My teen daughter had asked about a visit to The Shard a couple of times and it seemed like it might make an interesting end to the half term holiday. Everyone I had asked about it had said that they were truly impressed so I went online and was surprised that there was still ticket availability. I admit that I paused when I saw the price – £18.95 for her and £24.95 for me. But in New York I hadn’t hesitated to visit The Empire State building and she had had the good fortune to climb the CNN Tower with her father in Canada. London was calling.
But Friday morning started with a covering of ominous clouds and my heart sank – so much for great views, I was concerned that it would be a white-out. But as the morning wore on, and my work meetings ended, the sun came out. I met my daughter at Waterloo with a hopeful smile and we took the tube to London Bridge.
In bright sunshine, we made our way round the convoluted construction works, peeking up now and again to admire The Shard above. Finally we found a queue – which was a surprise as folk had mentioned the efficiency of the timed entry e-tickets. But the staff were jolly and helpful, explaining that a small technical hitch was creating a bit of a delay but not to worry.
We reached the front of the queue quickly and walked up a few stairs to join another line inside the shiny-new building. There were machines where you could print your tickets and wall displays showing information about The Shard. Here we learned that the delays were due to the four lifts being a little out of sync. Should we be worried? Smiles from the staff reassured us.
Then it was through airport style security but with staff who were jolly and customer-friendly rather than scary. Yet more wall displays on the construction process and fun montages where you could spot all manner of celebrities – including the ubiquitous Richard Branson and Cliff Richard with the angels. Then there was a further short queue (this all happened within 20 minutes so we weren’t unhappy) where we watched red dots on a schematic showing where our lifts were. The ceiling of the elevator featured images of famous London ceilings – including Kings Cross and Albert Hall. At floor 33 we changed to another lift that took just 27 seconds to ascend to floor 68. We didn’t even notice we were moving.
We emerged into light – but no views as the windows were obscured with cloud images. A few further steps took us up to floor 69 – the viewing platform. We were stopped in our tracks at the view. We could see for miles – London laid out before us like a giant intricate model village. We walked around to take in North, South, East and West views. Canary Wharf was tiny – and we could see Crystal Palace tower in the distance.
The windows went down to the floor so I had that fluttery tummy feeling as I tried to look down – no fear from my daughter though as she took photos. And if the jaw-dropping view wasn’t enough we discovered the wonder of the augmented reality video telescopes. Point the device and select live, day or night view and you could see everything on screen – with options to zoom or to click on the pop-up labels to learn more about what you were looking at. I learned so much about various key sites and buildings using the telescopes and we laughed at how we could spy from on high on the ant like people down below.
There’s no time limit on your stay up there and 30 minutes passed by in a flash. You simply can’t take in so much. It’s wondrous. Like sitting on a cloud and looking down, And unlike the London Eye or the cable car as you aren’t moving so you can gaze at your chosen view for as long as you like.
Finally, we dragged ourselves away and visited the shop on our way out – learning about the fox who had got stuck at the top of the building during construction and had been fed by the workers until rescued. We bought magnets and postcards to share our adventure with family and friends.
There were plenty of younger kids at The Shard. And they were also wowed at the views as well as the experience of getting up to the top of the world – well, the top of London.
Yes, it was expensive. But it was worth every penny and I think I shall have to go again – even though it might be considered a “once in a lifetime” adventure. A magnificent building and awesome views.
