The Garden at 120
the city's free secret roof garden
A free open-air roof garden high over the City, no booking and no ticket, with a fountain, a wisteria walk and the Walkie Talkie and Gherkin close enough to touch.
Free to visit · City of London · Fenchurch Street · EC3M 5BA
Opening: Daily · roughly 10am to 6pm, later in summer · no booking
Everyone queues for the Sky Garden, but two minutes away sits a free rooftop almost nobody outside the City knows about. The Garden at 120 is an open-air public garden on the roof of the Fen Court building on Fenchurch Street, and unlike its famous neighbour you do not need to book a thing. You just walk in and take the lift up.
At the top is a proper garden, a long wisteria-covered pergola, a still water channel and benches, laid out fifteen floors up with the towers of the City rising on every side. The Walkie Talkie, the Gherkin and the Cheesegrater are close enough to read the windows, and on a clear day you can see the Shard and out east to Canary Wharf.
It is free, it is open daily and it almost never has a queue, which makes it one of the best value high views in London. Bring a coffee, grab a bench and watch the City go about its business below you.
Getting there: A couple of minutes from Fenchurch Street or Monument, the entrance and lifts are on Fen Court off Fenchurch Street.
Best time to go: Late afternoon for the light on the glass towers, or a weekday lunchtime to watch the City stream past below. It can close in high wind, so check on a stormy day.
Insider tip: Pair it with the Sky Garden a few streets away and you get two free high views in one trip. This one needs no booking at all, so use it as the backup if the Sky Garden slots have gone.
Free things to do in London · London Free Guide