London Eye St Paul's - a photo on Flickriver

The jet black route from left to right is the railway line into Cannon Street station.

My first visit to the top of The Shard in London on the fourth day it was open to the public - Monday February 4th 2013. At 1,016ft / 310m, it is the tallest building in western Europe. Having lived and worked in London for over 30 years, I know the city very well. But it was a thrill to see it in person from this brand new perspective, especially after watching The Shard’s construction and gradual rise into the city skyline.

Hopefully the following information will be useful to others planning to experience the views, including photographers:

Opening hours are 9am to 10pm daily, aside from Christmas Day. The last time slot for entry is 2030 with final entry at 2100. As recommended, I bought my ticket online in advance several weeks ago. The official advice is to buy online at least 24 hours in advance and print at home, though you can also collect from the ticket office. All tickets are for a specific time and date and cost £24.95 for an adult (over 16) and £18.95 for a child (aged 4 to 15). Infants 0 - 3 are free. Children must be accompanied by adults. You can turn up on the day and buy from the ticket office at “00” ground level but obviously that depends on them having any left for the time you want. The cost on the day is £29.95 for an adult and £23.95 for a child - if available. Although it’s not widely advertised online, there is a third category of ticket - “Immediate Entry” - at a cost of £100. That applies to both adults and children and buys you entry even if the time and date you want is full. There is an option for a replacement ticket on another day if the cloud cover obscures the view from the top and visibility is poor. But this is at the discretion of the duty manager and you would obviously have to be at The Shard to arrange, if available.

The View from The Shard (for that’s what it’s called) is right outside London Bridge tube station at the southern end of Joiner Street, which runs through the station. If you initially head for the London Underground Tooley Street exit, then you turn right at the main tube exit, basically walking in the opposite direction to Tooley Street. The View from The Shard entrance will appear on your left in under a minute.

All the staff are very friendly and pro-active, having taken a leaf from volunteers at the London Olympics. Whether they can keep it up in the months and years to come remains to be seen. There doesn’t appear to be much point in arriving more than 10 or 15 minutes before the time of entry on your ticket. I had selected 1600, as sunset on this day was just before 1700. All tickets are in half hour slots. So 1600 gains you entry at any time between then and 1630. There is an initial ticket check outside on the pavement before you are allowed up a first flight of stairs and asked to join a queue to the right. This was beside the machines where you were supposed (according to your ticket) to scan the barcode on the ticket. But none of them were working and the staff simply checked our tickets themselves. I’m sure this whole process will be refined as this new attraction gets into its stride.

Two minutes before 1600 we were allowed to move through the side of the adjacent shop area and into an airport-style security check. All jackets / coats had to be removed, change / phones / keys in a tray and bags through a scanner. It is worth checking the official website as to what you can and cannot take in. A small rucksack / bag is fine but not larger ones. Photographers should also note that tripods are banned. In truth, they would probably cause problems / potential conflicts at busy times, however considerate their users were. Though it would be nice if, in time, special dedicated photographers’ events (with tripods) could be offered out of hours with lights switched off.

Having cleared security you then move to the first set of two staffed lifts. These take you very smoothly to the 33rd floor, where you change to another lift taking you up to Level 68. There is a tiny amount of sensation as the high speed lift slows and stops but hardly anything compared to other very tall buildings I have visited.

Level 68 is simply an exit area before walking up to (enclosed) Level 69, which is one of the two viewing galleries. A short walk up a further few flights of stairs will take you to Level 72, which is still pretty much enclosed but open to the elements above. While I don’t have a problem with heights (at least inside a building) both of these floors felt substantial and were larger than I had imagined. I could sometimes hear the wind howling on Level 72 (it was a windy day in any event) but neither of the viewing galleries feel like platforms at the top of a building - just two floors with tall windows, one of which just happens to have no ceiling / roof.

Both of these floors - if you walk all the way around - offer a 360 degree panoramic view of London for up to 40 miles on a clear day. They were both pretty busy, especially at sunset, but became much quieter as the evening went on. There is NO time limit as to how long you can stay up. Having arrived on the viewing platforms just after 1600, I finally left at 1830 - two and a half hours for £25, which seemed pretty decent value.

Mostly everyone, of course, wants to take photographs, whether via their mobile phone or cameras and lenses costing thousands of pounds. At busy times you just have to be patient and wait your turn for a particular window / view. Most people were aware of others, stepped in for a minute or so and then backed away to let someone else take some photos. A few, of course, had no idea of the small queue of people behind them either wanting to simply take in the view or take pics. As mentioned, it was much quieter an hour or so after sunset and by 1830 (at least on this day) you could pretty much have your pick of a window. I guess the best idea is to allow plenty of time for your visit so you can take in all the views you want if it happens to be busy.

Level 72 is the most problematic for photographers in terms of window reflections, particularly from the steel structure, as well as from other visitors. There are similar problems on Level 69, including hand rails, but not quite so bad. And obviously this will depend on the time of day, direction of sun etc. I also heeded the advice of others and took a cloth to wipe the inside of the windows which have many finger / smudge marks on them.

Being unable to use a tripod is a particular problem at night, unless you have a rock steady hand. One partial solution is to put your camera bag on the floor next to the base of a window and place the camera on top. Not ideal and a bit hit and miss but needs must. A small Gorillapod might work where there are hand rails but I’m not sure if that would be allowed through security. And, again, you would be close to possible reflections from the rail.

As you will see, my night photos are OK but not the sharpest. That, of course, also comes down to my limited skills! I was also careful to make time to simply take in the wonder of the various views without worrying about taking pics.

Not my thing but...there is a small shop below the viewing galleries back on Level 68, en route (naturally) to the same lifts that took you up. They also return you to the ground where there is a larger shop appearing to stock a wider range of merchandise. That’s right next to the ticket counters so I presume you could visit the ground floor shop without buying a ticket but best check.

Even having been at the top of The Shard for two-and-a-half hours I found it hard to drag myself away. The views (if you are lucky enough with the weather) are truly stunning and wherever you look something is happening. Whether it be the “toy” trains snaking into London Bridge or Cannon Street, the Thames river boats, the queues of traffic winding into and out of the city centre...all of that and so much more is fascinating. Plus new views of old favourites in the distance like Wembley Stadium or the Albert Bridge. And just the calm of standing so tall above what I think is the world’s greatest city.

The View from The Shard has to be a “must” for visitors to London and pretty high up on the list of things to do for those of us who live here. I’ll certainly be going back.

Recommended links:

www.theviewfromtheshard.com

www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/interactive/2013/feb/01/v...

Taken in: United Kingdom / England / London / Bankside (show map)

Taken on: February 4, 2013

Tags:

The Shard

View from The Shard

Thames

Bankside

St Paul's Cathedral

London Eye

Cannon Street Station

Southwark Bridge

Blackfriars Bridge

52weeks

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Sets appears in: • My Pick Of 2013 • My Photos more » • View from The Shard « less

Groups appears in: • * CityScapes & City Life • FlickrToday (only 1 pic per day) more » • London: Dusk 'till Dawn • Photos of the year: 52 weeks • Best of Great Britain « less

Camera: Canon EOS 550D, 0.5 sec, 16mm, ISO 6400 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Canon EOS 550D
Exposure Time:	0.5
Focal Length:	16mm
ISO:	6400
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Program:	Manual
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
Color Space:	Uncalibrated
Software:	QuickTime 7.7.1
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