How to Get The Shard Tickets

The Shard is the tallest building in the UK and the seventh-tallest in Europe. It’s also the only viewing platform in London where you can see the London Eye, St Paul’s Cathedral, Tower Bridge, the Tower of London, Westminster, and Canary Wharf at the same time. Whether that makes it worth $25 depends on your tolerance for heights and your patience for queues.

The Shard skyscraper upward view London — Looking up at the Shard from the base. Renzo Piano designed it to resemble a shard of ice — which is why every one of its 11,000 glass panels has a different shape and size.

The View from The Shard is at levels 68, 69, and 72. You take two lifts (the first to level 33, the second to 68) and the whole journey from queue to the top takes about 15 minutes. Once up there you’ve got unobstructed 360-degree views across London, which on a clear day means a 40-mile visibility radius — Windsor Castle to the west, the Dartford Crossing to the east, and the South Downs to the south.

The Shard London skyline glass buildings — The Shard from the north bank of the Thames. The building is 310 metres tall — nearly twice the height of St Paul’s Cathedral and roughly the same as the top of the Eiffel Tower.

Shard London river skyline Thames — The Thames view from the Shard is genuinely the best linear perspective you can get of the city — you see the river from Canary Wharf in the east all the way west to Chelsea.

Shard London sunset panorama — Sunset at the Shard is the best version of the experience. You get maybe 20 minutes of golden-hour light before the city lights come up and the view transitions to the night version.

This guide covers how the ticket actually works, whether the champagne upgrade is worth it, and how the Shard compares to London’s other high viewpoints — the London Eye, Sky Garden, and the Horizon 22 observation deck.

In a Hurry? Here Are the Top Picks

The essential: London: The View from The Shard — $25 per person. Standard entry. Three levels of viewing, audio guide included.

Best upgrade: The Shard Entry with Champagne — $48 per person. Entry plus a glass of prosecco at level 72. Good for anniversaries or one-off occasions.

Best comparison: London Eye Entry Ticket — $39 per person. The Shard’s main rival. Different experience, arguably more iconic.

London aerial skyline with Shard — The Shard dominates the south bank skyline. It’s the first building most travellers arriving by Eurostar see — St Pancras to London Bridge is a direct journey, and the Shard rises above the platform as you pull in.

What You Actually See at the Top

The View is spread across three levels — 68, 69, and 72. You ascend in two stages and work your way up. Here’s what each level gives you.

Level 68: The Indoor Viewing Level

Fully enclosed glass. Climate-controlled. This is where the audio guide starts and where the interactive “Tell:Scope” devices (tablets that identify landmarks as you point them at the window) live. The view is excellent but feels slightly muted because you’re looking through glass.

Tower Bridge from the Shard at evening — Tower Bridge from the Shard, looking east. From this height the bridge looks smaller than you’d expect — the river dominates the composition in a way ground-level views can’t show. *Photo by **Colin** / **Wikimedia Commons** (**CC BY-SA 4.0**).*

Shard sunset panorama wide — The Tell:Scope tablets are worth picking up. They flag buildings you’d otherwise miss — the Roman amphitheatre under the Guildhall, the Monument to the Great Fire of 1666, and the BT Tower that you can never quite place.

Level 69: The Main Observation Deck

Still enclosed but with better sightlines and the iconic “look directly down” view. If you’ve seen the classic Shard photo of someone leaning against a glass wall with the Tower Bridge visible beneath them — this is where they took it.

Tower of London from Shard London Bridge evening — The Tower of London from the Shard. The old royal fortress is dwarfed by the modern skyscrapers around it — you can see how much of the city grew up in the last 40 years. *Photo by **Colin** / **Wikimedia Commons** (**CC BY-SA 4.0**).*

Level 72: The Open-Air Deck

This is the payoff. Partially open to the sky — you can feel the wind, hear the city noise, and on a clear day watch the aircraft on final approach to Heathrow passing below you. This is 244 metres up, about two-thirds of the building’s full height, and genuinely worth the ascent.

Shard and Southwark Cathedral clear day — Southwark Cathedral sits right at the base of the Shard — from level 72 you can see straight down into its medieval courtyard. The juxtaposition of 12th-century church and 21st-century glass tower is part of the draw.

The open-air deck wraps around the east side of the lantern and has gaps wide enough to put your camera through. A small café at level 72 serves coffee and champagne at extremely high prices — one of the most overpriced coffees in London but still worth it for the setting.

London aerial skyline Shard wide — The open-air deck has a metal grille you lean on rather than solid glass. It changes the feel entirely — you’re properly outside, 244 metres above the street.

Who Else Is Up There

The Shard has residential apartments (levels 53-65), hotel rooms (the Shangri-La, levels 34-52), and offices (levels 2-28). The View occupies levels 68, 69, and 72 — above the hotel and below the spire. The spire itself is unoccupied and never open to the public.

Shard London night view city lights — The night version is a completely different experience. You lose the landscape depth but gain the light grid — the London Eye’s blue, the Tower Bridge’s white, and the wedding cake of red car lights along the bridges.

Some floors (31 and 32) have restaurants and bars that are open to the public with a reservation. The Aqua Shard bar on level 31 is free to enter if you’re drinking or dining, though you need to book ahead for guaranteed entry. This is the London insider alternative to paying for The View — £15 cocktails instead of a £25 ticket, with a slightly lower (and slightly worse) view.

The Best Tickets to Book

1. London: The View from The Shard — $25

London View from The Shard — The main ticket. Access to all three viewing levels, the interactive Tell:Scopes, and the open-air deck at level 72.

The standard entry. Valid for a specific time slot; arrive within 30 minutes of your booked time or you’ll be bumped to the next available slot. The ticket includes full access to levels 68, 69, and 72, plus the multimedia audio experience on handheld devices. Our review covers the logistics of getting in and how the timed entry works in practice. Same-day rebooking is allowed if the weather turns and visibility drops — the staff at the desk are genuinely good about this.

Check Availability
Read Our Review

2. The Shard Entry Ticket with Champagne — $48

The upgrade pick for special occasions. Same viewing levels, same timings, but with a glass of chilled prosecco (not actual champagne despite the name) delivered at level 72. You pay $23 extra for a drink that costs them maybe £3 — this is clearly a markup play but it’s also the only way to get a drink up there without paying for a full restaurant booking. Our review covers what’s actually included. Worth it for anniversaries and honeymoons; skip it for a standard visit.

Check Availability
Read Our Review

3. London Eye Entry Ticket — $39

The alternative iconic viewpoint. The London Eye is lower (135 metres vs 244), slower (a 30-minute rotation), and more touristy — but it’s also more iconic and the capsules have fewer people in them, so you get more personal space. A lot of travellers end up doing both; the economics only make sense if you’re on a long London trip. Our London Eye guide covers the tradeoffs in more detail. For a one-viewpoint-only trip, the Shard wins on absolute view but the Eye wins on experience.

Check Availability
Read Our Review

The Shard vs the London Eye vs Sky Garden

Three main high viewpoints in London. Each is different. Here’s how they compare.

The Shard (244m, $25): Highest point. Best for depth of view. Indoor + outdoor. Can be windy on level 72. Best sunset venue.

London Eye (135m, $39): Iconic. 30-minute slow rotation in a glass capsule. Close-up views of Westminster and Big Ben. More family-friendly.

Sky Garden (155m, free but needs booking): The big secret. A free viewing platform at the top of the “Walkie-Talkie” building (20 Fenchurch Street). Book 3 weeks ahead. The view is north-west facing so you see the Shard itself rather than Tower Bridge — a very different look. The garden itself is a tropical glasshouse, which adds novelty.

Shard viewed from Sky Garden — Looking at the Shard from Sky Garden — each viewpoint gives you the other as a subject. Most photographers do one of each for the contrast. *Photo by **Colin** / **Wikimedia Commons** (**CC BY-SA 4.0**).*

My honest recommendation: do the Shard for the height and the depth of view, Sky Garden for the free novelty, and skip the London Eye unless you’re travelling with kids.

London Tower Bridge aerial with Shard view — From the Shard you can trace the Thames from Canary Wharf in the east past Tower Bridge, the City, Westminster, all the way to the bend at Chelsea. The river is the defining feature of every view.

A Short Architectural History

The Shard was designed by Italian architect Renzo Piano (the same firm that did the Pompidou Centre in Paris and the New York Times building). Piano sketched it on a napkin in a restaurant overlooking the Thames in 2000, meant to resemble a shard of ice emerging from the river. The final building is 87 floors, 309.6 metres tall, and took from 2009 to 2012 to construct.

Foggy London skyline with Shard — On foggy days the Shard disappears into the low cloud from about level 60 upward. Good for atmospheric photos from the ground; bad news if you’ve booked a ticket.

The building was controversial when announced. English Heritage opposed it on the grounds that it would “damage views” of St Paul’s Cathedral. Prince Charles, predictably, called it “a shard of glass through the heart of historic London.” The opposition was overruled by the then-mayor Ken Livingstone.

Today the Shard is Britain’s most-visited single-building attraction after Westminster Abbey, with over 1 million visitors per year to the viewing platform alone. The building was sold in 2024 to Qatari investors for around £1 billion.

The Shard glass panels London skyline — 11,000 glass panels cover the Shard’s exterior. They’re angled outward so rain doesn’t stain vertical surfaces — and so that light breaks up differently at every time of day.

When to Visit

The Shard is open 10am-10pm daily (last entry 8:30pm). Weather closures happen but are rare — only for genuinely severe storms or strong winds.

Sunset is the peak time, and sunset tickets sell out first. You want to be on level 72 about 15 minutes before sunset to catch the colour change on the glass and skyline. In winter this means 3:30-4pm; in summer 9-9:30pm.

Morning is the quietest time and has the clearest visibility. If you’re a photographer, book the 10am slot.

Night tickets (after 7pm) are slightly cheaper and give you the lit-up city view. Different experience, worth it as a second visit rather than a first.

London aerial skyline at night with Shard — Night at the Shard — from the top you can see the Thames winding through the city like a black ribbon between illuminated streets. Best on a clear winter night when the cold keeps the air haze-free.

Weather planning: the Shard’s website has a live visibility indicator. If you see the forecast shows low cloud, switch your slot to a clearer day. The staff will rebook you free up to 48 hours ahead.

The Shard London night city lights skyline — Night visits are often 20-30% cheaper than sunset slots. The difference is the handover moment — at sunset you see the transition, at night you just get the lit city.

Physical Reality of the Visit

The View experience takes about 60-90 minutes end-to-end. Breakdown:

Security: airport-style bag check at entry. Budget 5-10 minutes.

First lift: 33 floors in 45 seconds. Your ears pop; you’re warned.

Second lift: to level 68. Another 30 seconds.

Three levels of viewing: 30-45 minutes depending on how long you linger.

Descent: similar reversed. Express lift down.

The viewing levels are wheelchair-accessible. All lifts, toilets, and café at level 72 are accessible. Photography is allowed everywhere including flash; no tripods larger than 20cm allowed.

London aerial night view Shard illuminated — The descent takes 30 seconds by express lift. A lot of visitors miss the moment — the lift has a video ceiling showing an animated descent, which is easy to look at instead of the view through the glass walls.

How to Get There

London Bridge station is 3 minutes’ walk. It’s served by the Northern Line and Jubilee Line on the Underground, plus mainline trains from Kent and East Anglia. Most tours and the hop-on hop-off buses stop within 5 minutes.

If you’re coming from the Westminster side of the river, walk along the South Bank — Westminster Bridge to London Bridge is a 20-minute walk past the London Eye, Tate Modern, and St Paul’s (across the river via the Millennium Bridge). This is a genuinely good London walk, and doing the Shard at the end gives you a natural pace and story arc for the day.

Tower Bridge aerial London Shard — Tower Bridge is 15 minutes’ walk east from the Shard along the South Bank. If you’re doing both in a day, the Shard in the morning and Tower Bridge in the afternoon works better — the light lands right for both.

Shard Thames river and London skyline — The South Bank walk from Westminster to London Bridge is a 45-minute city tour on foot. The Shard visit caps it perfectly — you’ve seen the buildings on the ground, then you see them all from 244 metres up.

What to Wear and Bring

Smart-casual. No dress code as such, but polo shirts and jeans are the floor — no gym clothes or flip-flops.

Warm layer for level 72. The open-air deck has no heating and in winter the wind chill brings temperatures close to freezing. Even in July a light jumper is useful.

Camera or phone. Photos are allowed everywhere. The Tell:Scopes (interactive tablets) can identify 200+ landmarks for you.

Small bag only. Large bags get security-checked; there’s nowhere to leave them at the top.

Sunglasses if you’re visiting at sunset. The glare off the glass in direct sun is uncomfortable without them.

No outside food or drink, though you can rebuy anything on level 72 at about 3x normal London prices.

Shard Southwark Cathedral clear day — Southwark Cathedral — tiny next to the Shard — is free and worth a 15-minute look on the way in or out. It’s been a working church since 1106.

Worth Knowing Before You Book

The timed entry is real. Arrive more than 30 minutes late and your slot is forfeit. The ticket desk can rebook you to the next slot with space — usually within 60-90 minutes, but it depends on demand.

Weather rebooking: if the website’s live visibility shows under 30% visibility on your slot day, you can rebook free up to the moment you arrive. After entry, no refunds.

The “2 for 1” tickets sometimes advertised on the Shard’s own website are a loss-leader offer only valid with National Rail train tickets — you buy a rail ticket to London then get the Shard deal. Not available on third-party ticket sites.

Children under 4 are free. Ages 4-15 pay a reduced rate. Over-65s get a discount too.

The Shard hosts occasional private events that close parts of the viewing area. These are rare and will be listed on the website at the time of booking.

Access after 7pm is cheaper but the interactive Tell:Scopes are disabled — you get the views but not the narration.

The audio guide is bundled into the ticket; don’t pay for a “guided tour” upgrade unless you specifically want one.

Pairing the Shard with Other London Activities

The Shard is a 90-minute activity. The natural pairings:

Morning Shard + afternoon activity: book the 10am slot, then walk along the South Bank to catch a Thames river cruise from London Bridge Pier. The cruise is the horizontal view after the vertical one, and the pair works well.

Afternoon Shard + evening dinner: book the 4pm slot in winter or 7pm slot in summer. You’ll catch sunset and have a proper city-light dinner venue reference in your head. The Aqua Shard bar on level 31 is a pre-dinner option.

Shard + Tower Bridge + Tower of London trio: all three sit along the south/north banks at London Bridge. A combined-ticket-style day visiting all three (separate tickets, same neighbourhood) is a solid London Bridge-area day — our Tower Bridge guide and Tower of London guide cover the logistics.

Shard + Harry Potter Studio: not geographically close but makes sense as a “London highlights” day. Do the Shard early, tube to Euston, and take the Warner Bros shuttle bus to Watford.

Foggy London bridges skyline Shard — Foggy day? Rebook. The website’s live visibility tracker is surprisingly accurate — a 30% visibility reading means you’ll mostly see cloud, and the experience is genuinely not worth the money in those conditions.

Worth the Ticket or Skippable?

Worth the ticket if: you want the best panoramic view of London at any time of day, you’re a photographer, you want an anniversary-tier venue, or you genuinely enjoy being high up.

Skippable if: you’re afraid of heights (the glass floor moments on level 69 are not for everyone), you’ve already been to the London Eye and found it underwhelming, or you’re on a tight Heritage-attractions budget and the £25 would be better spent on St Paul’s or the Tower of London.

For most London visitors I’d skew toward doing it — the view is unique in a way that other European capitals genuinely don’t have. Paris has the Eiffel Tower and the Montparnasse Tower; New York has the Empire State and Top of the Rock; London has the Shard. Each has one definitive high viewpoint that’s become a rite of passage, and this is London’s.

More UK Guides

If you’re doing the Shard as part of a London landmarks run, the natural companions are the Tower of London guide and Tower Bridge guide (both visible from the Shard and within walking distance), the London Eye guide for the competing-viewpoint decision, and a Thames River Cruise for the horizontal afternoon version of the Shard’s vertical view. If you’re building a longer London trip, the St Paul’s guide and Westminster Abbey guide cover the other two major indoor landmarks, and the Windsor-Stonehenge-Bath day trip is the full-day out-of-town option. Heading further: the Scottish Highlands guide and Giants Causeway guide are the natural next reads for a wider UK trip.

Affiliate disclosure: We may earn a small commission from bookings made through the links on this page. It doesn’t change the price you pay and helps keep the site running.