The Shard - Expensive and Dangerous

[Norman Potting]

I bet it is not as good as the view from the Tower at the top of Leith Hill on a clear day and that is free if you are a NT member and not very much if you aren't. You would be able to see the Shard, Gatwick (complete with working "Airfix" size planes), the sea at Shoreham and Butser Hill, probably TN6 as well.

 

[seagullsovergrimsby]

Is it free admission if you walk up (and down) the stairs

 

[Wozza]

You really need to see the pictures that [MENTION=189]Wozza[/MENTION] took of the view from the Shard. They are stunning.

Thanks mate.



Click for biggerer. It's over-processed, tbh. But you get the idea.

 

[clippedgull]

Thanks mate.



Click for biggerer. It's over-processed, tbh. But you get the idea.

Very nice. I know it was taken at 55mm but what actual lens did you use?

 

[Wozza]

Canon 17-55mm IS. Didn't want to be mucking around changing lenses. I used a Gorillapod, but I've since heard that they are banned. The windows are/were filthy.

 

[clippedgull]

Canon 17-55mm IS. Didn't want to be mucking around changing lenses. I used a Gorillapod, but I've since heard that they are banned. The windows are/were filthy.

Cheers! Bit stupid banning Gorillapods! Tripods maybe I could understand!

 

[Brixtaan]

I bet it is not as good as the view from the Tower at the top of Leith Hill on a clear day and that is free if you are a NT member and not very much if you aren't. You would be able to see the Shard, Gatwick (complete with working "Airfix" size planes), the sea at Shoreham and Butser Hill, probably TN6 as well.

The sea at Shoreham? Incredible if so. Ive never been but i know its the 2nd highest point in southern England.

 

[Norman Potting]

The sea at Shoreham? Incredible if so. Ive never been but i know its the 2nd highest point in southern England.

I think it is the highest, but it probably depends on how you define Southern England. The hill itself is a shade under 1000', the wealthy landowner built the tower (which isn't that heigh and suitable for those of nervous disposition) so that the top was over 1000' and he could boast to his friends. Looking at the WIki entry (which has a good computer generated panorama) the hill itself is second (just), the tower makes the difference. Have a look at Flickr for squillions of pics taken there.

 

[Bevendean Hillbilly]

I always think it looks like its not quite finished at the top.

Like the Brighton squad then?

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I bet it is not as good as the view from the Tower at the top of Leith Hill on a clear day and that is free if you are a NT member and not very much if you aren't. You would be able to see the Shard, Gatwick (complete with working "Airfix" size planes), the sea at Shoreham and Butser Hill, probably TN6 as well.

Ooh... TN6 you say? Where do I book?

 

[Birdie Boy]

Comparable with here, which is normally more expensive on everything.

The observation deck at Burj Khalifa (world's tallest building) is just under £60 for two adults and a 10-year old if you book ahead.

But it's £200 if you just turn up and want to go there and then!!!

I turned up and paid for the first available lift and didn't pay anything like that, can't remember what I paid but there is no way I would have paid £200. To be honest I was very disappointed. It is better to go the The Address, it is a hotel behind the Burj Kalifa, go to the 63rd floor bar and watch the sunset, trust me, soon as you walk into the bar you will go WOW! Cost's nothing to go in and £10 for a bottle of beer but well worth it.

 

[Nibble]

I got a free tripup there few months ago as my Brother in law worked on aspects of the marketing of the place. It's good. WouldI pay 25 quid to see it. No.

 

[sully]

I got a free tripup there few months ago as my Brother in law worked on aspects of the marketing of the place. It's good. WouldI pay 25 quid to see it. No.

If you're lucky with the weather - as we were on 27 January - the views are stunning and I may well consider paying for it - though my visit was a freebie.

My pictures weren't as good as Wozza's, but I concur that the windows are filthy. I also had issues with reflections and didn't have any sort of steadying device!

I reckon it's better in the evening, too - though I haven't seen it in daylight to be certain!

 

[FloatLeft]

Here's the shard my son made for people who don't like heights

 

[goldstone]

I turned up and paid for the first available lift and didn't pay anything like that, can't remember what I paid but there is no way I would have paid £200. To be honest I was very disappointed. It is better to go the The Address, it is a hotel behind the Burj Kalifa, go to the 63rd floor bar and watch the sunset, trust me, soon as you walk into the bar you will go WOW! Cost's nothing to go in and £10 for a bottle of beer but well worth it.

Dubai is just miles of fricking sand and concrete with the sea in the other direction. You can see all three from 10 storeys up. I just don't see the point of going up the Burj to see an even bigger expanse of the same boring sh1t.

 

[Nibble]

Dubai is just miles of fricking sand and concrete with the sea in the other direction. You can see all three from 10 storeys up. I just don't see the point of going up the Burj to see an even bigger expanse of the same boring sh1t.

This. HAd a nice time when I went to Dubai but as far as views go I caan't imagine it being very stunning. TV tower in Berlin was great especially to see the difference in architecture between East and West, really good view and not expensive at all. The really tall officeblock across the bridge from teh catherdral in Cologne is also great, 3 euro's I think.

 

[um bongo molongo]

Your joking!? Its a fantastic addition to the London skyline and definitely has the wow factor. I like the fact its in a new stand-alone position south of the river spreading the high rises out across London.

Have to say I'm more with THPP on this one - I can't stand the thing, it looks like a typical middle eastern willy waving nonsense of a building. Giles Coren probably summed it up best for me:

"Have you seen the shard? Of course you have. If you're in the top half of the globe on a sunny day you only have to look out the window in any direction and there it is. It is not a building - they haven't even bothered to make it a shape, it's just a stupid fleck of glass like a thing for monkeys to worship in a sci-fi film - it is a middle finger flicked at every Londoner for miles around... ... the Shard, this great cash spike, this engorged rectilinear monument to fat-cattism, this humongous steel haemorrhoid, has been dumped directly behind St Paul's... so that the great dome that has watched over us for 300 years... seems like more now than a pale and weedy polyp. A two-dimensional bunion on the sandalled toe of the giant, steel, one-legged Qatari demigod... It is a thing of typical, macho Gulf state hideousness... It is a big pin. A nothing. A lance for Mammon's boil. Cultural antimatter. A mockery of our history, culture and identity. A symbol of the failure of our economy, our banks, our politics, our sovereignty and our sense of self."

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Click for biggerer. It's over-processed, tbh. But you get the idea.

As you are aware, I'm not a fan of the Shard. I'm a massive fan of your photo tho. It's FANTASTIC!

 

[Boys 9d]

The observation platform of the CN Tower in Toronto (about the same height as the Shard) costs 32 Canadian Dollars (£21).

 

[Wozza]

As you are aware, I'm not a fan of the Shard. I'm a massive fan of your photo tho. It's FANTASTIC!

Thanks. That's very kind.

Was at an event at the BT Tower yesterday...



Click for biggerer.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Thanks. That's very kind.

Was at an event at the BT Tower yesterday...



Click for biggerer.

Clicked for biggerer and it answered my very next question and probably every other person's very next question also: 'The green-roofed building in the middle is the amazing British Museum.'