please empty your brain below
I'd heard that if the cloud or fog was right there could be some surreal views of just the tops of the other city giants peeping through... but - as you've shown - yesterday's conditions were 'less than ideal.'
I did ask if the year-long pass offer would be repeated next year but the response seemed more no than yes.
The Shard remains the unacceptable face of greed.
Plus I took my parents & brother up in June when they did a discount for family of Love London pass holders, which they absolutely loved as they wouldn't have bothered at the full cost.
The night view recently was fun especially with several Christmas fairs such as the Winter Wonderland clearly visible. It would have been better had more of the bridges been lit up though.
I can't thank you enough for telling us about this offer!! It's been a goldmine for those of us able to pop in on a whim!
I was on a work-related tour of the new Ghostbusters exhibition in Madame Tussauds in New York a couple of months ago, and we met their new marketing manager there. It turned out she was previously at the View from the Shard, and she was the one responsible for the Love London promotion originally.
I was able to tell her that in my case it has been an effective promotion for the business. My mother and a friend, and my brother and his family have separately made trips up to London this year, and on both occasions they expressed an interest in going up the Shard. At which point I found myself turning in to a bit of an ambassador and enthusing over it: yes it's an amazing view, worth doing on a special trip, a bit expensive, but I'll be getting in for free, etc. I may have gone up with them anyway even if I didn't have a free pass, but having one made it worth doing that little bit more, and I effectively brought a load of fare-paying guests in to the attraction with me. Seeing as I was playing host and it's not cheap, I felt somewhat obliged to buy their tickets for them, so extra revenue off me for the View from the Shard which otherwise may or may not have happened if I had not had the Love London pass.
It feels like a less common thing these days, but it's nice to take advantage of a promotion which, although you know it's a marketing ploy, is mutually beneficial for both parties: I've enjoyed going up there quite a few times, different to a 'just go up there once' kind of visitor, and in return they've had a load of good will and extra ticket sales from me.
Whilst I sympathise with Gerry over the cost (especially the walk-up charge), when you compare it with the prices of the Merlin attractions on the South Bank (including the London Eye), the cost doesn't seem quite so bad.
When I was up the wind was incredibly strong and the clouds were blowing through so fast it went from clear to foggy as anything and back to clear every few mins.
You can often see very fast moving clouds from the group but it was amazing to be in them.
Although the very act of going to London might probably do the same -- and that's what I exactly experienced on my way to London last year, anyway. Endless layers of clouds obstructing everything beneath, from Mongolia to Southend-on-sea, no less.
Of the remainder:
4 sunset/twilight visits;
1 clear afternoon (apart from the ring of smog around the horizon);
1 sunny afternoon with fast moving showers (incredible watching parts of London getting wet whilst other parts stay untouched);
and last week a foggy lunchtime visit on impulse precisely so I could say I'd been up in fog : ) Empty apart from one rather chuffed couple who were able to propose in absolute solitude! The best thing about it was going to the upper level and wandering around in the fog itself.
I still have to go up in the rain and I want to go up after dark once more so I can see what it's like with the light show going on up above. But what a fab offer, so glad to have been able to take advantage of it.
Oh and those spectacular toilets at the top of the Shard - best used during the day as we found out the hard way that there is no privacy after dark - not from the buildings across the river, but from closer to home. Reflections of cubicle users going about their business are visible in the external glass walls in the next cubicle, so the man or woman in the next cubicle can see you, even with the blinds down. Never again!
The year-long pass is being repeated this year, albeit it seems available only to people who bought the 2016 card.
Cost is, as one might assume, £20.17
They go on sale 13 January
https://www.theviewfromtheshard.com/en/tickets-prices/love-london-card-2017/
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