Last weekend we were invited to the Emirates Spinnaker Tower for a day out and couldn’t wait to see what the children thought of it. Dave and I went to the Spinnaker Tower for the first and only time eight years ago – before the children – and we were excited to see how it had changed in that time and whether the children would love it as much as we had all those years ago.
The Emirates Spinnaker Tower is at Gunwharf Quays in Portsmouth and is a pretty iconic building that you can see for miles as you drive to the coast. It’s a real sight – even just from a distance so I knew the children would be excited about going up it.
When you visit the Spinnaker Tower you enter at the base of the tower and watch a little film about the history of the tower before getting in a lift to take you 100 metres up to the first floor.
This floor is a big open space with screens around the side to teach you about everything you can see in the incredible view as well as telescopes that you can pay to use. The children loved looking out the windows, pointing out sights and gazing at the Isle of Wight in the distance.
From the Emirates Spinnaker Tower you can see for miles on a clear day. Plus, in the middle of the floor is a glass walkway where you can walk, without shoes on. This is quite a scary experience but it gives a great view straight down to the base of the tower below.
After we had spent time on the first floor we took the stairs to the Clouds which is a cafe level. This has space to sit and have refreshments whilst admiring the view but it is often quite busy so worth booking head – there were tables reserved for afternoon tea bookings when we visited. As well as the Clouds there is also the Waterfront Cafe on the ground floor of the tower which serves a great variety of food and drink options and it has a children’s menu too.
The top floor of the Spinnaker Tower is the Sky Garden which is open air at the top and gives even higher views of the south coast. It has artificial grass on the floor and deckchairs to relax in and the children loved how garden-like that floor really was.
Our trip finished with the obligatory trip to the gift shop to buy a magnet. We all had such a nice visit to the Emirates Spinnaker Tower and it’s a great addition to any day out at the coast. Plus, whilst we were there we saw so many people abseiling down the tower to raise money for charity. Watch this space – Dave and I are looking into doing it later in the year too!
Disclosure: We were invited on the above day out for the purpose of this review however all opinions are my own.
