The Shard Toilet: The loo with a view 750 ft above London

From the toilet in The Shard you can marvel at landmarks including the Tower of London and HMS Belfast as you gaze across the River Thames.

The toilet is on the 68th floor of the £2 billion ($3 billion) development, 800 ft up the 1,016 ft high skyscraper, western Europe’s tallest, which opens to visitors next month

Most people, however, will be enjoying the spectacular 40-mile views from the official viewing areas.

The opening day for the attraction, known as The View from the Shard, February 1 is sold out as is the second day, despite tickets costing up to £24.95 ($39) for adults and £18.95 ($30) for children.

In the viewing areas visitors will be able to look through special telescopes known as Tell: scopes. These are particularly useful if visibility is poor as they show not only a live “as it is” image but, at the push of a button, what a clear-day view would be as well as a sunset view and a night view.

Those using the telescopes will, by focusing on a particular landmark, receive audible information about it.

The View from the Shard chief executive Andy Nyberg said: “This is the only place you can see the whole of London at once and, as such, is a natural starting point for exploring the UK’s capital.”

Comment from spokesman about the “loo with a view”: “The main toilets for The View from The Shard are located on level 1 of the attraction.

“A limited number of these <<loos with a view>> are available on Level 68 for those that need them, however they are not normally open for general use.”

Organizers say there should not be queues, but to amuse those waiting to go through security, special, cheeky, murals have been created.

Showing 140 famous Londoners in playful juxtapositions, the murals depict the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge as a Pearly King and Queen, London Mayor Boris Johnson shining the shoes of a top-hatted former mayor Ken Livingstone and the Queen – with corgi – riding on a scooter.

The Shard is part of redevelopment of the London Bridge area. The glassy, triangular-shaped Shard has 600,000sq ft of offices, three floors of restaurants and a 200-room Shangri-La hotel which is due to open this summer.

There are also 10 luxury apartments which are expected to go for as much as £50 million ($80 million) each and which are expected to be let out.

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