Morten Andersen rates Nor' Loft as the quiet answer to Edinburgh's rooftop problem: the city has the most dramatic skyline in Britain and almost nowhere to drink while looking at it. This seventh-floor champagne bar atop the Market Street Hotel is one of the few rooms that gets both the view and the drink right.
Nor' Loft sits on the seventh floor of the Market Street Hotel at 6 Market Street, EH1 1DE, in the Old Town between Waverley Station and the Royal Mile. The hotel opened in 2019 and the lift opens straight onto the bar, where the view unfurls across Princes Street Gardens and the New Town skyline (The Rooftop Guide). It pairs an interior lounge behind full-height windows with open terraces, so the room works in Edinburgh weather rather than against it.
The design choices set it apart from the city's hotel rooftops. The space leans Scandinavian, with light wood, sleek furniture and a statement wall of tiny fireplaces that keeps the lounge warm on a cold Edinburgh evening (Spotted by Locals). It reads as a hidden room rather than a flagship, and locals tend to know it better than visitors do.
The drink is built around champagne and Scotland. The list runs more than twenty champagne labels alongside champagne cocktails, single malts and local beers, paired with small plates designed for sharing (Nor' Loft official site). Order a glass from the champagne list for the terrace, or a single malt if the wind has driven everyone inside to the fireplace wall. Afternoon tea is the daytime option for a slower, view-led visit, and the small plates are built for sharing rather than a full sit-down meal.
Who it is for is the couple marking an occasion and the visitor who wants the skyline with a proper drink in hand rather than a plastic cup. It is right for a celebration, a date or a sunset glass, and wrong for a cheap round or a big standing group. For the rest of the city's terraces, our guide to the best rooftop bars in Edinburgh covers them, and Cold Town House near the Grassmarket is the better pick for a casual castle-view pint.
The bar earns a place on the city's rooftop shortlists rather than its hotel-bar afterthoughts. The Rooftop Guide ranks it among the ten best terraces in Edinburgh, and Forever Edinburgh, the city's official tourism site, lists it as a destination rooftop rather than a guest-only lounge (Forever Edinburgh). That matters in a city where most elevated bars sit behind a hotel reception and treat the public as an inconvenience. Nor' Loft takes walk-ins and bookings from anyone, which is why locals rate it.
The room rewards timing and a booking. It gets busy on summer evenings and sunny weekends, and the team recommends reserving ahead rather than chancing the lift (Spotted by Locals). The terrace is the draw when the weather holds, but the glassed lounge keeps the same view going year-round, which matters in a city where a clear July evening is never guaranteed.
Best time to go is the hour before sunset, when the gardens and the castle ridge catch the last light, or a weekday afternoon for the calmer afternoon-tea slot. The bar opens at noon most days and runs to 11pm midweek, with later closing on Friday and Saturday. For the wider plan, start with our Edinburgh bar guide, and for another elevated room see the rooftop at The Glasshouse on the other side of the city centre.
Sources: Nor' Loft official site; The Rooftop Guide; Spotted by Locals.
