The garden and the terrace keep different hours, and nobody tells you that until you are up there.
Sky Garden runs on two clocks. The garden itself stays open until nine at weekends, while the outdoor terrace closes at six every day of the week, and both of those are separate again from the bars and restaurants, which open earlier and shut much later. Here is the full picture, plus the times of day worth aiming for.
Opening Hours
Sky Garden
| Day | Hours |
|---|---|
| Monday to Friday | 10am to 6pm |
| Saturday, Sunday and bank holidays | 11am to 9pm |
These are the hours for the ticketed public visit. Guides that quote 8am to 11pm are giving you the building’s venue hours, which cover the bars and restaurants and have nothing to do with a free entry ticket.
The Outdoor Terrace
| Day | Hours |
|---|---|
| Monday to Friday | 10am to 6pm |
| Saturday and Sunday | 11am to 6pm |
Two things about the terrace that catch almost everyone. At weekends it shuts three hours before the garden does, so a Saturday evening booking is an indoor visit. And in practice it opens later than the building, with visitors putting it somewhere between ten and eleven, which is why the earliest breakfast and early-access sittings never get outside.
Security can also close the terrace at any time in bad weather, without warning. Wind counts as bad weather at that height.
The Bars
| Day | Hours |
|---|---|
| Sunday to Thursday | 8am to midnight |
| Friday and Saturday | 8am to 1am |
Sky Pod Bar and City Garden Bar share these hours and share a booking system, with reservations allocated to one or the other. Last orders come twenty to thirty minutes before closing. On weekends with a yoga class the doors open at half past seven instead.
Darwin Brasserie
| Day | Hours |
|---|---|
| Sunday to Thursday | 8:30am to 10pm |
| Friday and Saturday | 8:30am to 10:30pm |
Fenchurch Restaurant
| Day | Hours |
|---|---|
| Sunday to Friday | 12pm to 2:30pm and 5pm to 9pm |
| Saturday | 12pm to 9pm |
Larch
| Day | Hours |
|---|---|
| Monday to Thursday | 9am to 8pm |
| Friday to Sunday | 9am to 9pm |
Closures. The first Monday of most months is a maintenance closure, with the garden shut until 6pm and normal service resuming around half past. Individual days and occasional runs of several days close for private events, and no free tickets are released on those dates at all. The official closure dates page lists them in advance. Hours can change, so check before you travel.
Best Times to Visit
- Right at opening. Ten on a weekday, eleven at the weekend. The queue is at its shortest, the noise is at its lowest, and the light is usually kinder for photographs than the middle of the day.
- From about eleven it fills. Visitors describe the deck getting busy and loud from late morning onwards, and that is also when the seating goes.
- From 6:30pm it becomes a music venue. Live bands and DJ sets take over the Sky Pod Bar, and the free space fills with it. Brilliant if that is what you came for and miserable if it is not.
- Late afternoon is the compromise. Quieter than midday, still daylight, and the terrace is open until six.
- Weekday mornings are the easy booking. Mid-morning and early-afternoon weekday slots survive the Monday release far longer than anything at a weekend.
- Weekends buy you three extra hours. The garden runs to nine on Saturdays and Sundays, though everything after six is indoors and set to a soundtrack.
- Avoid the first Monday of the month. That is the standing maintenance closure, and the garden does not open until six.
- Winter is the only season when sunset falls before the terrace closes. The terrace shuts at six all year round, and in midwinter the sun is down well before that. From spring through to autumn, sunset happens after the terrace has closed, so a sunset booking means watching through glass.
- Summer afternoons get hot. The garden is naturally ventilated and behaves like a greenhouse in a heatwave. Visitors report no free water refill points either, so carry a drink up with you.
- A cold, bright weekday in January is my pick. Longest views, smallest queues, and the one time of year the terrace is still open when the light goes.
How Long to Spend
Your free ticket is valid for one hour from the moment you enter. That is the number to plan around, not the two hours that appear on paid packages.
An hour is also what most people actually use. Some are done in half that, having taken their photographs and walked the terraces once. Diners with a table booking stay two to three hours because the meal is the visit.
- Just the view: thirty to forty minutes
- The view, the terraces and a drink: a full hour
- Lunch or dinner at Darwin or Fenchurch: two to three hours
- Add for the queue: anything from nothing to an hour
Two hours from leaving the station to leaving the building is the safe assumption on a busy day.
Insider Tips
The queue is the real timetable. Reported waits run from walking straight in to two hours, and the biggest variable is whether both lifts are working. Arriving early in the day is the only reliable way round it.
A sunset slot is not a terrace slot. From roughly March to October the sun goes down after the terrace has closed. If watching it from outside matters, book between November and February.
Weekday evenings end at six. Monday to Friday the garden closes at six, so there is no evening visit on a free weekday ticket. Evening access on a weekday means a paid ticket or a table booking.
Turning up early does not help. A timed slot caps how early you are admitted rather than guaranteeing entry at that minute. Visitors who arrived half an hour ahead have been sent away and then met the queue anyway.
Check the closure page before the booking page. If an entire week shows nothing, look at the closure dates first. Maintenance days and private events release no tickets at all, which looks identical to a sell-out from the booking screen.
Frequently Asked Questions
What time does Sky Garden open?
10am Monday to Friday and 11am on Saturdays, Sundays and bank holidays. The outdoor terrace tends to open later than the rest of the building, generally between ten and eleven.
What time does Sky Garden close?
6pm on weekdays and 9pm at weekends and on bank holidays. The outdoor terrace closes at 6pm every day of the week, whatever the garden is doing.
Is Sky Garden open on Sundays?
Yes, 11am to 9pm, the same as Saturdays and bank holidays.
Is Sky Garden better during the day or at night?
Daytime gives you the terrace, the planting and the long views. Evening gives you the lit skyline and live music from about half six, but only at weekends on a free ticket, and only from indoors.
When is Sky Garden closed?
The first Monday of most months is a maintenance closure until 6pm, and individual days close for private events. The official closure dates page lists them in advance.