Physicists face major challenges in modelling multi-scale phenomena that are observed in geophysical flows (e.g. in the Earth’s oceans and atmosphere, or liquid planetary cores). In particular, complexities arise because geophysical fluids are rotating and subject to density variations, but also because the fluid boundaries have complex geometries (e.g. the ocean floor) with wavelengths ranging from metres to thousands of kilometres. Dynamical models of planetary fluid layers are thus often constrained by observations, whose interpretation necessitates a comprehensive understanding of the underlying physics. To this end, geophysical studies often combine cutting-edge experiments across a wide range of parameters, together with theory and numerical simulations, to derive predictive scaling laws applicable for planetary settings. In this review, we discuss experimental efforts that have contributed to our understanding of geophysical flows with topography. More specifically, we focus on (i) the flow response to mechanical (orbital) forcings in the presence of a large-scale (ellipsoidal) topography, (ii) some effects of small-scale topography onto bulk flows and boundary-layer dynamics, and (iii) the interaction between convection and roughness. The geophysical context is briefly introduced for each case, and some experimental perspectives are drawn.