6 months ago I was bought a Red Letter Days gift experience from my parents for a trip to The View from The Shard and a meal at Marco Pierre White’s Steak & Alehouse in Shoreditch. Having had a pretty hectic start to the year Sarah and I simply didn’t get around to booking our trip for a long time but last weekend we finally made the journey into London!

The Shard

The Shard is an outstanding piece of engineering and is now one of the most iconic buildings presented across the London skyline. Working in London I look across the skyline at The Shard most days and had wanted to go up for over a year so this trip was something I had really been looking forward to.

Upon arrival at The Shard, as you would expect there is a good amount of security. Tickets are checked twice, bags are checked and you have to walk through a metal detector similar to what you get at airports. A lot of people get annoyed with such security measures as being over the top however for me I find it reassuring. If I’m heading that high up a building I want to know I’m in safe hands.

At 800ft tall the Shard is nearly twice the height of the next tallest building in London and on a clear day offers views of 40 miles so you know you’re going to get something special when you reach the top.

To get to the top you need to take 2 lifts however at the split level there are plenty of very friendly and helpful staff letting you know where to go to get to the top. It was incredible how fast the lifts were though, watching the floor numbers on the lift screen fly by at around 5 floors per second. Within a matter of minutes we’d reached the 69th floor.

The 69th floor is fully enclosed and there are state of the art digital telescopes which you can use showing all of London’s famous landmarks. The views from here are spectacular…

From the 69th floor you can make your way up a further 3 floors to the 72nd floor. This floor is fully exposed to the elements and makes you realise exactly how high you are. Planes arriving into London are almost within touching distance and you can really hear them going past the building. From here you can however see right to the shards of glass at the highest point of the building.

View From The Shard Review

The View from the Shard was a fantastic day out and absolutely something that I would recommend everyone to give a go at some point! If you’re stuck for ideas for a Christmas, birthday or celebration present then booking a gift experience is the perfect solution. Red Letter Days offer numerous packages for visiting the Shard so click here to take a look at the various options that they offer and to book online.

Sarah and I had a fantastic time – it’s well worth a visit but try and get there on a clear day!

By Nick

Nick is the founder of Life of Man with a passion for trying out the latest technology, eating out at the best local restaurants, trying the latest IPAs hitting the craft beer scene travelling the world. As a parent Nick loves to spend time with his family and write about days out as dad blogger.

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