Sky Garden

Top choice in London


The ferns, fig trees and purple African lilies that clamber up the final three storeys of the 'Walkie Talkie' skyscraper are mere wallflowers at this 155m-high rooftop garden – it's the extraordinary 360-degree views of London that make this vast, airport-terminal-like space so popular. The Sky Garden has front-row seats overlooking the Shard and vistas that gallop for miles east and west. Visits must be booked online in advance, and tickets run out quickly.

Dubbed the 'Walkie Talkie', this bulging skyscraper didn't get off to a good start when it opened in 2014, as its highly reflective windows melted the plastic bodywork of several cars parked below, and it was named 'the worst new building in the UK' in the 2015 Carbuncle Cup.

The garden space includes a restaurant, a brasserie and three bars with varying opening times. If tickets have sold out, you can reserve a table at one of them to gain access, though you will have to order something.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby London attractions

1. Leadenhall Market

0.11 MILES

The ancient Romans had their forum on this site, but this covered shopping arcade harks back to the Victorian era, with cobblestones underfoot and 19th…

2. Garden at 120

0.12 MILES

London's largest roof garden, The Garden at 120 is a blossoming 15th-floor pocket park paradise. Its mid-rise vantage point gives a unique perspective on…

3. St Dunstan in the East

0.12 MILES

Bombed to bits in the Blitz, the atmospheric ruins of 12th-century St Dunstan's have been left to the elements, resulting in a beautifully sombre public…

4. Monument to the Great Fire of London

0.13 MILES

Designed by Christopher Wren, this immense Doric column of Portland stone is a reminder of the Great Fire of London in 1666, which destroyed 80% of the…

5. Lloyd’s Building

0.13 MILES

While the world’s leading specialist insurance brokers are inside underwriting everything from astronauts’ lives to Taylor Swift's legs, people outside…

6. Scalpel

0.17 MILES

The nickname of this 39-storey tower completed in 2018 in the City was so apt it dislodged the skyscraper's official name: 52 Lime St.

7. St Olave's

0.18 MILES

St Olave’s was built in the mid-15th century and is one of the few churches to have survived the Great Fire. However, it was badly damaged by a bomb in…

8. Leadenhall Building

0.19 MILES

More commonly known as the Cheesegrater, this wedge-shaped 50-storey skyscraper opened in 2014 is angled at 10 degrees to protect views of St Paul's…