In our trip around Northern Europe in 2024/2025, we were in London and wanted to have a bit of a luxury cocktail experience, so booked a table at Gŏng, before we even started our trip. It was so booked up that we could not get our preferred sunset timeslot, but decide night views would be worth it.
The Shard
Looming above the newly redeveloped London Bridge Station, is The Shard. I say “newly redeveloped”, but that is because when I left London in 2001, London Bridge was a dismal and derelict location. The Shard is London’s highest building, and the tallest in the UK at 72 stories and 310m high.
To gain access to the cocktail bar on the 52nd floor, you need to take two separate lifts. The first lift takes you to a lobby on the 34th floor, and then there is a lift to Gŏng from the Shangri-La hotel lobby. We were checked briefly by security, which I imagine would reduce the number of non-paying customers going up to just look at the views from the windows
When we arrived, we were greeted and taken to a temporary table. We were a little early for our reservation, and so we could not have a windows seat straight away. This worked out well, as we were able to let the location soak in to us, and take some photos. I actually found the best view to be from the Gent’s toilet, where it overlooked Tower Bridge.
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