Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Cost and Hours:
£
25 if booked at least a day in advance,
£
30 for same-day reser-
vations, book as soon as you have reasonable chance of assuring decent weather, least
crowded on weekday mornings, daily 10:00-22:00, last entry slot at 20:30, Tube: London
Bridge—use London Bridge exit, tel. 0844-499-7111,
www.theviewfromtheshard.com
.
Visiting the Shard:
From the entrance on Joiner Street (just off St. Thomas Street)
you'll take a two-part elevator ride up to the 68th floor, then climb up one story to the main
observation platform. It's equipped with cool telescopes that label major landmarks, and
even let you see how the view from here would appear at other times of the day. From here
you've got great views of St. Paul's, the Tower of London, Southwark Cathedral (straight
down), and, in the distance, the 2012 Olympic stadium in one direction, and the Houses
of Parliament in the other (find Buckingham Palace, just left of the Eye). On the clearest
days, you can see 40 miles out, and a few people say they've been able to make out ships
on the North Sea. Even in bad weather it's mesmerizing to watch the constant movement
of the city's transit system, which looks like a model-train set from this height. Climbing
up to the 72nd floor gets you to the open-air deck, where the wind roars over the glass
enclosure. As you look up, try to picture Prince Andrew rappelling off the very top, which
he and 40 others did in 2012 as a charity fundraising stunt.
The last big-gun armored warship of World War II clogs the Thames just upstream from
the Tower Bridge. This huge vessel—now manned with wax sailors—thrills kids who al-
ways dreamed of sitting in a turret shooting off their imaginary guns. If you're into WWII
warships, this is the ultimate. Otherwise, it's just lots of exercise with a nice view of the
Tower Bridge.
Cost and Hours:
£
16 including 9 percent voluntary donation, includes audioguide,
kids under 16 free, daily March-Oct 10:00-18:00, Nov-Feb 10:00-17:00, last entry one
hour before closing, Tube: London Bridge, tel. 020/7940-6300,
www.iwm.org.uk/visits/
The glassy, egg-shaped building near the south end of Tower Bridge is London's City
Hall, designed by Sir Norman Foster, the architect who worked on London's Millennium
Bridge and Berlin's Reichstag. Nicknamed “the Armadillo,” City Hall houses the office of
London's mayor—the blond, flamboyant, conservative former journalist and author Boris
Johnson. He consults here with the Assembly representatives of the city's 25 districts. An
interior spiral ramp allows visitors to watch and hear the action below in the Assembly
Chamber—ride the lift to floor 2 (the highest visitors can go) and spiral down. On the
