Pack your cozzie to visit this beach club in the sky. Twelve floors above South Brisbane, the restaurant and bar is crowned by a 30-metre infinity pool and sun deck, designed to conjure Côte d'Azur vibes. (Hard to ignore the 180-degree views of the city skyline and Mt Coot-tha, however). There’s a six-strong gin and tonic selection, a cocktail menu veering fresh and fruity and a VIP bottle service to keep the illusion you’re somewhere other than Brissie alive.

In the heart of Sydney (look for the Cartier store on the corner of George and King Streets, then go five storeys up), this Japanese-inspired rooftop will whisk you to Tokyo on the wings of a classic whisky highball. There’s also a surprising play on the Kir Royale made with cognac, umeshu and chrysanthemum at this flash late-night venue (it’s open until 2am, seven days a week) that keeps energy levels up with the city’s coolest DJs and inventive sashimi dishes (think smoked eel and shichimi). 

Newcastle’s first five-star hotel, Crystalbrook Riley, delivers a suitably dazzling bar. Perched nine floors up on the rooftop of the city centre’s heritage Roundhouse building, the hotspot capitalises on its panoramic views with a 10-metre marble bar set against a wall of windows. Theatrical cocktails use native ingredients such as Davidson plum and lemon myrtle, while the wine list makes a hero of the Hunter Valley, best sampled with a selection of artisan salumi and cheeses. Or you could head next door to the Roundhouse restaurant.

A margarita menu and punchy Mexican snacks, including beef brisket tostadas, turn Melbourne’s The Roof into a fiesta in the sky. The seventh floor al fresco bar atop the new StandardX Hotel has 360-degree views of its Fitzroy surroundings and a Hecker Guthrie-designed aesthetic of fringed umbrellas, woven hangings and burnt orange planters. There’s even an outdoor fireplace for when the temperature drops.

Choose your speed at W Sydney’s epic two-storey rooftop bar overlooking Darling Harbour. It’s an energetic scene on level 29, with live DJs, cabanas overlooking an open-air infinity pool and tropical-feel fusion cocktails served alongside a menu of Asian and Iberian snacks. The pace is more sedate up the spiral staircase on level 30, where high-end spirits and vintage champagne are poured amid an atmosphere and decor reminiscent of a superyacht.

Townsville’s first luxury hotel burst out of the blocks in late 2023 with a spectacular rooftop infinity pool and terrace bar. Perched 25 metres above the endless blue of the Coral Sea, the speckled terrazzo tables and terracotta-coloured sun loungers set the scene for cocktails that showcase the spoils of tropical North Queensland. The Mango Dreamer (featuring two types of rum as well as bright lime and its namesake fruit) is the perfect Sunshine State sipper to enjoy while plotting your trip to Magnetic Island, easily spotted from your seat in the sunshine.

Sydney’s InterContinental raises the hotel bar stakes with Aster. Open to the public for the first time after a recent renovation, its glittering level 32 captures a five-star panorama of the Harbour Bridge and Opera House from its wraparound balcony and a celestial-themed collection of cocktails. Reimagine the big bang with the help of the “Gloom”, a vodka, vanilla and black sesame bubble cocktail that releases a berry mist when popped. Or toast to the high life with vintage champagne.

It may be named for the LA neighbourhood of Beverly Hills, but this glam rooftop eyrie beats to the rhythm of a Melbourne drum. Case in point: the retractable glass roof that makes short work of the city’s infamous four seasons in one day. Perched 24 floors above South Yarra’s Chapel Street, Beverly’s 270-degree views from Port Phillip to the CBD enables you to do your sightseeing (look, there’s the MCG!) over a Bellini Sunset cocktail and lobster cannoli.

Melbourne super-chef Andrew McConnell got the memo to ditch the black when he debuted in Brisbane. Upstairs from his Japanese restaurant Supernormal, morning-to-night venue Bar Miette, complete with terracotta-topped tables and white woven bistro chairs, mixes classic Parisian charm with a broad, umbrella-shaded terrace, offering dazzling views of the Story Bridge. The drinks lean local, too, with classics taking on a tropical twist (Lychee Martinez, we’re looking at you).

Could there be a more quintessentially Sydney experience than a drink on the terrace at Icebergs? Revamped into a vision of Aegean blues, the top floor of Bondi’s landmark swimming club has a revered Italian restaurant, but the slender terrace is pole position for eyeing the surf. Join the city’s A-listers in one of their favourite spots with a rosemary-spiked Americano or a summery spritz, chased with caviar and coral trout crudo.

Enjoy some of the best views in Hobart by crooking a pinkie over high tea on the level 12 of the Crowne Plaza. The city’s rooftop venue turns Saturday afternoons into an occasion to celebrate with the help of Tasmanian sparkling, martinis (classic or espresso) and dainty delights such as poached chicken sandwiches, spanner crab croissants and chocolate bon bons.

This is The Bristol, an historic central Sydney pub that’s been reinvented into a five-level hospitality hub housing a Greek restaurant (Ela Ela, from Peter Conistis) and a disco ball-lit nightclub, Calypso. Make a beeline for the sun-drenched Rooftop to soak up the terracotta and olive-hued Mediterranean glamour with a lychee-spiked pina colada or blood orange and Aperol margarita in hand. The Greek plates from Conistis include a gorgeously toasty prawn saganaki for the table.

With space for 250 guests, the huge horseshoe-shaped terrace bar at Sydney’s grand dame Sofitel Wentworth lays claim to being the city’s biggest. A recent retro-glam makeover harkens back to its 1960s heyday with black and white terrazzo tables and a graceful copper, steel and glass awning for all-weather access. Join the buzzing business crowd for Negronis on tap and large-format “party cocktails”, including a strawberry yuzu spritz that serves a dozen of your closest friends.

Who’s the fairest of them all at this dreamy bar perched on top of South Melbourne’s Clarendon Hotel? It would have to be the Snow White-themed cocktails, specifically the Poison Apple, made with apple rum, ginger and caramel. At this storybook-worthy venue, an elevator will whisk you from the laneway entrance to the third-floor venue, where twinkling city views offer the perfect fairytale ending – or beginning. 

Embrace golden-hued summertime vibes 15 minutes from Adelaide at the breezy three-level pavilion hugging the sand at Henley Beach. Pink lychee margaritas and a classic G&T showcasing gin from local hero Threefold Distilling make perfect rooftop sundowners – and if the weather’s not playing nice, there are cosy velvet booths inside.

Soaring over Melbourne CBD is Mid Air, a Med-inspired restaurant atop the new Melbourne Place on Russell Street. The menu leans smoky and spicy, with produce from calamari to goat laced with everything from baharat to za'atar.

Get your culture fix with a drink at the Art Gallery of Western Australia’s arty rooftop bar. Featuring an open-air sculpture walk and a 34-metre-long contemporary Aboriginal art piece by Minang/Wardandi/Bibbulmun artist Christopher Pease, the broad open-air bar flies the flag for WA, especially in the drinks menu where local wine and spirits feature. Open only in spring and summer, it loosens things up with live music acts (Montaigne launched this summer’s season) to complement the stunning views of the Perth city skyline.

Newcastle’s bar scene continues its upwards trajectory with this Astro-turfed, gelato-hued oasis. So evocative of 1960s Palm Springs that you might expect the Rat Pack to be hunkered down in a booth over passionfruit sours and coconut daiquiris. The third-floor rooftop venue is always abuzz, especially during its Sunday arvo sessions where happy hour is, well, every hour from 12pm until closing time.

Packing an Asian restaurant, hidden speakeasy, beer garden and dancefloor into an extravagantly renovated warehouse in Perth’s inner north, The Beaufort ticks plenty of boxes. It saves its best for the top, however. Bringing a chill feel to light-dappled and intimate nooks, the third-floor Candy Bar is the place to top up on your vitamin D, preferably over a kiwifruit mojito or a classic cocktail made with your choice of an impressive spirits collection. 

Expect unagi (eel) burgers, Peking duck pizza and a selection of sake and umeshu at the ACT’s fun fusion Japanese hangout. In the hip inner suburb of Braddon, the venue’s broad second-floor terrace - a riot of faux greenery and cushion-strewn picnic seating – makes a great backdrop for a brightly-coloured cocktail or a delicious dive into the Canberra wine region.

Japanese-inflected cocktails, a wide-reaching wine list and a white-on-white fit-out set the mood at SORA. Ordering a drink is a tall ask here: could you choose easily with ingredients as intriguing as togarashi, yuzu and wasabi-infused Corazon Patron? (A Spirited Away, complete with glitter and gin, is a tempting evening starter). Meaning “sky” in Japanese, the two-speed Adelaide venue delivers a pan-Asian restaurant with dramatic steel-framed windows and a chic undercover rooftop bar on the tenth-floor mezzanine above it.

Drink in the best views in Darwin with a weather-appropriate ice-cold beer or alcoholic fruit slushie. On the 16th floor of the Wyndham Zen Quarter Hotel, the tropical garden in the sky makes a wonderful vantage point for watching postcard-esque sunsets over the harbour or the majesty of a tropical storm rolling in during wet season. They’ll even throw in canapes for free.

The crew behind Moon Dog craft brewery don’t do things by halves. Their vast Footscray venue in Melbourne’s inner west is a three-level house of fun complete with a mechanical bull and a cactus-laden rooftop beer garden. You’re spoiled for choice here – there’s a100-strong range of beers and seltzers on tap – but, to optimise the sunbaked Sante Fe vibes, we’d opt for a tequila sunrise slushie.  

Commandeering the Vibe Hotel’s former penthouse, this level 22 bar enjoys a unique vantage point over Flinders Street Station and the railyards across the river to Southbank. Although the views are decidedly urban, cocktails follow a nautical theme with a focus on rum; hail the roving martini trolley to order yours shaken or stirred. Pair your drink with something from the sea such as pan-fried John Dory with Jerusalem artichoke crisp or oysters with yuzu mignonette.

This heritage pub in Melbourne’s CBD has been transformed into the ultimate four-level party palace, complete with a basement comedy club and – the crowning glory – an all-weather rooftop bar. Up here, the diverse drinks menu is both playful (case in point: the signature iced vovo margarita) and serious, with a quorum of mezcal-driven cocktails and a concise but well-travelled wine list. Snack-wise, salumi lovers are spoilt for choice with prosciutto to pastrami on offer.

Discover a central glass-enclosed garden and lush greenery-filled rooftop at this award-winning Perth bar. The moody ground-floor bar sets the tone for connoisseurs of whisky and gin (you can trust the staff to know their stuff when it comes to recommendations). When the sun’s out, ascend to its highest point and order a fruity highball starring Archie Rose gin, a lime curd margarita or a rockmelon Negroni.

Bringing Miami Vice vibes to the Surfers Paradise glitter strip, this radiant rooftop parties like it’s the 1980s with a wall of slushie cocktail machines (make ours a passionfruit Long Island iced tea, thanks). While DJs keep the dance floor moving with house tunes, a table on the terrace is the place to be. Mark your trip back in time with a glass of bubbles from a half-Oz, half-French list or submit to the retro charms of a Cosmopolitan.

The cocktails hint at the south of France but the location is unmistakably Sydney. With a front row seat to the Harbour Bridge, swish Circular Quay terrace bar Martinez channels the French Riviera-driven focus of its downstairs restaurant into bright spritzes and petit martinis. Or you could opt for a magnum of Provence rosé from the page-long selection of large format bottles. Just add oysters and a pastel-hued sunset to feel transported.

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