Perched near the top of the Walkie Talkie building, Sky Garden has some of the best views in the city, and it’s still free. Here’s why you need to go, and exactly how to get in without the crowds.
London has a habit of making you pay for everything, so when something genuinely brilliant is also free, it’s worth paying attention. Sky Garden is both.
The catch is that pretty much everybody already knows this, so getting in can be the hard part. We’re going to tell you why Sky Garden is worth the effort, and exactly how to get past the crowds while you’re at it.
Why visit Sky Garden
Tucked between floors 34 and 37 of 20 Fenchurch Street, better known as the Walkie Talkie thanks to its unmistakable shape, Sky Garden is a genuine sub-tropical garden hanging in the air above the City. It also happens to command some of the best views in London.
That’s a fairly compelling pitch on its own. The only real question is how you actually get in.
How to get into Sky Garden
Working out how to visit without booking months ahead can be a genuine headache if you’re relying on the website alone, so here’s a proper rundown of every way in.
Book a ticket
The most straightforward way in is to book a free ticket through Sky Garden’s own website. Ticketed entry runs from 10am to 6pm on weekdays and 11am to 9pm at weekends.
New tickets are released on a rolling basis, roughly three weeks ahead of the date, so if you have a specific day in mind, it’s worth checking back regularly rather than leaving it to the last minute. Once booked, each ticket is valid for a specific date and time, with entry allowed for one hour from that slot, and you’ll need to bring your ticket, printed or on your phone, to get through the turnstiles.
The obvious downside is that you’re committing to a specific day and time weeks in advance, London being London, there’s no guarantee the weather, or the view, will cooperate.
Try a walk-in slot
Sky Garden also holds back a number of walk-in spots between 10am and 11.30am and 2pm and 4.30pm each day. It’s a genuine gamble, we’ve had luck with this before, but we’ve also turned up to find the walk-in queue already full. Early morning and evening walk-ins also exist as a paid option when the free slots are gone, from £11.50 in the morning and £15.50 in the evening.
Book breakfast (or any Darwin Brasserie table)
This is genuinely one of the best ways in. Darwin Brasserie opens at 8:30am on weekends, a full 90 minutes before ticketed entry begins, and Sky Garden now also sells a dedicated Early Access Ticket & Breakfast Treat, which gets you in from 8:15am with a pastry, a hot drink and two audio guides included.
Even better, and this is worth knowing regardless of which restaurant you pick, any table booking at Darwin Brasserie, Fenchurch or Larch comes with complimentary Sky Garden access, even on days when general admission tickets are completely sold out. Book a table, skip the ticket scramble entirely.
We went for breakfast on a whim once and had the entire garden practically to ourselves, five or six other people wandering around, nothing like the queues you’ll see later in the day. It only started filling up after about 9.30am. The early bird really does catch the view.
Book cocktails instead
Sky Pod Bar and City Garden Bar both take walk-ins from 6.15pm on weekdays, and from 9.15pm on Saturdays and Sundays. It’s considerably busier for evening walk-ins, but the view makes a genuinely good backdrop for a sundowner, and it’s a fraction of the price of the bars at The Shard. Both bars also host regular DJ nights and themed events, an Aperol Spritz party or similar pops up fairly often, worth checking what’s on before you go.
Book a table
Beyond the bars, Fenchurch and Darwin Brasserie both take restaurant bookings directly. Neither is cheap, and slightly counterintuitively, the views from the bar below are arguably better than from the restaurants themselves, but the food is genuinely good and it’s a memorable spot for a meal regardless.
Take a yoga or Pilates class
Sky Garden runs periodic early-morning yoga and Pilates sessions, often branded as a seasonal series, generally between around 8am and 9.30am on weekends. Bring your own mat and an extra layer, it’s chilly up there before the sun’s properly out. Classes typically include a light bite or smoothie afterwards, and prices vary by series, so check what’s currently running before you book.
Worth knowing before you go: one of Sky Garden’s visitor lifts has recently been out of service, temporarily reducing capacity for some booked slots. Check Sky Garden’s own site for the latest before you travel, particularly if you’re booked for a specific time.
A few cool facts about Sky Garden
It’s London’s highest public garden
Spread across floors 34 to 37 of the Walkie Talkie, Sky Garden is London’s highest public garden, and it’s worth being precise about that claim: it’s no longer the city’s single highest free viewpoint outright, Horizon 22 opened in 2023 on the 58th floor of a nearby tower and is genuinely higher, but it’s a viewing platform rather than a planted garden. If it’s greenery you’re after alongside your view, Sky Garden still has it beaten.
It was originally meant to reach 220 metres, which would have made it one of the tallest buildings in the City, but concerns over how it would affect views of St Paul’s Cathedral saw the height reduced back in 2006, leaving the finished building a little shorter and stumpier than first planned.
You can see most of London’s biggest landmarks from it
The Walkie Talkie sits higher than most of its neighbours, so the views stretch out properly in every direction. Expect to pick out The Shard, St Paul’s Cathedral, Tower Bridge, the London Eye, the BT Tower and plenty more besides.
The gardens themselves are genuinely gorgeous
The views tend to get all the attention, but the planting is worth pausing for too. Filled mostly with Mediterranean and South African species, it feels like nothing else in London, spread across three terraces, each mimicking a different kind of habitat.
Mounds of lush greenery are studded with colour from Bird of Paradise and Red Hot Poker plants, with the city and the Thames peeking through behind them. The flowers bloom year-round, so there’s no real bad time to visit for the garden itself.
The building once melted a car
Dubbed “Scorchgate” at the time, the Sky Garden building’s glass panes once threw off enough solar glare to melt part of a parked Jaguar’s wing mirrors and side panels on Fenchurch Street below. It went suitably viral, and more than a few Londoners turned up to try frying an egg on the pavement using the reflected heat.
Sky Garden’s restaurants and bars
Fenchurch
Sky Garden’s signature restaurant sits on the top floor, serving contemporary British cooking with Caribbean influences from head chef Kerth Gumbs, who’s picked up two AA Rosettes for his work here. Expect genuinely excellent views alongside the food.
Fenchurch is open for lunch and dinner through the week. The set lunch menu is good value at two or three courses, and there’s a five or eight-course tasting menu if you want to make a proper occasion of it. It’s a cashless restaurant, so come prepared to tap rather than reach for cash.
Darwin Brasserie
Darwin sits a floor down on level 36, open all day through the week (roughly 7.30am to 11pm, though check current hours) and one of the better brunch spots in the City. The three-course brunch menu features proper British comfort food, and bottomless brunch is back on the menu too, 90 minutes of unlimited Prosecco for £29.50, running Saturday and Sunday mornings into the early afternoon.
Remember, any table booking here comes with complimentary Sky Garden access built in, useful to know if general tickets are sold out for your date.
Sky Pod Bar
The most relaxed of Sky Garden’s food and drink spots, and our favourite place to actually enjoy the view without a reservation weighing on you. Open from 10am on weekdays and 9am at weekends, with a small all-day menu and a genuinely good cocktail list once evening rolls round.
City Garden Bar
A floor above Sky Pod, City Garden Bar is the alternative spot for an evening cocktail, a negroni and a charcuterie board while the sun goes down is hard to beat up here.
Larch
Larch sits on the ground floor, opposite the Sky Garden entrance itself, so it doesn’t have the views the upper-floor spots do. What it does have is a genuinely good menu of seasonal Italian cooking and an excellent wine list, plus a lovely terrace for al fresco dining once the weather turns.
The café and gift shop
Worth a mention if only for the coffee and pastries. Sky Garden’s café and gift shop is a good spot for a quick coffee to go, or to sit and take your time over one on the upper decks.
The London x London Take: book a table at Darwin Brasserie rather than fighting for a general admission slot, it’s genuinely the best way in, you get breakfast (or bottomless brunch) and guaranteed access in one booking, no three-week planning window required.
Sky Garden London: practical information and map
Address: Sky Garden, 1 Sky Garden Walk, London, EC3M 8AF
Website: skygarden.london
Where is Sky Garden?
Sky Garden sits on floors 34 to 37 of 20 Fenchurch Street, better known as the Walkie Talkie.
How to get to Sky Garden
The nearest Tube stop is Monument (Northern line, Bank branch), with Tower Hill, Tower Gateway, Aldgate, Mansion House and Bank all within a ten-minute walk. Fenchurch Street, London Bridge and Cannon Street stations are also all within about 15 minutes on foot.
When’s the best time to visit?
Since entry runs on timed, ticketed slots, there’s genuinely no bad time to go, crowds are controlled whenever you visit. If you want the best possible views, though, aim for sunset. The whole space is lit up in a warm orange glow, one of the better free things to do in the city at that time of day. Check the sunset time in advance and try to time the end of your slot, or your restaurant booking, to catch it.
Is there disabled access?
Yes, Sky Garden is accessible throughout.
Can I bring pets?
Only guide dogs and other assistance animals.
Do I need ID?
Possibly, if you’re heading to one of the bars. Sky Garden operates a Challenge 25 policy, so bring photo ID if there’s any chance you’ll be asked.
Great post! This place is definitely on my list. Thanks for these tips.
Thanks Bianca, I’m so glad you found it useful and I hope you get there soon. Visiting early morning was such an eye-opener for me!