Sky garden panic

[LolleePop]

Oh no
I've really messed up
Taking DD to London as a treat for her 12th birthday in a fortnight and her biggest wish was to go to the Sky Garden for the view.
Just gone to book and it's sold out.
For some reason, as it is free, I didn't realise there would be booking restrictions. Stupid of me I know, but I'm not thinking clearly at the moment for lots of different reasons (dealing with traumatic life events at the moment).
I can't even begin to afford entry to the Shard, which still has tickets available.
I've just read on another Sky Garden thread here that if you hook to eat in the restaurant, you get free access to the garden. I can't afford for us both to eat there, but the kids menu is £9.99 which you have to pre-book online to secure your place.
My question is, could I order a meal just for my DD? And I could just get a soft drink whilst she eats, then we go to the garden view together....would that work? Or would I have to order a meal for myself as well? Would they refuse us if 2 of us turn up but only 1 kids meal is booked?
Can't find this info on their website.
I've been calling over the past hour - it goes to an automated message and eventually gives you another number to call if you want to talk to someone in person, which I desperately do, but that number keeps saying 'Sorry we are closed'.
I'd enormously appreciate any help or advice.
Really want to make this birthday special for DD after a traumatic time, and now I've completely failed to get her to the main place she wants to go to!

I’m fairly sure they let a certain number of people queue each day without booked tickets. You have to wait in a separate queue and they close it if it gets too busy but if you can get there early enough that might well get you in. Otherwise cheap meal is your best option. We went for brunch once, it was lovely.

What about the garden at 120 Fenchurch Street. It’s free and no booking. Nice rooftop garden and no queues.

Just order a side of fries for yourself. I'm sure that's fine.

Their website says they take on the day walk ins for £10.50 pp.

Or this at Bishopsgate:

https://booking.8bishopsgate.com/book

If it’s just views, go to St Paul’s and One New Change shopping centre has a free viewing platform with lovely views of St Paul’s and surroundings. No booking or fee. There is a bar there too. you can walk across the wobbly bridge if you’re coming from the south and you’ll have great views on that!

Do you have to be a kid to have a kids meal? Surely it's just smaller and blander, hence the cheaper price. Can you order 2 of those?

You can just walk up, no need to book. We were too late to book a slot as we went to London on a very last minute trip but we walked up, at about 2.30pm and joined the queue for walk ups. We waited about half an hour, it moves quite steadily so it wasn't too bad.

You can go for a drink / snack in the Chinese restaurant in the shard. It's not at the top but high enough to get amazing views. Just try and go at a quieter time

Heron Tower also has amazing views and I think you can just go for drinks.

I can't answer your actual question OP, but here are some other ideas if the sky garden thing falls through.

The Aqua Shard, within the shard, is a restaurant but they also have a bar which you don't need to book for. You can go in for just a drink/soft drink and see the amazing view- no charge other than the drinks. They do serve food too. Its not as high as the viewing platform- but still amazing!
https://aquashard.co.uk/

There is also a massive conservatory near Barbican. Its free, but you need to pre-book tickets. I recall turtles, a waterfall and lots of amazing plants.
www.barbican.org.uk/whats-on/2024/event/visit-the-conservatory

I went a few Sundays ago (I did breakfast)
Pretty sure you both need to order a meal. They charge your card £25pp if you don't turn up so I'd take that as minimum spend.

And it was around £10 entry for walk ups but that did include a coffee and maybe a cake?

We then did the bishop gate place, 10 mins walk away.

Got horizons booked too!

Hi OP,
I’ve been to the Sky Garden twice. Once about 3 years ago, we booked online and went in a separate queue which got us to the top a little quicker, but not that much.

I also went just three weeks ago. It was a bit of a last-minute decision so we had not booked. We went in the non-booked queue and waited about 15 minutes. We were quite early, around 10.30am. We didn’t have to buy any food, but did have a couple of croissants and a drink, which weren’t too expensive.

If I were you I would aim to go quite early and you should be ok. We were just there on a Friday, I’d assume it might be busier at weekends. I think there might be a ‘proper’ restaurant that you’re thinking of, but we just went to the café in the actual garden area and the tables even had notices on them saying that you didn’t have to buy food/drinks to sit at them.

It’s a lovely experience, I hope it works out for you and your DD.

Definitely try Horizon 22, it's free and higher than the sky garden!

I went up Horizon 22 last week, totally free.

Horizon 22 @ 22 Bishopsgate is free

Plan your visit - Horizon 22

I've got in on walks in twice. Once mid morning and just walked in and once at about 3pm on a Saturday and queued for about 20 minutes.

Or, for a great view of the river and traffic below you could climb Tower Bridge, it's £12.50 for adults, not sure about kids.
Parliament Hill is obviously free too.

Doubtful the Sky Garden would let you just buy a kids meal as they are a bit fancy, however as others have said you may have luck with walk-ins. When went previously I had to book tickets at the time of the ticket drop several weeks before unfortunately. Some other good alternative view suggestions in this thread also.

Another albeit probably silly suggestion as she’s likely too young/not her thing - there’s a yoga class that runs every Saturday at the sky garden which is easy to book onto and after the yoga you can stay and get a drink etc. Might be worth a look.

I work in the building - if it’s a weekday I can sign you in (if you promise you’re not a terrorist).

Alternatively you could take her for a drink, coffee/hot chocolate at Duck & Waffle which has a glass lift up to the 40th floor.

duckandwaffle.com/london/

Another vote for Horizon 22, I went on Sunday, and the views were great, even though ir was bit overcast.

Another vote for Horizon 22, I’ve done both and preferred Horizon 22.

Also echo previous post for Duck and Waffle - the bar is fabulous even for coffee and the outside lift is great fun! Brilliant views

From looking at the website it seems very clear the restaurant ticket is with the set meal included so £34.50. It says you need the ticket to be guaranteed admission and that you are subject to the minimum spend.

They are not going to grant you access or possibly even let you in if you only buy the child's ticket. They clearly state about IDs and children under 18 having the right to be refused admission so I doubt they would allow her unaccompanied because you didn't get a ticket.

Its hardly bank breaking money if you are going away and thats the one must do activity you promised.

We did this rather than the Sky Garden.

If you don’t want to risk a walk up, can you do breakfast at the Darwin Brasserie instead of lunch/dinner? You’ll still get access to Sky Garden with this. Porridge is £10.50 so may be a cheaper option than a later meal.