Crossrail Place Roof Garden, Canary Wharf

[dropcap]H[/dropcap]idden under the glossy skyscrapers of Canary Wharf is an absolute gem. Completely free to visitors, and at the moment littered with art celebrating the Paralympics, the Crossrail Place Roof Garden is must-see.

Crossrail should be open in 2018, and is a super highspeed rail link, through central London, between Reading and Abbey Wood and Shenfield. I’m excited for it to open for no particular reason, but I’m obviously going to take a little trip on it sometime. Probably only from one central station to another, possibly back to Canary Wharf for the Crossrail Place Roof Garden. Having not been to the Sky Garden, that old blogger hotspot, I can’t really compare the two. I absolutely loved wandering around the garden after a pretty tasty Carluccio lunch on a blistering 28 degree day.

It’s also worth the trip just to take the DLR because it’s rally bloody cool and is my favourite way of getting about in London – not that I get to do it much. There’s no proper driver (correct me if I’m wrong) so you can sit right at the front and watch where you’re going like some kind of tame urban rollercoaster. It’s cool. Trust me.

Possibly the best thing about the Roof Garden, is that all of the views are upwards, rather than straight out the windows. If you look along the horizon you really do only see building sites and the Wharfs and not a lot else. Upwards, however, are the buildings of Canary Wharf. It’s cool. It’s fascinating to see the city from a different perspective: through trees and leaves, rather than from a tube exit escalator. I’m obsessed with the way light works with plants, and adding the sparkling glass of the banks and office buildings just added a new dimension. I couldn’t help but stare upwards. It feels like you’re floating in a weird little garden pod.

As you’re in the middle of the banking world, there are are also a few bars and restaurants in the station. The most noticeable is a Big Easy, with a glowing neon sign and fabulous view into the dockyards. While I’ve never eaten there, I’m assured it’s great, and can definitely recommend the location!

This is another post where I’m just going to let the photos do the talking. I’ve edited them in the way I usually edit my instagram photos so they’re pretty crisp and awesome. The blues and greens and blacks are perfect (if I do say so myself).

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