City Space Bar
City Space Bar, 34th floor, The Swissôtel. +7 495 221 5357. email On an island on the Moskva River two miles from the Kremlin. has a spectacular rooftop bar and it floats over Moscow like a spaceship, offering astounding views through its sloping glass sides. Magnificent view: Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, old Moscow Bulvarnoe Koltso. Open Mon to Sun 5pm until 3am.
O2 Lounge, Ritz Carlton Hotel, 3 Tverskaya St, Moscow, Russia. +7 495 642 7072. Sushi restaurant and weekend DJs in a rooftop beach club. Dazzling view of the Kremlin lit up. Serves excellent Russian and Georgian cuisine too. Jeroboam offers fine dining created by the famous chef Heinz Winkler. Open daily from 12 Noon.$$$
Conservatory Lounge & Bar Terrace, Park Hyatt, 4 Neglinnaya St, Moscow 109012. +7 749 5783 1234. Come here for some of the best views of Moscow - the Kremlin and the Bolshoi are a stone's throw away - and rub shoulders with some of the city's movers and shakers. Arrive early to bag a table on the outdoor terrace for an evening of vodka cocktails under the stars (there's indoor space too, with a glass wall when the weather turns). Bar 8am - 12 Midnight. Food 12 Noon - 12 Midnight.
Kremlyovsky Restaurant, 21st floor, Rossiya Hotel, 6 Varvarka St., Moscow. Largest hotel in Europe. Only three minutes walk from the Kitay Gorod metro station. Open 7.30am. to 11.30pm.
Balchug Kempinski Hotel Restaurant, 1 Balchug St, Moscow 115035. +7 495 230 6500. The Restaurant Baltschug and Restaurant Shogun enjoy magnificent views of St Basil's Cathedral.
Magic 5 Spices, 3/18 Pereulok Sivtsev Vragek, Moscow. +7 495 203 1283. +7 495 290 1913. The staff (all Indian) speak fine English.
Vanilla, 1 Ostozhenka St, Moscow, Russia 119034. +7 495 202 3341. Enjoy the view of old Moscow. You can see the best panorama of the city in the summer from the spacious and bright terrace. When it is cold outside you may also dine in front of floor to ceiling windows with views over the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, Gogolevsky Boulevard, and the Moskva river. The best tables are by the window on the upper level. Open: 12 Noon - 12 Midnight. Subway station: Kropotkinskaya.
Panorama, 23rd floor, Golden Ring Hotel, 5 Smolenskaya St, Moscow. +7 725 0214. Splendid view on the city. Open: 6pm until 12 Midnight. Metro: Smolenskaya.
Seventh Heaven, Ostankino Tower, Moscow
View from Sky Lounge Terrace
Sky Lounge, 22nd floor, Russian Academy of Sciences, 32a Leninsky Pr., Moscow. +7 495 781 5775. Breathtaking panoramic view of the city. Summer rooftop terrace.
Bosco Bar, At the top of the upmarket GUM department store in the heart of Red Square.
Mansarda
Mansarda Restaurant, 3-5 Pochtamtskaya Ul., St Petersburg, Russia. +7 812 946 4303. Top floor of the swanky Quattro Corti business center. Mansarda has a good view of St Isaac's cathedral.
Terrassa, 3 Kazanskaya Ulitsa, St Petersburg, Russia. +7 812 337 6837. At the top of the glass building that formerly housed the Vanity boutique this rooftop restaurant offers views out onto Nevsky Prospekt and an astonishing close-up of the golden dome of the Kazan Cathedral. American, French, Italian, Georgian and Asian cuisines. Expensive.
6th Floor Terrace, Marriott Renaissance St. Petersburg Baltic Hotel, 4 Pochtamtskaya St, St Petersburg, 190000 Russian Federation. +7 812 380 4000. Open terrace overlooking St. Isaac's Cathedral with great views of Saint Petersburg. Dinner.
Sevenskybar, 6th floor, Grand Palace Boutique Gallery, 15 Italianskaya ul.,St Petersburg. +7 812 449 94 32. Located in the historic part of the city SEVENSKYBAR offers magnificent, panoramic, floor-to-ceiling views of the Russian Museum, Temple on the Spilt Blood, and Mikhailovsky Palace. Sun - Thurs 12 Noon –1am. Fri & Sat 12 Noon – 3am. email
Sky Bar, Petro Palace Hotel, 14 Malaya Morskaya Ulitsa, St Petersburg, 190000 Russia. +7 812 571 3006. 5pm - 11pm. email
Teplitsa (Greenhouse), op floor, Stereo Kino, 88 Nevsky Propekt, St Petersburg. +7 812 318 0105.
Open daily 8am till the last customer leaves.
Penthouse Restaurant
Penthouse Restaurant, 15th floor, Palace Hotel, 62 Pervomayskaya St, Syktyvkar, Komi, Russia 167000. From Railway Station bus 5, 15, 17 or 46.