Two things about Horizon 22 are wrong in almost every guide to it, and both of them change your day.
You can turn up without a ticket. Their own answer is that a QR code is provided outside the entrance which can be used to complete a booking on the spot, subject to capacity. That is not a promise of entry, but it is very far from the “book three weeks ahead or forget it” advice you will read everywhere.
And once you are up there, there is no time limit. The time on your ticket is an arrival time, not a slot. Their words: there is no time restriction to your visit. You can stay until closing.
Those two facts together are the case for going, and they are the case for going here rather than to the more famous free platform across the road.
Is Horizon 22 free?
Yes, entirely. There is no ticket price, no minimum spend and no booking fee. Horizon 22 is the highest free viewing platform in London, on Level 58 of 22 Bishopsgate, and the only things it sells are optional food and drink once you are up there.
It is worth saying plainly because the building is next door to a paid platform and the two get confused. The Shard is taller and charges. This does not.
Horizon 22 tickets, and the numbers including the one nobody prints
It is on Level 58 of 22 Bishopsgate, the tallest building in the City of London, and it is free.
The view is 300 degrees, not 360. That is their own figure and it is worth knowing before you go, because the marketing photography and most write ups imply a full circle. There is a side you cannot see from.
The lift takes 41 seconds, travelling at up to eight metres per second, and there are two of them.
Horizon 22
- Address
- 22 Bishopsgate, EC2N 4BQ
- Nearest
- Liverpool Street or Bank
- Hours
- Weekdays 10am to 6pm, Saturday 10am to 5pm, Sunday 10am to 4pm
- Booking
- Free timed ticket with a QR code, maximum nine per booking. Groups of ten or more contact the team, fifteen or more use the group booking route. A QR code outside the entrance lets you book on the spot if there is capacity
- Price
- Free. Optional add ons are the Guide to the View audio visual guide, or a glass of bubbles
- Standing
- Level 58 of the tallest building in the City of London, with 300 degree views
How to get in
No time limit once you are up, which is the single biggest difference between this and Sky Garden, where a public ticket is valid for an hour. Watch the Sunday closing time, which is four in the afternoon rather than six. There is no waiting area if you arrive early and they will point you at the coffee shop next door. Bags larger than 58 by 45 by 25 centimetres are refused at security and there are no lockers, so do not come straight from a station with a suitcase.
Horizon 22 or Sky Garden
This is the question people actually want answered, and both venues publish enough to answer it honestly.
Horizon 22 is higher, later to book and better for a long look. Level 58 against thirty five floors, no time limit, and walk ins that genuinely work when there is room.
Sky Garden is open far later and is a different kind of place. It runs to midnight most nights and one in the morning on Friday and Saturday, where Horizon 22 shuts at six on a weekday and four on a Sunday. It is also three floors of planted terrace rather than a viewing gallery, with bars and restaurants in it.
So: Horizon 22 for the view and the daytime, Sky Garden for the evening. If you want both, do Horizon 22 in the afternoon and walk the eight minutes to Sky Garden after it closes. Our Sky Garden guide covers its weekly ticket release, which is the harder of the two to get.
One correction while we are here. The Shard is taller than both, and its viewing platform is not free. Horizon 22 is the highest free viewing platform in London, which is a different claim and the one they actually make.
Horizon 22 booking rules, and what catches people out
There is no waiting area. Arrive early and you will be sent back outside. They suggest the coffee shop next door, which is a reasonable plan if you know about it in advance and an annoying one if you do not.
Bag size is enforced, and so is the list. Anything larger than 58 by 45 by 25 centimetres is refused, everything goes through a bag scanner and a full body scanner, and there are no lockers of any kind. Alcohol, selfie sticks and tripods are all on the prohibited list, and confiscation is a condition of entry. Photography is welcome but monopods, tripods and telephoto lenses are not. This rules out arriving with luggage on your way to or from a station, which at Liverpool Street is exactly what people try to do.
They can ask for photo identification. Their stated position is that they reserve the right to ask the lead guest and any other adults for photo ID, and to deny access. Tickets are not transferable, and everyone on one booking has to arrive together: turn up early and you will be asked to wait for the rest of your party.
Buy tickets from one place only. Their own site states that horizon22.co.uk is the only legitimate website to order tickets from. A free attraction attracts resellers charging for something that costs nothing.
Nine is the limit per booking. Ten or more means contacting the team, and fifteen or more goes through a separate group route with a rule attached: group bookings are only taken between 11am and midday, Monday to Friday, and not in school holidays. Their own warning is blunt, that if you book separate tickets or walk ins and then arrive as a group of fifteen or more you will be refused entry.
Food and drink at the top
There is a small café under the main stairs on Level 58, serving pastries, cakes, yoghurt pots, snacks, cold drinks and barista coffee from Searcys, who also run the events side of the building.
It is a café rather than a restaurant, so this is coffee with a view rather than dinner with one. At ground level there is Blend Café along the Art Walkway. For an actual meal at height, the restaurants with a view guide covers the rooms where the window is the point.
The five pound audio guide, and what to bring for it
The one thing up there that costs money is Guide to the View, an audio and visual guide to what you are looking at. It is five pounds a person, with an adult version and a children’s one, and you add it when you book or buy it on Level 58.
Two things catch people out. It runs in your phone’s browser from a link in your confirmation email, so there is no app to download, but Horizon 22 does not lend headphones or tablets, so bring your own. Their fallback if you forget is to hold the phone to your ear like a call, which is about as good as it sounds. It is also English only and runs to about 45 minutes, with a transcript for every stop. The landmarks it picks out run from St Paul’s and the Barbican to Tower Bridge, Canary Wharf, Alexandra Palace and Crystal Palace.
Is it any good for sunset?
Sometimes, and the closing times are the reason. A weekday closes at six, Saturday at five and Sunday at four, so an evening that works on a Tuesday can be over before sunset at the weekend. In midwinter all three days work. In midsummer none of them do, and the only way to be up there at sunset is one of their ticketed evening experiences. In between it depends on the week. Their homepage prints the day’s sunrise and sunset, which is the quickest check before you book.
Tours, buggies and children
Guided tours are for accredited Blue Badge Guides only, and they need a ticket like everyone else. Anyone else leading a group is, in their words, escorted from the premises. If you have hired a guide for the day, check the badge before this stop.
Buggies are fine, but there is no buggy park, so the pushchair goes up to Level 58 with you. Everyone needs their own ticket whatever their age, though a whole party can share one QR code, and anyone under 16 has to be with an adult of 18 or over. Hot food and drink from outside are not allowed. Your own water and small snacks are, and anything bought at the café can only be eaten up there.
Access
It is step free from the street. The entrance on Bishopsgate is level, lifts on Undershaft Road take you up to the entrance level, and from there it is step free to Level 58 and back out again. There are accessible toilets in the lobby, on Level 1 and on Levels 58 and 58M. Certified assistance dogs are admitted, and handlers may be asked for the certification. If you need support, pick the special assistance ticket when you book. There are medics on site, and lost property is kept for three months before it goes to charity.
Horizon 22 opening times and practical notes
Sunday is the short day. Ten to four, two hours earlier than a weekday. This is the most common wasted journey.
Book anyway, then treat the walk up as a backup. The on the spot QR code works when there is capacity and not when there is not. Booking costs nothing and removes the question. There is no telephone booking at all, so it is the website or the Welcome Hosts at the door.
Go late in the day rather than at opening. Since there is no time limit, an arrival an hour or two before closing means you watch the light change over the city and nobody moves you on.
Liverpool Street and Bank are both short walks, and 22 Bishopsgate is impossible to miss because it is the tallest thing in the Square Mile.
Everything here was taken from Horizon 22’s own published information and rechecked on 28 September 2026, including the answers in their own FAQ. Opening hours and entry conditions change. Confirm before you travel.
The best views in London ranks all of them by what you have to arrange, and Tower Bridge is the one that costs nothing at all: it lifts around 800 times a year and publishes every one.
St Paul’s Cathedral is a fifteen minute walk west and is the one view here you climb to rather than ride to, with the Dome Galleries opening an hour after the cathedral does.
The London Eye is the ticketed comparison across the river, and worth reading for the bundle arithmetic before you buy anything.
Where to go next
The Lookout at 8 Bishopsgate is the fallback when this one is fully booked: also free, also by timed slot, and open until 9pm on Mondays and Fridays.
The Garden at 120 is lower and needs no booking at all, which on a clear lunchtime is worth more than the height.
The Shard is the paid alternative, higher than this and with an open air deck on Level 72, but it closes earlier than Sky Garden and costs what this one does not.
The Sky Garden guide covers the other free platform and its weekly ticket release, which is the harder ticket of the two. Restaurants with a view covers eating at height, and the rooftop bars cover drinking at it.
Both towers sit in the Square Mile, so free things to do in London and things to do in central London are the two pages that build a day around this one.
Questions we get asked
Is Horizon 22 free?
Yes, entirely. It is London’s highest free viewing platform, on Level 58 of 22 Bishopsgate. You book a free timed ticket with a QR code, up to nine people per booking. The only things that cost money are the optional extras: the Guide to the View audio visual guide, or a glass of bubbles. Their own site warns that horizon22.co.uk is the only legitimate place to get tickets.
Can I visit Horizon 22 without a ticket?
Often, yes, which contradicts most advice about it. Their own answer is that a QR code is provided outside the entrance which can be used to complete a booking on the spot, although on the day availability depends on capacity and cannot be guaranteed. Booking in advance costs nothing and removes the risk, so the sensible approach is to book and treat walking up as the fallback.
Is Sky Garden or Horizon 22 better?
Horizon 22 is higher, at Level 58 against Sky Garden’s thirty five floors, and it puts no time limit on your visit. Sky Garden is open much later, to midnight most nights and one in the morning on Fridays and Saturdays, and is a planted terrace with bars rather than a viewing gallery. Horizon 22 for the view and the daytime, Sky Garden for the evening.
Is Horizon 22 higher than the Shard?
No. The Shard is taller, and its viewing platform is ticketed and paid. Horizon 22 sits on Level 58 of 22 Bishopsgate, the tallest building in the City of London, and its actual claim is to be the highest free viewing platform in the city, which is a narrower and accurate one.
Does Horizon 22 have a restaurant?
Not a restaurant, a café. There is a small one under the main stairs on Level 58 serving pastries, cakes, yoghurt pots, snacks, cold drinks and barista coffee from Searcys. At ground level there is Blend Café along the Art Walkway. For a proper meal at height you want one of the tower restaurants rather than this.
How long can you stay at Horizon 22?
As long as you like until closing. Their own wording is that there is no time restriction to your visit and that the time on your ticket is an arrival time. That is unusual among London viewing platforms and it is the strongest reason to choose it, particularly if you arrive an hour or two before closing and watch the light change.
What are Horizon 22 opening times?
Weekdays ten in the morning to six in the evening, Saturday ten to five, and Sunday ten to four. The Sunday closing time catches people out because it is two hours earlier than a weekday. The lift to Level 58 takes forty one seconds and there are two of them.
Can you take bags to Horizon 22?
Small backpacks and bags are fine and pass through security screening on arrival. Anything larger than 58 by 45 by 25 centimetres is not permitted inside and there are no locker facilities at all, so you cannot visit with luggage on the way to or from Liverpool Street. They also reserve the right to ask the lead guest and other adults for photo identification.
How much is the Horizon 22 audio guide?
Guide to the View is £5 per person, for either the adult or the children's version. It runs in your phone's browser from a link in your confirmation email, lasts about 45 minutes and is in English only. Horizon 22 does not lend headphones or tablets, so bring your own.
Is Horizon 22 accessible?
Yes, it is step free from the street. The Bishopsgate entrance is level, lifts on Undershaft Road take you to the entrance level, and there are accessible toilets in the lobby, on Level 1 and on Levels 58 and 58M. Certified assistance dogs are welcome, and a special assistance ticket is available when you book.
Can you take a pushchair to Horizon 22?
Yes, but there is no buggy park, so it goes up to Level 58 with you. Everyone needs their own ticket, and anyone under 16 must be accompanied by an adult aged 18 or over.
Can you bring your own guide to Horizon 22?
Only an accredited Blue Badge Guide, who still needs a valid ticket. Horizon 22 states that no other tour guides are allowed and that they will be escorted from the premises.
Is Horizon 22 good for sunset?
Sometimes. A weekday closes at 6pm, Saturday at 5pm and Sunday at 4pm, so sunset is only reachable on some days depending on the time of year. The homepage prints each day's sunrise and sunset, which is the quickest check.
Written by Robert J Wills, no. 95 in the guide.
Last checked 28 September 2026 against the venues' own published information. Nobody pays to appear here and we take no bookings.
