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The Shard

United Kingdom · Europe
The Shard at sunset.
Photo: Colin, CC BY-SA 4.0
What a trip to The Shard costs
£600
3 days

Booking tickets on the day of visit costs significantly more than in advance.

The daily figure is an estimate and does not include flights. The exchange rate is real, and it moves once a day, not by the second.

The background

The Shard, also referred to as the Shard London Bridge and formerly London Bridge Tower, is a 95-storey mixed-use development supertall pyramid-shaped skyscraper, designed by the Italian architect Renzo Piano, in Southwark, London, that forms part of The Shard Quarter development. Standing 309.6 metres (1,016 feet) high, The Shard is the tallest building in the United Kingdom and Western Europe; and the seventh-tallest building in Europe. The Shard replaced Southwark Towers, a 24-storey office block built on the site in 1975. The Shard's construction began in March 2009; it was topped out on 30 March 2012 and inaugurated on 5 July 2012. Practical completion was achieved in November 2012. The tower's privately operated observation deck, The View from The Shard, was opened to the public on 1 February 2013. The glass-clad pyramidal tower has 72 habitable floors, with a viewing gallery and open-air observation deck on the 72nd floor, at a height of 244 metres (801 ft). The Shard was developed by Sellar Property Group on behalf of LBQ Ltd and is jointly owned by Sellar Property (5%) and the State of Qatar (95%).

More of The Shard


Shard November
Photo: George Rex Photography, CC BY-SA 2.0
Shard November
Photo: George Rex Photography, CC BY-SA 2.0
The Shard of Glass - a 1000ft, 72-storey skyscraper under construction at London Bridge, Southwark. February 2010.
Photo: Wjfox2005, CC BY-SA 3.0
An early morning view of The Shard of London, showing the construction projects in the foreground
Photo: Quist, CC BY-SA 4.0