The Sky Garden opening hours that matter for a free visit are the ticketed public hours: 10 am to 6 pm on weekdays and 11 am to 9 pm at weekends and bank holidays, per the official getting here page. The venue itself opens longer for bars and restaurants, so the Sky Garden opening hours on Google Maps look wider than the free-ticket window. If you are still choosing how to get in, my comparison of Sky Garden tickets sets the free official slot against four paid bundles.
I wrote this guide for planning one visit to Sky Garden, from the opening hours and the entrance to what to leave at the hotel. Everything here comes from the venue’s own pages, Google Maps, Wikipedia or the product listings, and I say which when it matters. Time-limited details change, so check skygarden.london on the day you travel.
Sky Garden Opening Hours
Google Maps shows the whole venue open every day from 8 am, closing at midnight from Sunday to Thursday and at 1 am on Friday and Saturday. That is the span in which the garden, bars and restaurants operate, and it is not the same as the hours for a free public ticket.
| Day |
Opening hours (per Google Maps) |
| Monday |
8 am to 12 am |
| Tuesday |
8 am to 12 am |
| Wednesday |
8 am to 12 am |
| Thursday |
8 am to 12 am |
| Friday |
8 am to 1 am |
| Saturday |
8 am to 1 am |
| Sunday |
8 am to 12 am |
The official site gives a narrower window for public tickets: Monday to Friday 10 am to 6 pm, and weekends and bank holidays 11 am to 9 pm. When the two sets of Sky Garden opening hours differ, I trust the official page for anything you book as a free visitor, and I treat the Google Maps hours as the outer edge for diners. The official page does not list a last entry time among the Sky Garden opening hours, so I can’t give you one. Arrive well before the end of your slot.
Sky Garden Public Hours and Times
The Sky Garden public hours are the ones attached to a free ticket, and the Sky Garden times that matter are the slot on your ticket. Per the official FAQ, all public tickets are valid for an hour, and date changes cannot be made on the day.
The outdoor terrace has its own hours. The official FAQ says it is open daily from 10 am to 6 pm on weekdays and from 11 am to 6 pm at weekends, and that security can close it at any time because of bad weather, without warning. That matters for photos: in the early-access ticket, reviewers say the terrace stayed shut until later in the morning, and the paid listings do not include it.
Check the official site for holiday opening hours at Sky Garden and for the current notice. At the time of writing, the site says visitor capacity is temporarily reduced because a visitor lift is out of service, and that some ticket holders may not get in at their booked time.
Sky Garden Tickets Today
Sky Garden opening hours say when you can enter, not whether a slot is left. If you ask for Sky Garden tickets today, the answer depends on the day and the queue. Free tickets are released every Monday morning, excluding bank holidays, three weeks ahead for the whole week, so the day you want may already be gone. The venue also accepts free walk-ins daily, subject to availability, which is the only route I can point to for a same-day visit. Ask the team at the door.
If that fails, the paid options exist for a reason. The $18 early-access ticket with a pastry and hot drink is the cheapest, and the official site says restaurant bookings give access to the garden even when standard tickets are sold out, per its restaurant page. I could not confirm sold-out status for any date, and I would not assume it.
Vox City Walks
Sky Garden Early Access with Pastry and Hot Drink
- ★ 4.1 (1,173 reviews)
- 2 hours
My pick: If you want a fixed early slot: entry before the standard crowds, a pastry and a hot drink for $18, 4.1 from 1,173 reviews, non-refundable.
What you get, where you meet, what reviewers say
Included
- ✓ Early access entry ticket to Sky Garden
- ✓ 1 breakfast pastry per ticket
- ✓ 1 hot beverage per ticket
- ✓ Sky Garden Audio Tour in English, Chinese, French, Spanish, German and Italian (downloadable app)
Not included / not suitable
- ✕ Access to the outdoor terrace/balcony
- ✕ Guided tour
- ✕ Headset and mobile device
- ✕ Additional food or beverage at all Sky Garden venues
Meeting point: Visitors can head directly to Sky Garden, located at Fenchurch Building, 1, Sky Garden Walk. Please bring your own headphones. 1, Sky Garden Walk, London EC3M 8AF, UK
Duration: 2 hours
Cancellation: This activity is non-refundable
“wonderful views in the morning one side of the building glass windows are foggy and dewy so it can be hard to see out sometimes” – GetYourGuide review
Sky Garden Entrance
The Sky Garden entrance is at the foot of 20 Fenchurch Street, the building nicknamed the Walkie-Talkie. Google Maps lists the venue at 1 Sky Garden Walk, London EC3M 8AF, and a separate Sky Garden Entrance point on Philpot Lane, about 30 m from the main pin. The paid listings that include The Larch say the restaurant is opposite the Sky Garden entrance on Fenchurch Street, and that it is not inside the building.
Plan to go through security before the lifts, whatever time the Sky Garden opening hours put you at the door. The official FAQ says anyone over 18 who looks under 25 should carry acceptable ID, listed as a PASS-hologram card, a photocard driving licence or a passport, and that entry can be refused. Large bags, suitcases and tripods are not allowed, and balloons and candles are banned. The full list of prohibited items is in an image on the FAQ page that I could not read as text, so check it before you pack.
How to Get to Sky Garden
The nearest Tube station is Monument. By my estimate it is a 4-minute walk of about 0.3 km, working from Google Maps coordinates with a straight line times 1.3 at 4.8 km/h. The official page names Monument as a short walk and lists Tower Hill, Aldgate, Bank and Mansion House as each under 10 minutes.
| Station |
Distance (estimate) |
Walk (estimate) |
| Monument |
0.3 km |
4 minutes |
| Bank |
0.6 km |
7 minutes |
| Tower Hill |
0.6 km |
8 minutes |
| Cannon Street |
0.6 km |
8 minutes |
| Aldgate |
0.8 km |
10 minutes |
| Mansion House |
0.9 km |
11 minutes |
| Liverpool Street |
0.9 km |
11 minutes |
| London Bridge |
1.0 km |
13 minutes |
For mainline trains, the official site names Fenchurch Street, Cannon Street and London Bridge, and for buses it names stops T and W on route 40. Check Transport for London and National Rail for live times. If you are combining Sky Garden with the Tower of London, it is about 0.8 km away, around a 10-minute walk by my estimate.
Best Time to Visit Sky Garden London
The best time to visit Sky Garden London, within the opening hours, depends on whether you want light, calm or a drink. I can only give you the evidence I have, and it does not include crowd counts from the venue.
- Morning: the early-access reviewers arrive around 8 am and say they were let straight in. One says the coffee queue became very long half an hour later, which suggests the first hour is quieter.
- Weekday daytime: ticketed hours run 10 am to 6 pm, and the terrace is open for most of that.
- Sunset: Open-Meteo’s historical weather for 2025 puts sunset in London at 16:11 in November, 18:05 in March, 20:46 in May and 21:19 in June. In winter the sun is down before the weekday ticketed hours end, and in summer it sets after them, so a summer sunset visit needs a weekend slot or an evening bookable ticket.
- Weather: the same data counts 3 rainy days in April against 16 in November, and about 4.3 sunshine hours a day in November against 11.4 in April. The garden is under glass, but the terrace closes in bad weather.
For the evening, past the ticketed Sky Garden opening hours, the Music Night ticket is the paid option. I covered its reviews on the Sky Garden tickets page. It is adults only, and the official FAQ says under-16s cannot enter in late evening hours.
Is Sky Garden Worth It?
For a free visit, most people say yes. The official FAQ makes the public garden free, and the paid listings I compared run from $18 to $44. The lowest, early access with a pastry and hot drink, is rated 4.1 from 1,173 reviews. One reviewer recommends going for the views but not the food, and another loved the croissant and coffee. The Larch set-menu listing scores lower at 3.8 from 614 reviews, so I’d treat paid bundles as optional and book the free slot first, within the Sky Garden opening hours for your day.
Sky Garden Dress Code
The official FAQ describes a smart casual dress code for the evening, from 6 pm, at Darwin Restaurant and the Sky Garden Bars. Flip-flops, baseball caps and male vest tops are not allowed there. I found no stated dress code for daytime public tickets, so check the official page before you go. Security applies at every visit, with ID for anyone who looks under 25, and large bags are not allowed.
Sky Garden Free Entry
Free entry exists, with conditions, and it follows the public Sky Garden opening hours. Per the official FAQ, free tickets are released every Monday morning, three weeks ahead, and free walk-ins are accepted daily subject to availability. Each public ticket is valid for an hour. One reviewer notes that the drinks and food upstairs are pricey, though entry itself can be free of charge.
Things to Do Near Sky Garden
The Tower of London is 0.63 kilometres away on Google Maps, rated 4.7 from 123,212 reviews, and St. Paul’s Cathedral 1.06 kilometres, rated 4.7 from 58,620. London Wall, a historical landmark, is 0.54 kilometres away. My Sky Garden map shows the entrance and the sights around it.
What to Know Before You Go
A few rules sit alongside the Sky Garden opening hours and are worth knowing before you queue. Children under 16 must be accompanied by an adult aged 18 or over during public hours, and one adult can bring up to three children, per the official FAQ. For evening bookings from 6 pm, Darwin Restaurant and the Sky Garden Bars operate a smart casual dress code, and flip-flops, baseball caps and male vest tops are not allowed in the restaurants.
Whatever the Sky Garden opening hours say for your day, allow about an hour for the free slot, since that is what the ticket covers, and up to two hours if you combine it with a meal, which is how the paid listings time their bundles.
What to Do in Sky Garden
What to do in Sky Garden is simple: walk the garden terraces under glass, find a seat by the windows, and pick out the landmarks. The listings name the Shard, the Tower of London and Tower Bridge among the sights you can spot. There are bars, cafes and restaurants on site, and Google Maps lists it as a scenic spot, bar, cafe, garden and restaurant, with a rating of 4.6 from 79,136 reviews. The building opened its garden in January 2015, per Wikipedia.
Once you know the Sky Garden opening hours for your date, compare every Sky Garden option on the Sky Garden tickets page, or return to the home page for the other attractions I’ve covered.