View from the Shard Experience

Since I’ve been young, I’ve loved skyscrapers. I will always remember the feeling of amazement I experienced when I first saw the Manhattan skyline. Though the 2001 WTC attacks forever changed people’s perceptions on tall buildings, I am proud that New York City has rebuilt and that One World Trade Center is soon opening.

Two years ago, Jim and I visited another skyscraper, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, the tallest building in the world at 2,716 feet (see my post on this that I’ve just added.) Architects who design buildings of this size are incredibly talented.

The Shard Building is now the tallest building in Western Europe at 1,016 feet.  It has already dramatically changed London’s skyline, and Jim and I were eager to get to the top to see what London looks like from 800 feet above.

(Above picture: Gregg Fonne/Getty Images.  Referenced from Guardian blog article written by Dave Hill)

High Building, High Fees

If you’re visiting London and you want to see all the tourist sites, prepare to see your money disappear into thin air.  Let’s imagine you want to start your day taking a tour of Westminster Abbey, (18 pounds or approx. $28), then follow it with a visit to see the interior of  St. Paul’s Cathedral, (15 pounds or approx. $24). But what about the must-see Tower of London tour (19 pounds or approx. $30)? Finally, after you’ve explored the big sites in central London, you have to see what the city looks like from the 72nd floor of the Shard (24.95 pounds advance tickets or $39)?  Total cost = $121!!

“Queue” Situation

Since we’re in the neighborhood, we thought it only appropriate to schedule a visit as soon as it opened, so we booked our advance tickets the day they went on sale over seven months ago, with a time slot on Friday, February 1st from 6:30 – 7pm.

On the Shard website, it says ” The entire experience is enjoyed at your leisure, queue and crowd free with no time restriction on your stay.”  We waited in 3 separate lines to get to the elevator. It wasn’t a terrible wait, and I expected it based on what I’ve experienced  from visiting skyscrapers in other cities (Empire State Building & Top of the Rock in NY, the Willis Tower in Chicago).

We showed up at 6:15 pm and we arrived at the 68th floor around 7 pm.  “Queue-free” should probably not be marketed on their website yet, but I do expect this will change as time goes on. If you want to be sure to avoid all the lines, you can buy “immediate entry tickets” for 100 pounds, or about $157 dollars each. Hmmm…I would love to know who actually buys those tickets. 🙂

Once you make it to the 68th floor, there’s  a 360 degree viewing platform inside on the 69th floor.  Additionally, you can walk from the 69th floor up to the 72nd floor, and you’re able to enjoy a partial outside experience where the top of the building is open and exposed to the elements.

Is the city really this big? 

London is relatively comfortable and manageable once you’re inside it and living here for a while. Each neighborhood feels like a small, individual community within the larger city and it’s easy to get around via the transportation network.  800 feet up, it’s a different picture! “In March 2011, London had an official population of 8,174,100, making it the most populous municipality in the European Union, and accounting for 12.5% of the UK population” (Wikipedia reference)

The pictures below should help you visualize what the view’s like from up that high.

The Tower Bridge and the City Hall building from the Shard…

Big Ben (bright gold lights and towards the left side of the image) and the London Eye (lit up in blue/purple lights below) were easy to make out but still looked small when you’re seeing it from that height.

St. Paul’s Cathedral in the picture below….

Canary Wharf, one of London’s main financial districts, in the distance. Also interesting to see the shape of the Thames River and how the city is built around it..

To the north of the Shard, you can see London Bridge and the view into the City of London, which is now changing as new high rise buildings go up. 
Overall the View from the Shard was a great experience, and I am proud to say we were there on the public opening day.  It seems surreal sometimes that I live so close to this building, and I particularly enjoy living here at a time when the London Bridge/Southwark neighborhood is experiencing so many changes.