Where To Take Great Photos of the Canary Wharf Skyline
Canary Wharf in London is home to the UK’s second largest financial district, and one of London’s greatest skylines too. The tall skyscrapers here house the offices of the Big 4 accounting firms, banks such as HSBC and Barclays, and other corporate giants including Citi.
Many come to London to see the incredible skyline these skyscrapers form, and there are so many places where you can go to see it… In this post, I’m going to share the best places to go to and take incredible photos of it.
The Location of Canary Wharf
Canary Wharf is located on the Isle of Dogs in Zone 2. Despite being called the Isle of Dogs, I have not seen any dogs running around yet… Neighbouring places include Greenwich and Poplar, the latter of which isn’t very pleasant. You can get to Canary Wharf via several bus routes, the Jubilee Line on the Underground, and the DLR which also has links to the City of London (the UK’s largest financial district). After Crossrail is completed, there will be links to Canary Wharf too and other parts of East London.
Take Photos of the Skyline Up Close at North Greenwich
North Greenwich is next to Canary Wharf on the Jubilee Line. It is home to the renowned o2 Arena, ICON Outlet, and Emirates Air Line. There’s a lot of regeneration taking place here, with new apartments and quiet residential areas being constructed by the Thames. There are so many things to do here such as shopping in the Outlet, going on the cable cars, and even climbing the o2 Arena.
As well as shopping here, I took a walk by the new apartments. Despite being near North Greenwich Tube station and the ICON Outlet, it was surprisingly quiet here. But at the same time, the quietness was quite isolating, and it lacked a sense of community. But the apartments themselves were really nice, and I imagine you can get great views of The Thames too. On the quiet pathways, you can also see the Canary Wharf skyline, but it’s not the best place to take photos. As you can see in my photo, the skyscrapers were obstructed by the trees which ruined the picture.
Ultimately, to get the best photos of the skyline, I recommend going to The Tide. The Tide is London’s first elevated park, and I love the quirky and modern design of it. From the glass balcony, you can take some good photos of the skyline behind the o2 Arena, which make a great Snapchat or WhatsApp status.
Take Aerial Photos of Canary Wharf from the Emirates Air Line
If you don’t want to pay loads, or are fed up with the London Eye, then it’s time to try somewhere new to see views of London. One great attraction I suggest is the Emirates Air Line. For just £3.50, you can ride across The Thames from North Greenwich to the ExCel Centre or vice versa. And the views you can see here are breath taking! The Cable Cars can reach heights of up to 90m above the Thames. You can see the o2 Arena in its full glory and see the skyscrapers of Canary Wharf too.
The best time to go on the cars is when it’s starting to get dark as all the skyscrapers light up, and this makes it such a great experience and you can take some great photos. As well as going at night, it’s also a good idea to go in the day as you can take photos of it in the day, then compare them with your night pictures.
You Can Even See Canary Wharf from The City of London
However, in my opinion, The City of London isn’t the greatest place for taking pictures, because the skyscrapers are quite far away. For instance, at Tower Bridge, you can only see skyscrapers such as the HSBC building in the distance. But you can take some great photos combining the old and the new.
Below are some photos I took of the skyline from floor 9 in Tate Modern. But again, they are too far away to get a good photo. Plus, the view was obstructed by other buildings too. Nevertheless, Tate Modern is a great place to come and recuperate, be that by admiring some of the incredible work here or going to floor 10 to see great views of London… And the best thing is that it’s free. For more ideas on free things to do, read my post on 6 things you can do for free in The City of London.
Verdict
Overall, in this guide, I have shown you how to take aerial photos of Canary Wharf, and photos of its skyline up close. For both of these things, the best place to go is North Greenwich. The skyline is remarkable, so as well as seeing the Central London skyline, don’t forget to also see Canary Wharf’s skyline. It looks amazing at night when all the buildings light up, so don’t forget to go and see the skyscrapers up close too. You can see my review when I went last Christmas here.