Just before Christmas last year I went to visit Horizon 22 to see some of London's beautiful skyscrapers. Horizon 22 is the tallest free viewing platform in Europe, and is in my favorite city London! The building is located at 22 Bishopsgate, has 62 floors, is 278m tall and is the 2nd tallest building in the UK. Entrance is free (in case you missed that), you can pre book from their website, or try to walk in on the day. That's what I did.
London skyscrapers
Horizon 22 is located in the City of London, the heart of London's traditional business, finance and legal district. This part of central London is very close to my heart as I used to work here for many years. The City is small, just over one square mile, and dates back to the Roman times. Today we're going to look at the London skyscrapers from up in the air, I'll show you some iconic buildings and tell you their nicknames.
First impressions
The lift takes visitors straight up to the 59th floor. My first sight of the view took my breath away, I hadn't seen it like that for a long long time. I was standing 250m above ground on the highest free viewing platform in UK and Europe!!! The actual viewing gallery is one floor down on the 58th floor. I went at Christmas time, and it was lovely to see a massive Christmas tree be the cafe. The rest of the floor was a big open space with full length windows offering unobstructed 300 degree views of London.
East
Let's start from the left side of the viewing platform, ie the east. The River Thames is outside passing underneath the Tower Bridge on the right hand side of the photo. The bridge is one of the most iconic images of London. The Thames snakes east, go past Canary Wharf, the cluster of tall buildings on the left hand side. That's the new financial district developed in the late 80s, a lot of the financial institutions are located there. At the bottom of the photo, you'll see a thin rectangle top building. That's called the Cheesegrater. Think of the actual object and you'll get an idea of what this building looks like at ground level. I couldn't get a better photo of the it as it was too near to me.
By the Thames
Moving to directly in front of the Thames. The tall building at the back is The Shard. It's the tallest building in UK and is so-called as it's like a shard of glass. You need to pay to access the viewing gallery at the top of the building. The building with a white exterior and sandwiched between The Shard and Horizon 22 is the Walkie Talkie.
The Walkie Talkie also has a free public viewing gallery, it's on the top level. I went there many years ago. It used to be the highest free viewing gallery in London before Horizon 22. Now they call themselves the highest public garden in London because it has lots of indoor plants. The bridge on the right of The Shard and Walkie Talkie is the London Bridge. Many people think the Tower Bridge is London Bridge because of its iconic towers and drawbridge. Sorry to disappoint you, London Bridge is just a plain old bridge.
The City of London
Moving a little further west, this is the The City. On the bottom left of the photo is a busy junction, that's called the Bank Junction. Nine streets converge here and extend out to the City. The building at the bottom with two main streets on either side is the Royal Exchange and dates back to 1566. The building to its right with a courtyard in the middle is The Bank of England. That's UK's central bank and has been on this site since 1734. Our country's gold vault is here, and holds the second largest deposit of gold, after the New York Federal Reserve. There's a Bank of England museum here. In all my years working in the area, I never thought to go. It was just a stone's throw away from me. Now I must find a chance to go sometime. It's free, I like that, and I might get to see some gold 😊
The other building I want to point out is St Paul's Cathedral, that's the building in the centre of the photo with a dome.
Here's a closer view, St Paul's is on the left now. This area is the dearest to my heart. I worked across from St Paul's for many years, walking by many of these buildings all the time. This is the first time I've seen them from up in the air. They look familiar yet different, like an old childhood friend you haven't seen for many years.
I know these are just blocks of concrete to you all, the same concrete that you will see in any big cities around the world and won't mean anything to you. For me, this was a pretty big part of my working life. It gave me the experience of working in one of the most vibrant and busy cities in the world, opened my eyes to both the good and bad of a major global corporation, gave me financial stability, and meet some pretty good people. All that has gone now, not only because I no longer work there, but the actual building I worked in has been torn down and redeveloped into another flashy new office block. London is ever changing city, but not as fast pace like others like in Asia. It's a gradual change, little by little so it never changes beyond recognition. That's what I love about London.
Enough of the sentiments. It's time to leave.
Back to ground level and there are more skyscrapers. It's interesting looking up to them now, instead of down.
By the way, I got one more building for you. Here's the Gherkin. I would have called it the Bullet, but I that would be too controversial. What's your favorite building in London? Either from this visit or somewhere else you've been before. Let me know in the comments.
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I have never been to London, but I swear that I have been left speechless by the size of its views and its immensity. Furthermore, it is evident that you dominate spaces and names that I have only seen in movies or other articles. The views from that floor are organically incredible and if I moved there I would be more lost than a stray cat... although if I got on a plane going direct to London by mistake I would be delighted. Beautiful views friend...your walks are delicious.
Not blowing our own trumpet, even though UK may not be the most liked country by many, London is one of the best cities in the world and has so much history and culture. There are so many hidden gems waiting to be discovered, I hope you will have a chance to come here in the future, whether by mistake or not 😊
It is striking how the dome of the church of San Pablo looks like. In the first picture I could not notice it, but in the second one I saw it more clearly.
The aerial view is incredible. I found the London Bridge thing curious hahahaha. 👀
If you're not local it will be difficult to recognise buildings, same if I went to Paris or New York. In the second St Pauls photo, there's a tower between 1 to 2 o'clock, that's the telecom tower and used to be the tallest structure in London many years ago. It's being developed into a hotel now!
Wow,what an amazing view!I love how you've described the London skyline from Horizon 22.It sounds like a truly breathtaking experience.I'm especially fascinated by the nicknames you've given to some of the buildings,like "The Cheesegrater" and "The Walkie Talkie."It's a fun and creative way to remember them.I'm also intrigued by your personal connection to the City of London.It's clear that you have a deep appreciation for the area and its history.Thanks for sharing your perspective on London's skyscrapers!It's made me want to visit Horizon 22 myself and see the view for myself.
The nicknames are commonly known in London, not sure why they do it, probably easier to remember than the actual building address, though The Shard, is really called The Shard.
Glad you enjoyed the virtual tour
That's a good point about the nicknames–easier to remember than addresses! Thanks for the information.I appreciate the virtual tour.
I've always wondered what it feels like to be in between buildings like that. Do you feel like you're suffocating because it's like you can hardly see the sky? But it must be incredibly pleasant to watch them from above.
I'm used to living in cities so I'm used to all this. Hong Kong was even worse, a lot more traffic and people, so London is a heaven compared to that 😀
I am very impressed that the beauty is not only what you can see outside, the building itself is beautiful inside, and even more so with the Christmas decorations. What a lot of emblematic buildings, that even though I live far away I have somehow appreciated them, I hope to do it in person someday.... London is beautiful, and this post proves it, the grey sky reflected in the river is something that gladdens my soul. Thank you very much for giving us this photographic journey, respectful lady! 🙏
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Hopefully you will have a chance to make it over to London one day, you were in Spain last year weren't you?
Yes. On a concert tour. My choral group was in the United Kingdom in 2014, I was not yet, I hope that repeats 🙏🏽 A big hug!!!
Wow, London is big LOl, its 40+ years since I visited, those bird's eye views certainly open it up....and free too....nah that can't be London
40 years? You're joking!!! Come on out sometime!!
The free access was part of the planning permission conditions, and rightly so to give back to the community
Great cover photo! I love images of looking up towards the sky in the middle of business districts. The results are always stunning.
Thanks! They certainly give another perspective particularly when so many are clustered together like in London
Wow i never knew londo was this beautiful still using those old ancient movie senerios to equate it but it has developed into something magnificent over time, i guess innovation is truly mindblowing
There's a good blend of old and new, personally I prefer the old, it has more character and if you haven't got it, you're never going to have it, that make it more valuable
Hmmm exactly the old brings everything to life and gives a kinda welcoming ancient vibes Now london just looks like the US
did you find out how much gold was in there?
I heard something about everyone wanting their gold back and BoE being a bit coy about it....
Think the website says 440k bars, dunno how heavy each bar is, 1kg maybe? But we only own 300+ tonnes.
That's a lot of gold to hold for other countries, I wonder how they can not return it if people wanted them back 🤔
i dont know.... I dont think they said they wouldnt return it, but the delay went from 2-4 days to 6-8 weeks and possibly even up to 6 months in some cases. Maybe everythings fine....or maybe theres problems :o
Wow. I didn't know about this place. The views are incredible. That's going on my list of London to-do's!
It's definitely worth going, you just need to book in advance. You can book online on the day as well, they release some tickets in the morning, but it's really stupid, you can only book via the QR onsite. 🙄
While I love the view from the top, the photos are taken from below are more interesting.
you need a very close cluster of buildings to get that effect, it just shows how much redevelopment is going on in London
The place looks really beautiful! I would hope to be there someday. It seems so peaceful and warm-welcoming-beauty, certainly a perfect destination to spend time with very beautiful moments. Let us hope it comes sooner!
London is always a popular tourist destination for many, hope you get a chance to visit sometime
City View, It's nice how London developed and embraced modernization.
There are a lot of planning regulations to go through in the UK for redevelopment especially in cities, and that helps to slow down things
The skyline is so impressive. A breathtaking view of towering glass that defines the city's modern character. Nice shots!
Thanks, the towering glass building is just one side on London, luckily we have a nice balance of new and old
Your framing is really very professional. The big glass windows on the viewing terrace are very well thought out. It must be very pleasant to watch the city from the top... You have reflected the impressions of the city very well with your sincere feelings. Congratulations.
Sometimes it was little difficult to take photos through the window due to the reflections and light, luckily the window was very clean making it a good experience for visitors
Amazing article! Love the view from the East and the image of looking up to the sky. Really beautiful!
Thanks for sharing. Hope you had a nice time!
You're welcome, glad you enjoyed the virtual visit
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Wow, this is really amazing, the view is beyond words, this is really amazing, it makes me entertained, and really entertaining, really amazing, my friend❤️
Thanks
You're welcome my friend really enjoyed it ❤️
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I can understand why those buildings have nicknames. I think the Walkie Talkie looks exactly like the name.
I'd love to see the Cheese Grater from the ground.
Good evening♥️
Wow seeing beautiful scenery from a height can indeed give us happiness, and I can see a truly extraordinary beauty
And after almost finishing reading this post, I am again interested in a building that you call Bullet, of course it is a beautiful building with its unique architecture.
very extraordinary, have a nice day 🙏♥️
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Hiya, @lizanomadsoul here, just swinging by to let you know that this post made it into our Top 3 in Your post has been manually curated by the @worldmappin team. If you like what we're doing, please drop by to check out all the rest of today's great posts and consider supporting other authors like yourself and us so we can keep the project going!Oh, beautiful and incredible views of London city. Beautiful experience.
Wooo what immense buildings. It's an amazing sight. I think I would get lost right away. The sky looks harder to reach. I live so far away from there and have only seen so many buildings together in movies so I appreciate you showing them in your post. Thanks for sharing.
Impressive views; thank you very much for giving us these images of the London city.
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