York's rooftop bars for a summer evening

York is not the obvious place to look for rooftop bars, but a few have quietly set up over the old city, and they are at their best on a warm summer evening. The obvious one to start with is Sora Sky Bar, perched on the seventh floor of the Malmaison York at 2 Rougier Street. It is the hotel's rooftop Japanese and sushi restaurant, and from up there you get a proper look over the skyline, with York Minster front and centre, plus Holgate Windmill, the Railway Museum, the city walls and Rowntree's all within view. The terrace is softened with greenery and fairy lights, and the menu runs on pan-Asian tapas, sushi, sashimi and robata-grilled dishes alongside signature cocktails. It is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, except on bank holidays, and opens at midday on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays, staying open until midnight, and until 1am on Fridays and Saturdays. Food is served daily from midday until 10pm, with last orders at 9.45pm. If you are after music, resident DJs and saxophone players play every Saturday from 8pm to 1am, and the Sundown at Sora session brings live music to the rooftop every Sunday from 4pm. There is also an Oriental-inspired afternoon tea Wednesday to Sunday between midday and 4pm, at £35 a head or £45 with a cocktail, and the food ranges from à la carte and bento boxes to tapas and a tasting menu.

For something more low-key, The Habit at 40 Goodramgate sits in a 16th-century building that once housed local monks, and its rooftop is an open courtyard terrace with leather bench seating and views of the Minster. The drinks list is the draw here, with more than 30 gins and 40 whiskies plus ales, and live music runs four nights a week: open mic on Wednesday, country and American on Thursday, and a rotation of guest artists on Friday and Saturday, with the likes of David Ward Maclean, Dave Keegan and Simon Snaize regular fixtures. Food is served daily from 10am to 3.30pm, and it stays open late, closing at midnight most nights and 1.30am on Fridays and Saturdays.

Fancy Hank's Bar & Kitchen, next door at 39 Goodramgate, leans into the American Deep South with gumbo, jambalaya, fried chicken, slow-cooked BBQ and burgers, and cocktails to match. It is open Tuesday to Thursday and Sunday from 10am to 11pm, and until 12.30am on Fridays and Saturdays, with a daily happy hour from 3pm to 6pm that runs two cocktails for £10, two double spirit and mixers for £10, four bottles of Budweiser for £10 and a 50oz jug of Thirsty Hank's for £8. Wing Wednesday gives you all-you-can-eat wings and fries for £13.95 from 4pm, and there are cocktail masterclasses for groups of at least four. Dogs are welcome, though the building has many stairs and is only wheelchair accessible in the front bar, with the bathrooms out of reach.

And if you want to stay out late, Bobo Lobo at 5 Little Stonegate is a cocktail bar and grill with two floors: a downstairs dance floor with World Class DJs and a second-floor cocktail lounge with table service, plus York's only heated shisha terrace. It opens at 4pm most nights and runs until 2.30am, with 2-for-£12 cocktails, two Jägerbombs for £6, four shots for £12 and £6 house doubles all night, and tropical drinks served in pineapples. It opens at 1pm on Saturdays and half-price shisha every Monday.