there, only so-so as a destination in its own right.

Second, the often-recommended Henninger Turm in Sachsenhausen: the distinctive “barrel” at the very top was once Frankfurt’s most spectacular vantage point, with a restaurant and terrace. But the public observation terrace has been permanently closed since September 2019, and there is no longer a reliable, freely accessible high-rise restaurant up there. Older guidebooks still list the “Franziska” at this spot — don’t plan your evening around it. The brewpub at the foot of the tower still serves, but without the view from above.

My tips for the perfect rooftop evening

• Reserve where you need to: high-rise restaurants like the Main Tower only work with a reservation, and the 22nd Lounge and Occhio d’Oro fill up fast at the weekend. The NFT Skybar and the “oben” skybar, by contrast, take few or no reservations — there, turning up early is what counts.
• Time the sunset: come about an hour before sunset. That way you experience the city in daylight first, then the moment the towers begin to light up one by one — the best part of the evening.
• Factor in the weather: open terraces (NFT, Occhio d’Oro, GAIA, The Roof) depend on it, and up high it’s windier and cooler than you’d think from street level. Bars with an indoor area (Main Tower, 22nd Lounge, “oben”) save the evening in the rain.
• Mind the dress code: “smart casual” is the safe bet almost everywhere; trainers and a cap can be a problem at some doors.
• Be realistic about prices: height costs. Reckon on upmarket drink prices, plus a €30 minimum spend per person in the Main Tower lounge.
• The budget alternative: if you only want the view, ride up by day to the Main Tower’s public viewing platform — small admission, no reservation needed. Afterwards the evening carries on nicely down below; for ideas, see my round-up of things to do in Frankfurt at night.

Hardly anything shows Frankfurt as impressively as an evening above the rooftops — provided you know where to go. For the grand starred dinner it’s the Main Tower; for the highest sundowner, the NFT Skybar; for a relaxed evening, “oben” or Occhio d’Oro; and when the summer sun is out, GAIA or one of the riverside terraces on the Main. Reserve where you must, time the sunset, pack a jacket — and then let the glittering skyline work on you in peace. There are few finer ways to say goodbye to this city.