Tate Modern Viewing Level
a free tenth-floor view of st paul's
A free panoramic view from the tenth floor of Tate Modern's Blavatnik Building, looking straight across the river to St Paul's and over the whole City skyline.
Free to visit · Bankside · Blackfriars · SE1 9TG
Opening: Daily · within gallery hours
Everyone knows Tate Modern is a free gallery, but fewer realise you can ride the lift to the top of its Blavatnik Building and step out onto a viewing level for one of the best free panoramas in London. From up here the city opens out in every direction.
The headline view is north across the river, where St Paul's Cathedral sits framed by the Millennium Bridge, with the towers of the City clustered behind. Turn around and you get the Shard, the South Bank and a different slice of the skyline through the windows.
Some sides are now screened after a legal dispute with residents of the glass flats next door, but plenty of the view remains open and free, with none of the cost or queues of the paid platforms across the river. A brilliant free add-on to a wander round the galleries below.
Getting there: Inside Tate Modern on Bankside, a short walk from Blackfriars or Southwark, or across the Millennium Bridge from St Paul's.
Best time to go: Late afternoon for the light on St Paul's, or stay for dusk as the City lights come on. Open late on Fridays and Saturdays.
Insider tip: Combine it with the free galleries downstairs and time your visit for late afternoon, so you catch St Paul's in good light and can linger as the City lights come on. It is open late on Friday and Saturday evenings.
Official site: https://www.tate.org.uk/visit/tate-modern
Free things to do in London · London Free Guide