11 Plus Exams Forum

We went up The Shard yesterday, lucked out with the weather.

The views are amazing! I definetly recommend it and you can also take a wander through Borough Market which is opposite.
There are 2 viewing galleries the top one is partially open so gives a great experience being so high up and feeling the wind.

Kids go free at half term so look out for the offer it is well worth it. I recommend going just before sunset, as you get to see both day and evening views and if you are lucky a great sunset.

Hi Coolmum,

Thanks for your lovely recommendation.
Hope to go there one day and I will remember your advice

I took DD back in Feb during half term. I think it is a good idea to book beforehand.

We found the upper deck was quieter as not many realised they could go up there.

And yes the nearby market was excellent too.

I can also recommend the Emirates cable car thing (I have forgotten the proper name) across the Thames near the O2 as well.

Don't miss the opportunity to visit The Shard's loo on the 68th floor. Amazing!!

My office is on a high floor in an iconic London landmark and I love to get friends for lunch. This half term has been exceptionally busy! Working full time is a pain but sometimes it has it rewards, especially when it comes to London views and meeting up with friends briefly at lunch.

Having been up the shard a couple of times now, we decided to go for the Sky Garden (top of the Walkie Talkie).

Unlike the Shard it is free, although you do have to book tickets beforehand. Be warned that adults need some form of ID (preferably photo ID) as one of the party in front didn't!

Excellent view, although not as high as the Shard. Also not crowded as tickets are limited.

Now DD wants to go in the Gherkin (close by so we had a close look today), although that's not normally open to the public, so we are trying to figure out how to make that happen.

Climbing 'Big Ben' is free too. Fab views and the tour takes you up there for the 'bongs'.

http://www.parliament.uk/visiting/visit ... nt/bigben/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The Monument is good as well if you like climbing stairs.

doodles wrote:The Monument is good as well if you like climbing stairs.

Unfortunately I don't think DH and I have knees that can take that sort of malarkey. DD has been up before when she was doing the great fire of London at primary, but we had the good sense to let the grandparents take her.

DD is big into her photography and wants to be an architect, so going around London taking photos of iconic buildings quite suits.

I have no head for heights and just know that I would get stuck halfway up the Monument and cause massive inconvenience . However, I have signed up to go on a local Facebook group outing to the viewing platform on top of of our Civic Centre. Which is very brave of me, I think (less likely to cause inconvenience by getting stuck on the stairs as we just use the normal ones, I believe - or if we are very lucky, they may turn the lifts on). Though a bit of me is sort of hoping that the appointed day will turn out to be the date of one of DH's Saturday tutorials and I will have to cancel in order to get DD and DS2 to their swimming lesson etc