Hidden in plain sight, these three spots high above Monaco, Nice, and Cannes offer more than just food and drinks – they come with a side of art and history.
It’s summer. It’s hot. The noon cannon has boomed and you’re hungry. But beachside and city lunch spots are overflowing with tourists. So, short of picnicking in a shadowy park, where can you find a decent meal with a view without breaking the bank and sans the crowds?
What you need is an escape. Sometimes the best refuge lies several floors up, where the Mediterranean spreads below and the crowds feel like distant memory… where locals retreat when they want both sustenance and perspective… and where culture has a seat at your table.
CANNES: CAFÉ OLYMPE
La Malmaison, Cannes’s cultural centre on the Croisette, reopened in January 2025 after a major renovation that tripled its exhibition space. As part of this transformation, the newly inaugurated Café Olympe on the rooftop introduces a new dimension to the visitor experience.
Named for 18th-century feminist Olympe de Gouges, the café serves vegetarian Mediterranean fare inspired by and named for notable women throughout history. The approach is refreshingly straightforward: local, seasonal ingredients treated with respect. The organic sourdough bread from Fournil Éphémère, a well-regarded artisan bakery in Cannes, arrives as it should: perfectly crafted.
The café offers sixty seats split between indoor and outdoor spaces, with the terrace commanding views of the Croisette’s palm-lined promenade and the Mediterranean beyond. The design keeps things simple, letting the panorama do the talking while diners focus on genuinely good food.
The timing works well with La Malmaison’s current exhibition, Poussière d’étoiles by Jean-Michel Othoniel, which explores art through celestial themes. This rooftop addition reinforces La Malmaison’s role as a vibrant hub for art and culture on Cannes’s waterfront. It offers visitors some of the best views in town and a place to pause and connect with both the city and the Mediterranean landscape…where inspiration meets elevation
Centre d’art La Malmaison: visitor information and opening hours
Our rating:
The perfect, relaxed lunch spot for (vegetarian) art lovers
Price range: €€ (plus museum admission fees)
NICE: ROOFTOP LA VISTA
Six floors above the Mediterranean, atop the legendary Hotel La Pérouse, the Rooftop La Vista crowns a building where Raoul Dufy, Hector Berlioz, and James Joyce once sought sanctuary. These creative giants found refuge within these walls from Nice’s bustle, drawn to the hotel’s contemplative atmosphere. Now, decades later, the new rooftop extends that spirit of artistic retreat skyward.
A few wicker chairs, several high tables, space for ten guests at most. The Baie des Anges spreads below while Castle Hill rises behind, framing the terrace in stone and sea. The setting honors the hotel’s heritage as a haven for those who understand that inspiration requires elevation above the ordinary world.
Michelin starred chef Damien Andrews runs the evening service himself, grilling fish on Fridays and meat on Saturdays. His background includes stints at two Michelin-starred restaurants, though here he works with braziers and open flames rather than formal presentations. The approach reflects La Pérouse’s enduring appeal to those who value substance over ceremony.
Operations are kept deliberately minimal: two nights weekly, limited seating, no amplified sound. An elevator now connects this previously inaccessible space to the hotel’s historic corridors below.
The terrace closes at the end of this summer but will return next year with expanded operations. Until then, it remains among Nice’s most selective dining spots, where the Mediterranean provides all necessary entertainment and height creates natural exclusivity.
Hotel La Pérouse, Rooftop La Vista: Booking information
Our rating:
The perfect, elegant dinner spot for a romantic night out
Price range: €€€€
MONACO: MUSÉE OCÉANOGRAPHIQUE, LA TERRASSE
This rooftop is not one you casually come to, or just happen to stumble across. Rather, you earn your right to be here, in Monaco’s most spectacular open-air restaurant, by visiting the Oceanographic Museum on whose roof it is located. But both the museum visit and the pitstop at the eatery are equally rewarding. Perched 85 m above the Mediterranean coastline, the panoramic 360° view stretches across the Ligurian Alps, the Monegasque cityscape, and the entire Mediterranean all the way to the Esterel range.
Like the museum, the restaurant was conceived with families in mind. It is unpretentious, more practical than glamorous, and favours a simple but well-made Italian cuisine and an emphasis on sustainable seafood. Set up for both indoor and outdoor eating, you are not at the mercy of the elements. And it is gentle on your credit card – one of the rare places where you don’t have to pay for the view.
On the same level as the restaurant, there is also a children’s playground and a land turtle sanctuary that recreates the animals’ natural habitat… a big hit with kids who have fun observing them up close. On the other side of the restaurant is an enormous space which the museum often uses for outdoor art installations. And most days, Jonathan, the resident seagull, will be around to bid you welcome. In Monaco’s crowded urban space, this pleasant and low-key rooftop remains a sanctuary of peace and perspective, made to enjoy and linger.
Musée Océanographique de Monaco: visitor information and opening hours
Our rating:
The perfect venue for a fun and educational day out, family-friendly
Price range: €€ (+ museum admission fees)
Three gems most visitors walk right past, three very different settings, three rooftops worth the climb. The tourists can keep the crowded beaches; you’ve got the whole Riviera at your feet.
Lead image courtesy Natja Igney; all other images as credited
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