The Rooftop at The Store
A cocktail on a terrace above Broad Street, with the whole of Oxford's skyline of spires laid out in front of you.
A cocktail on a terrace above Broad Street, with the whole of Oxford's skyline of spires laid out in front of you.
Most of Oxford is best seen looking up. This is the rare spot where you get to look across instead. The Rooftop sits on top of The Store, the smart new hotel in the beautifully restored old Boswells department store on Broad Street, and it lifts you clear of the crowds to a terrace with an unbroken view over the college roofs, the Sheldonian dome and a whole horizon of spires. On a fine afternoon it is one of the loveliest places in the city to have a drink, and a complete change of perspective after a day spent down among the stone at street level.
The drinks match the setting. The bar builds its cocktails around The Store's own award-winning spirits, made with Hawkridge Distillers, so the gimlets and highballs come from gin and whisky you will not find elsewhere. Order something with a view of Radcliffe country over the parapet and it is hard to think of a better way to toast a day in Oxford. It is a grown-up, unhurried sort of place rather than a party bar, made for slowing down and taking it all in.
A few practical things worth knowing. The Rooftop is walk-in only, with no bookings taken, so it is first come, first served, and it is best to arrive early on a sunny afternoon before the good tables go. It is over-21s only, and opening is limited: at the time of writing it runs from around noon Thursday to Sunday and is closed at the start of the week, though hours shift with the season and the weather, so it is always worth checking the current times on their own site before you make the trip in. And because it is a rooftop, a bright, still day is the one to pick.
Oxford is around forty minutes from Well Cottage, and The Store sits right in the middle of it on Broad Street, one of the city's grandest. Central parking is famously difficult, so most guests use a park-and-ride on the ring road and bus in, which leaves you a short walk away. Once you are on foot the location could hardly be better: Blackwell’s is a few doors along, the Bodleian, Sheldonian and the colleges are all on the doorstep, and the Ashmolean is a short stroll away. It makes a natural finale to a day of galleries and colleges. For more ideas, see our Oxford guide and our eating and drinking guide.
“You spend all day craning your neck at the spires, then come up here and find yourself level with them, drink in hand. It is our favourite way to end an afternoon in Oxford.”
A day in Oxford, and your own thatched cottage to come home to. Sleeps seven, less than a mile from Soho Farmhouse.