A new visitor experience coming to London: The View from The Shard

The View from The Shard – which opens on 1st February 2013 – will be a new, premium visitor experience that will provide an unparalleled encounter with The Shard and the opportunity to experience London like never before, with spectacular 64km (40 mile), 360 degree views of the city, 244m (800ft) above the capital.

Tickets went on sale yesterday in celebration of the completion of The Shard’s exterior and next phase of its development. Ticket numbers are carefully managed, providing guests with a premium experience, crowd and queue free. Over 17,500 people have already registered their interest – so hurry to register your own!  Advance tickets cost £24.95 for adults and £18.95 for children.

The View from The Shard is the new premium visitor experience at the pinnacle of The Shard, London’s newest landmark, Britain’s first vertical town and Western Europe’s tallest building. From arrival, guests will be drawn into the diverse tapestry of London and get a glimpse of what it will be like to have the city laid out before them. Anticipation is further heightened as they travel in two high-speed ‘kaleidoscopic’ lifts that take just 30 seconds each to reach Level 68 where they will encounter the cloudscape and the feeling they are on a different plane rising above the world.

From Level 68 they make their way to the triple-height, light-filled, Level 69 where the view is revealed. Here, in the sky above London, guests will have the most astonishing 360 degree, 64km (40mile) view over the city and beyond. The past, present and future of London is unfurled beneath them and also brought to life in multimedia displays and installations. Examples include high tech digital telescopes that take the viewer deeper into the story of London.

Guests can choose to go even higher to the full 244m:  Level 72, the highest public level of The Shard. Here, guests have the most profound experience exposed to the elements and sounds of the city beneath, as well as the chance to look up to the shards of glass that form the top of this sculptural building as they disappear upwards further into the sky.

The View from The Shard is the highest vantage point from any building in Western Europe and almost twice as high as any other viewing point in London.