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Original poster

Taking kids to the Sky Garden in London?

26 replies

User280905 · 15/03/2022 17:14

We're heading to London next month, 4 adults, 2 teens and a 10 yr old.
They're really keen to visit the Sky Garden but I can't understand what to book.
So you can just turn up and wander around if there's space, is that quite exciting in itself?
Would we want to eat in either of the restaurants? I can't quite figure out how posh they are, or if they are family friendly.
Likewise the bars, are either of them suitable for kids?
The website says odd things about under 16s having to head straight to tables, it's all very confusing..

So please, if you've been there with kids can you just tell me what to do? I'm bamboozled.

Thank you.

OP posts:
BlanketsBanned · 15/03/2022 17:18

You just book the free hour visit, you get time slots. I wouldn't eat there with kids. Its pretty expensive.

Thinking2041 · 15/03/2022 17:25

The restaurants are more corporate/upmarket. Not really kid friendly.
They don’t have a better view or anything like that.

There used to be a coffee shop so I’d just wonder about and get a hot chocolate or whatever

lemongreentea · 15/03/2022 17:25

it can be underwhelming for children but the views are nice and something different if its a sunny day and nt raining. I wouldnt there as too expensive umless thats not a problem. you could book one of the restaurants in the shard and that way not pay the entrance fee?

lemongreentea · 15/03/2022 17:28

this place is also free with great views of st pauls and i believe you dont need to book but its not as high up as the sky garden

onenewchange.com/roof-terrace-one-new-change

BlanketsBanned · 15/03/2022 17:28

You can book a timeslot for 7 of you on the individual ticket section, you get an hour which is enough. You dont pay an entrance fee or need to book the 1 hr slot if you decide to eat there but you would have to book a table.

ImSaxyAndIKnowIt · 15/03/2022 17:29

I went in January, there were loads of kids there! You go through some airport style scanners, then up in the lift. The views are lovely. They have a little cafe that do cakes/coffee/wine, sandwiches and loads of seating. We had a coffee and a cake which was nice but a bit pricey but then again what you would expect to pay for London! We were there for about 30/40 minutes all in all, we were staying around the corner and we were glad we went but I probably wouldn’t make a special trip there. We were lucky as they closed then outside part due to it being so windy and wet so just bare that in mind if the weather looks a bit rubbish!

Junobug · 15/03/2022 17:33

We went last week with a 9 and 7 year old. It was ok, definitely worth the free visit but we only stayed about half an hour. The views are great and the kids liked pointing out places they had visited on previous trips. A coffee was about £4 on the cafe and maybe worth it if you want to sit and look out but we were happy with a wander round and then going elsewhere for lunch.

tpmumtobe · 15/03/2022 17:34

It's a nice view but that's about it unless you're there for dinner/drinks. You can book free tickets in advance and wander round. I took my 9 and 11 year old at half term, they were underwhelmed!
I've been for dinner and drinks in the super posh restaurant. It was nice, not for kids though. Even the not posh one is smart and not cheap.
You could take them to the Tower Bridge museum? Nowhere near as high but it's fab, really interesting, and was in Spiderman 2 which might score points Grin

Original poster
User280905 · 15/03/2022 17:51

coffee was about £4

Wow.

So I can just book free tickets, have a walk around, buy a coffee if we want to, and that will be enough?

We'll just do that. They wanted to do the Shard but that's about £35 just to get up there

OP posts:
Papertyger · 15/03/2022 17:55

Personally I wouldn't bother eating proper on there it's quite stuffy.

Lovely to go up, walk around perhaps have a tea and cake then eat elsewhere

popandchoc · 15/03/2022 17:58

We went up for my 30th with kids . We just booked the hour slot and had a look around etc .

BlanketsBanned · 15/03/2022 18:11

Just book 7 tickets for the hour slot, you dont need to buy coffee.

reluctantbrit · 15/03/2022 18:41

Don't eat. DH and I went but it was a wedding anniversary and while we definitely enjoyed it, it wasn't something I would do for a day out.

The views are great. I personally thought the whole thing would be a lot greener, it's not like a big conservatory inside, I found that part quite disappointing.

A nice break if you are in London, I wouldn't do it as a full day out, more as an add-on.

I think you may need passports for each person going, check the small print.

homeedregret · 15/03/2022 19:05

Took my dc pre pandemic and they found it very boring. I enjoyed it though!

MerryMarigold · 15/03/2022 19:09

Took my DC (11+) and they enjoyed it but we definitely felt we had to do 'something else'. There is a treasure trail in the city of London, or mini golf (Puttshack) and eat out somewhere else. I wouldn't even bother with a drink, just spend 30 mins or so, take some pics and leave.

Lazyi · 15/03/2022 19:23

It’s not that exciting for kids, but just as exciting as the shard and 35£ pp cheaper

MandUs · 15/03/2022 19:27

We've taken kids younger to that to the free slot you can book. Then got some drinks from the bar. They loved it. 1o is definitely old enough for that.

PolicecarOnAToe · 15/03/2022 20:09

We have been up a couple of times with our dc (9 & 11). Most recently last year. We had breakfast in the restaurant, and then you are free to stay and look around afterwards. We preferred it to the shard, definitely. The breakfast in the Sky Garden was lovely. It was very relaxed, ours weren’t the only children there and I didn’t think it was outrageously priced seeing as we all enjoyed ourselves. We will be going again just for the food!

ThirtyCharacterUsernamesOnly30 · 16/03/2022 08:35

If your kids like Harry Potter, Leadenhall Market is very close by, it's where the entrance to the Leaky Cauldron was filmed in the first film.

Squidthing · 16/03/2022 08:38

I've been wanting to try the Garden at 120 - it looks a bit greener but is still high for the views

Tereseta · 16/03/2022 08:46

I recently took my 5 year old and she loved wandering round but we didn't eat there, v expensive! There were loads of family's there when we went and the staff there were great with dd. There are loads of toilets to use also!
Only thing is we had to queue on entry at street level and I wasn't aware we needed ID to get in, though they did take bank card and didn't ask for dds ID!

Cookerhood · 16/03/2022 08:47

We eaten at the Darwin brasserie twice. The first time was for Sunday brunch, which was good. The second time was for an evening celebration and the food was expensive, mediocre & the restaurant was so noisy we could talk to each other. We also took some overseas visitors & had a sharing platter in the bar area which was quite good.
Great views though.

Cookerhood · 16/03/2022 08:48

couldn't talk to each other

CornedBeef451 · 16/03/2022 08:52

We went last weekend and spent an hour or so wandering around.

I wouldn't bother eating there but there is a coffee bar with snacks right by the lifts and you can sit pretty much anywhere, there's seating at the bottom, too and both sides half way up. There's also a bar at the top but it was closed when we were there.

It's a nice diversion and free, we had a coffee but ate our own snacks. We'd been to Harry Potter the night before so were shattered.

Mumdiva99 · 16/03/2022 08:53

We've been up a few times with the kids. It's fun. Take some binoculas. Just do the free hour. (We took our sarnies one day!! You aren't supposed to but we had them because we were on a full day out.) We've done the shard too....Sky Gardens views are just as good. (The loos in The Shard with a view over the Thames were good!)