Most people who get lost on the way to Sky Garden are standing directly underneath it.
20 Fenchurch Street is an office tower with an office reception, and that reception is not the way in. Sky Garden has its own door on Philpot Lane, the narrow street along the west side of the building, and it is signed at street level once you are on the right pavement.
The building sits in the middle of the City, three minutes from Monument and inside a ten-minute walk of four other stations. Getting to the postcode is easy. Finding the right door is the part people get wrong.
Sky Garden Map
Location & Address
Sky Garden
1, Sky Garden, Sky Garden Walk, London EC3M 8AF, UK · Google Maps
Address: Sky Garden, 1 Sky Garden Walk, London EC3M 8AF
Entrance: a dedicated door on Philpot Lane, at the south-west corner of 20 Fenchurch Street. Philpot Lane runs north off Eastcheap and comes out on Fenchurch Street, and the tower is on your right as you walk up it.
Nearest station: Monument, Circle and District lines
From the entrance, a lift takes you to level 35.
Getting There by Public Transport
By Tube
Monument is the closest station, and it is served by the Circle and District lines only. Anyone telling you it is on the Northern line is confusing it with Bank, which is a separate station connected to Monument by a pedestrian tunnel below ground. That link is genuinely useful, because it means Monument also gives you the Central, Northern and Waterloo & City lines and the DLR without going back to street level.
Out of Monument, head east along Eastcheap. Philpot Lane is on your left after a couple of minutes, and the Sky Garden door is a short way up on the right-hand side.
Four other stations are inside a ten-minute walk, which matters when a line is down or the escalators are out.
- Bank for the Central, Northern, Waterloo & City and DLR
- Tower Hill for the Circle and District, coming at the building from the east
- Aldgate for the Circle and Metropolitan
- Mansion House for the Circle and District, from the west
By Train
Fenchurch Street is the closest mainline station and is barely a walk at all, four or five minutes along Fenchurch Street itself. Cannon Street is about seven minutes west along Eastcheap. London Bridge is around fifteen minutes if you come north over the bridge, and it is the useful one if you are travelling in from the south.
Check National Rail for running information before you set out, particularly at weekends when engineering works close whole approaches into the City.
By Bus
The closest stops to the building are Stop T and Stop W on route 40, which runs between Aldgate and Dulwich by way of London Bridge. Plenty of other routes stop along Gracechurch Street and King William Street, both a few minutes away.
A bus is rarely faster than the Tube here, but it is a lot better for seeing where you actually are, and the approach along Eastcheap gives you the tower from below before you go up it.
Getting There by Car
Driving to Sky Garden is a poor idea, and the building offers no visitor parking of its own.
- Congestion Charge and ULEZ. The building sits inside both zones. Check whether your vehicle is liable and pay before you travel.
- Parking. There is no car park at the building. Commercial car parks operate in the surrounding streets, and on-street parking in the City is metered, heavily restricted and not worth attempting on a weekday.
- Taxis and drop-off. A taxi can pull up on Philpot Lane or Eastcheap, which puts you a few steps from the door. This is the sensible version of arriving by car.
- Blue Badge. Blue Badge parking across the City is limited and tightly controlled. Being dropped on Philpot Lane is the more reliable arrangement.
Walking Routes
From Monument station, 3 minutes
Leave the station and walk east along Eastcheap with the traffic. Philpot Lane is a narrow turning on the left, and the Sky Garden entrance is on the right-hand side once you are in it. If you find yourself on Fenchurch Street you have walked the length of Philpot Lane and gone too far north.
From Tower Hill, 8 minutes
Head north-west from the station and pick up Great Tower Street, which becomes Eastcheap. Stay on it and Philpot Lane is on your right. This is the walk to take if you are coming from the Tower of London, and it is flat the whole way.
From Liverpool Street, 12 minutes
Go south down Bishopsgate, then bear onto Gracechurch Street. Cross onto Eastcheap and Philpot Lane is the first of the small lanes on your left. It takes you past Leadenhall Market, which is worth the two-minute detour.
From London Bridge, 15 minutes
Cross London Bridge onto King William Street, turn right at the Monument junction onto Eastcheap, and Philpot Lane is a few minutes along on the left. The view of the tower from the middle of the bridge is the best free photograph of the building you will get.
From St Paul’s, 15 minutes
Head east along Cannon Street, which runs into King William Street, then continue onto Eastcheap. It is a straight line and hard to get wrong, and it passes the bottom of the Monument on the way.
Getting There by Hop-on Hop-off Bus
The City stops on every major sightseeing route, and the open-top bus is a reasonable way to combine Sky Garden with the Tower and St Paul’s in one day without working out a single connection. Stops sit within a few minutes’ walk of the building, on Lower Thames Street and around the Tower.
Three operators run open-top routes through the City, and all three stop within a short walk of the building. Book ahead for Big Bus London, Tootbus London or City Sightseeing London.
Best Way to Get There
Fastest
Monument on the Circle or District line, then three minutes on foot. Nothing else gets you closer, and the underground link to Bank means most of the network reaches it in one change.
Most scenic
Walk north over London Bridge. Fifteen minutes, the whole City skyline in front of you, and the tower gets bigger the entire way.
Cheapest
Route 40 stops at Stop T and Stop W, closer to the door than any Tube station, and a bus fare beats a Zone 1 Tube fare.
Best for accessibility
A taxi to Philpot Lane. It puts you at a step-free lift entrance without navigating the City’s pavements or a station with escalator works.
Nearby Attractions
- The Monument is three minutes downhill, at the junction where Eastcheap meets King William Street.
- Leadenhall Market is five minutes north, and the covered arcade is the shortcut worth taking on the walk from Liverpool Street.
- 30 St Mary Axe is six minutes away, and the Gherkin is the building you will spend the most time looking at from the top.
- Tower of London is nine minutes east along Eastcheap and Great Tower Street, so the Tower and Sky Garden pair naturally in one day.
- Tower Bridge is twelve minutes on foot, with the high-level walkways if you want a second view.
- St Paul’s Cathedral is a straight fourteen-minute walk west, and the dome galleries are the paid climb to compare.
Accessibility
Sky Garden offers step-free access throughout the visitor route. Lifts run from street level on both Philpot Lane and Rood Lane, and further lifts inside move you between the garden levels.
- Assistance dogs are welcome under the Equality Act 2010 and must be on a lead at all times. No other animals are permitted.
- Contact Sky Garden in advance if you need anything arranged for your visit.
- Airport-style security screening applies to every visitor, and staff have been reported taking people with walking sticks past the outdoor queue.
- There are steps between some levels as well as lifts, so if stairs are difficult, use the internal lifts rather than the staircases through the planting.
- Step-free access varies between the nearby Underground stations, so check Transport for London for the one you plan to use rather than assuming. Arriving by taxi sidesteps the question entirely.
Insider Tips
Set your map to Philpot Lane. Searching the postcode drops you at the tower, and the tower has more than one door. Navigate to Philpot Lane instead and you arrive at the right one.
The queue starts before the door. On a busy day the line runs along Philpot Lane and around onto Fenchurch Street. Pre-booked ticket holders keep to the right-hand side, so check which line you are joining before you settle in.
Use the Bank tunnel, not the street. If you arrive at Bank on the Central or Northern line, follow the signs underground to Monument rather than surfacing. It is quicker, drier and avoids the Bank junction entirely.
Come from the south for the photograph. The tower reads best from London Bridge and Lower Thames Street, where the curve is obvious. From directly beneath it you cannot see the shape at all.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the nearest tube station to Sky Garden?
Monument, on the Circle and District lines, about three minutes on foot. It connects underground to Bank, which adds the Central, Northern and Waterloo & City lines and the DLR.
Where is the Sky Garden entrance?
On Philpot Lane, at the south-west corner of 20 Fenchurch Street. It is a dedicated visitor door and not the office reception, and it is signed at street level.
What is the Sky Garden postcode?
EC3M 8AF. The full address is Sky Garden, 1 Sky Garden Walk, London EC3M 8AF.
Is there parking at Sky Garden?
No visitor parking at the building. The site is inside the Congestion Charge and ULEZ zones, and the nearest options are commercial car parks around Lower Thames Street and Aldgate. A taxi to Philpot Lane is the easier route.
Is Sky Garden step-free?
Yes, throughout the visitor route. Lifts run from street level on Philpot Lane and Rood Lane, and there are further lifts between the garden levels.