It’s only been there since 2012, but already The Shard feels as normal and natural a part of the London skyline as St Paul’s Cathedral, Tower Bridge, the London Eye and the Telecom Tower. If it’s not on your London sightseeing wishlist, well, it probably should be. We’ve got the lowdown on the high-up View from The Shard, including everything you need to know about its opening hours, plus…
- Ticket types
- Places to eat and drink
- What you can see
- Accessibility
- Cool Shard facts
- Souvenirs
- Other nearby attractions
- … and more!
What are the opening times at The View from The Shard?
What are the opening times at The View from The Shard?
Well, this is kind of a cop out but the truth is that opening hours at The View from The Shard tend to vary. However, as a general rule, it's open between 10AM and 10PM in summer and between 11AM and 7PM in winter. There may also be closures on public holidays and for special events, so do check your Go City app or the View from The Shard’s website for the most accurate and up-to-date information before you set out.
Visit during the mid-afternoon lulls mid-week if you want to avoid the worst of the crowds. Or, heck, just embrace the madness and come during the busy golden hour just before sunset, when locals and tourists alike gather for the most swoonworthy views of London you’re likely to find anywhere.
Is there a time limit for how long I can spend at The View from The Shard?
Nope. You’re free to stay up there in The View from The Shard for as long as you please. Well, within reason anyway; security won’t look too kindly on you if you’re found napping in the loos at three in the morning. In short, you can take in those sky-high 360-degree panoramas at your leisure.
Great! And what exactly can I see from up there?
What can you see? What can’t you see, more like. This, after all, is the tallest building in Western Europe, towering an eye-watering 1,016 feet above the streets of Southwark. The View from The Shard sits on the 68th, 69th and 72nd floors, the highest being an open-air deck 800 feet up, with views that stretch 40 miles in every direction on clear days. Eyes peeled then for near neighbors like Tower Bridge, the Tower of London, Southwark Cathedral, St Paul’s and the Houses of Parliament. Cast the net a little wider though and you may be able to pick out the Thames Estuary, the South Downs and the regal turrets of Windsor Castle.
What if the weather’s, like, really bad though?
Spoiler: London does occasionally wake up beneath leaden gray skies and sheets of driving rain. But there’s normally still plenty to see even if the weather is doing its level best to ruin your Shard selfies. In cases where visibility is worse than during one of those old-school London smogs you’re heard about and you can’t see at least three of the London Eye, the Walkie Talkie, Tower Bridge, One Canada Square and St Paul’s Cathedral, you’ll be offered a voucher to make a return visit on a better day.
So far so good, but how much is all this going to cost me?
So far so good, but how much is all this going to cost me?
If you have a London Pass, you’ve already locked in sightseeing costs for your trip and you need give it no further thought, besides smugly congratulating yourself on each attraction visited, especially as the savings start to pile up. The View from The Shard, the Tower of London, Shakespeare’s Globe, Kensington Palace, Westminster Abbey… they’re all included, and then some!
If not, you can buy tickets online or on the door – though be aware tickets may be sold out by the time you get there at more popular times, like during school holidays. Tickets start from around £24 for general entry.
How accessible is The View from The Shard?
It’s fully accessible all the way up to level 72, with disabled toilets on the first and 68th floors. Chairs are available on request at all three viewing platforms.
And what are the bathrooms like?
What an unusual question! That said, loo fanciers are in luck: the toilets have floor-to-ceiling windows, offering what must surely rate as some of the best public convenience views on the planet.
Is there anywhere to eat or drink in The Shard?
Is there anywhere to eat or drink in The Shard?
There is indeed. Start by steadying height-related nerves at The View from The Shard’s signature Champagne Bar, then head into the belly of the beast (i.e. The Shard’s mid-level floors) for restaurants-with-a-view that include Aqua Shard’s contemporary British cuisine on the 31st floor and urban-casual dining at Oblix on the 32nd.
A bit formal for ya? You’re also right by Borough Market, with its eclectic mix of global street food and stalwart restaurants like Applebee’s, Padella and Roast.
I’d like a souvenir of my visit. What would you recommend?
You’re going to get pretty snap-happy during your trip up to The View from The Shard. Isn’t that souvenir enough for you? No? Oh, ok then. In that case you’ll want the great big Shard shop on the ground floor. You can get books about The Shard’s construction, plus mugs, keyrings, posters, toys, puzzles, and all manner of other Shard-shaped goodies. Shard cookie, anyone? Why thanks, I rather think I will.
Anything else you can tell me about The Shard?
Sure! Try these for size…
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The Shard was designed by celebrated Italian architect Renzo Piano, whose other buildings include the Whitney Museum of American Art in NYC and Paris’s ‘inside-out’ Centre Georges Pompidou.
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It’s 1,016 feet tall from top to toe and was the tallest building in Europe for several years, before being beaten by mere inches by the Varso Tower in Warsaw (1,017 feet) in 2022.
- In total, The Shard contains 72 floors, 36 elevators and a whopping 11,000 glass panels, give or take.
- At 800 feet up, The View from The Shard is the UK’s highest viewing gallery.
- English Heritage hated Piano’s angular design, but inadvertently provided the name, opining that it would be "a shard of glass through the heart of historic London."
- During construction in 2011, workers discovered a fox who’d set up home in his own personal penthouse suite on the 72nd floor. Romeo, as he was later named, had been living off scraps left from the builders’ packed lunches.
What else can I do near The Shard?
What else can I do near The Shard?
In short: plenty. The Shard is right on the river in London Bridge, placing it within easy strolling distance of several big-ticket attractions, many of them included on The London Pass.
- Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre: Go behind the scenes on a guided tour of this reconstructed Elizabethan marvel.
- Tower Bridge: Admire the gothic twin towers of this Thames icon, then walk the glass walkway above.
- Tower of London: Try not to lose your head as you hear tales of royal murder, mystery and intrigue and goggle at the dazzling Crown Jewels.
- Golden Hinde: Step aboard a full-size reconstruction of Sir Francis Drake’s legendary galleon.
I can’t get enough! Got any more Shardy goodness?
Your wish is our command…
- A complete guide to visiting The View from The Shard
- Bars and restaurants at The Shard
- Five records you’ll break just by visiting The Shard
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