Lift 109 – Battersea Chimney Lift Review

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Before Christmas we always have a festive day out as a family and this year we chose to visit Battersea Power Station for our annual Christmas day out. A big part of that was experiencing Lift 109, the Battersea Power Station Chimney Lift.

What is Lift 109?

Lift 109 is what the Battersea Chimney Lift was originally called. Having just celebrated its third birthday, the Chimney Lift takes you on an adventure through the history of Battersea Power Station and up one of the power station chimneys, giving incredible views of London.

What is Battersea Power Station?

Built in the 1930s and operational as a power station until the early 1980s, at its peak, Battersea Power Station generated one fifth of London’s power. Since then, the building has becoming a cultural icon. After standing empty for many years, the power station started to be revitalised in 2012 and it finally opened to the public in 2022 as a shopping and leisure destination.

Booking Battersea Chimney Lift

We booked Battersea Chimney Lift in advance online – which is recommended. Tickets cost from £24 per adult and £17 per child with discounts for a family of four – or a slight ticket price increase if you’d like to visit any time, without a specific time slot.

The Chimney Lift also have special experiences like an Early Riser Experience to see the sun rise, a proposal ascent and even a private ascent if you want the whole lift to yourselves. There’s also the option of adding souvenir photos, a mini telescope, guide book or champagne for an additional charge.

The Battersea Chimney Lift experience

When we arrived for our Battersea Chimney Lift experience we had to wait until our time slot was ready. Unlike other attractions, the start of any visit to the Battersea Chimney Lift isn’t free flowing. Instead you begin by explore a recreation of architect Sir Giles Gilbert Scott’s office, complete with audio – so have to wait for the previous group to finish before beginning the experience.

After Sir Giles Gilbert Scott’s office, you get to power up sound and movement at an interactive wall illustrating the story of Battersea Power Station’s construction, and get hands on, operating a working model of the power station, moving levers to bring coal from the River Thames and generate power, and test your knowledge at a touchscreen quiz table.

We weren’t expecting any of this – simply the chimney lift – and so it was nice to have more added to the experience. Everything was very interactive but in quite a compact area so it was hard to have a go on everything when the time slot was busy but we enjoyed learning more about the power station, how it works and its construction.

The introduction to the chimney lift finished with the Switch Room where a 360-degree film tells the story of Battersea Power Station through the decades.

Going up in the Battersea Chimney Lift

Once you’re at the top of Battersea Power Station there are 39 spiral steps to navigate up to the chimney lift. If you’re unable to use stairs there is an accessible lift option which needs to be booked in advance when buying tickets as these options are limited.

Once inside the chimney lift it starts its 109 metre ascent to the top of the north-west chimney. The lift goes all the way to the top of the chimney and pops out the top – this is unlike any viewing platform we have ever been on before! I was expecting to get out of the lift at the top but the lift is the room you stay in for the duration of the experience.

All around the inside of the lift are signs detailing what can be seen in the distance and what to look out for. It was fantastic to have a 360 degree views of London’s skyline from a completely new perspective. You can see for miles on a clear day.

The full chimney lift experience lasts just under an hour, with around 25 minutes being spent inside the chimney lift, including the ascent and descent. It’s not the longest experience in the world but you do get enough time to appreciate the views and see everything there is to see. Plus, going up one of the Battersea Power Station chimneys is a London bucket list activity, something you just have to tick off an experience!

At the end of the experience there’s the Chimney Lift Shop to explore, selling souvenirs and cute homeware dedicated to the chimney lift, Battersea Power Station or just the history of London.

We had such a great time experiencing the Battersea Power Chimney Lift and are so glad that we did it! We spent the rest of the day enjoying the shops and restaurants of Battersea Power station, doing a festive light trail and then ice skating at Glide at Battersea Power Station. The lift was a real highlight of the day.

You can find out more about the Battersea Power Station Chimney Lift over on their website and for reference the address is: The Power Station, Circus Rd W, Nine Elms, London SW8 5BN