38 F
London
HomeAttractionsLondon's Newest Tourist Attraction: London's Tower Bridge Gets a Vertigo Inducing Glass...

London’s Newest Tourist Attraction: London’s Tower Bridge Gets a Vertigo Inducing Glass Walkway Above the Thames

London Forecast

London
light rain
38 ° F
40.5 °
35.5 °
87 %
2.2mph
100 %
Sat
37 °
Sun
40 °
Mon
44 °
Tue
47 °
Wed
50 °
USD - United States Dollar
GBP
1.24
EUR
1.04
CAD
0.70
AUD
0.63

Popular London Tours

Popular

Great London Buildings: The Shell Centre on the Southbank

The Shell Centre, situated on London's South Bank, stands...

Ten Romantic Places to Visit in London

Paris might be the “City of Love”, but London...

London on Film: Ten Romantic Comedy Locations to Visit in London

Everyone loves a good Romantic Comedy, or Rom-Com, as...

The London Fiver – Five London Romantic Comedies

In troubling and lonely times, a good romantic comedy...

Heathrow Unveils Multi-Billion Pound Expansion Plan Following Government Backing

Heathrow Airport has announced its most ambitious investment program...

Londinium: 10 Interesting Facts and Figures about Roman London

  Londinium was the Roman name given to the settlement...

Top Ten London: Top 10 Most Romantic Places in London

Love is in the air when February rolls around,...

Five Romantic Activities in London for Valentine’s Day

Now that the world is opening up again, people...

Share

The latest trend in tourist attractions these days seems to be putting glass floors into a famous landmark. We’re from Chicago and the Willis Tower (it will always be Sears to us!) has done this, making the attraction more popular than ever.

Now, Tower Bridge in London has become the latest place to add a glass floor – this time on the walkway that spans the Victorian Neo-gothic towers.

TowerBridge2

The floor enables visitors to view traffic passing over the bridge or ships passing under its raised bascules from a height of 42 metres (138 feet). This is the most significant change to the structure of the Grade 1 listed, 120-year-old bridge since the opening of its exhibition centre in 1982.

Looks amazing! I can’t wait to visit this the next time we’re in London.

You need to purchase admission to the Tower Bridge Exhibition to be able to walk to the top of the bridge. The walkways were originally included to ensure that even during a lift, pedestrians, should be able to cross the river unhindered. They were originally open to the elements and were closed in 1910 as they had become a haunt for prostitutes and pickpockets, and only reopened as part of the Tower Bridge Exhibition in 1982.

A rather humorous side of the story – one British newspaper asked the question – should women (or Scotsmen in Kilts) wear trousers while visiting the glass floor? Tower officials thought of this and assure everyone that the glass is not as transparent from below and isn’t directly below a pedestrian walkway, so your modesty should be safe.

Jonathan Thomas
Author: Jonathan Thomas

Jonathan is a consummate Anglophile who launched Anglotopia.net in 2007 to channel his passion for Britain. Londontopia is its sister publication dedicated to everything London.

Book London Tours Now!