A few years ago we took the opportunity to climb up and over the O2. It was a fun experience which has stuck with us ever since, it’s not often that we find an activity that impresses the teens. We discovered that you could climb over Ally Pally, this is one of my favourite buildings in London, so we booked it for an Easter treat.
Summit at Ally Pally with teens
Ally Pally, or Alexandra Palace, is a beautiful historic building in Haringey. We visit it frequently for gigs and the theatre and the views over London are worth a visit.
Our meeting point was the west hall at Ally Pally where we checked in and put our personal belongings into a locker. If you want to take your mobile phone with you then you need to pay extra for a clear phone pouch. We were also given a QR code which was used throughout our trip to take photos of our group, we were able to purchase them at the end.
There were only 6 people in our group, plus the guide, so we walked out of the building and along the front of Ally Pally to the rose window. From here we walked up a small staircase and came out on the balcony beneath the window. This was a great viewing platform to see over London, and time to put on our harnesses.
Then it was more stairs up to the roof level.
From here we stepped outside into the fresh air. It was incredibly windy on the day of our visit so we were pleased to be clipped on to the safety wire. We stopped at various points and our guide told us more about the history of the building and what we could see.
There was a small viewing platform at the top of the roof over the great hall. We were able to see most of the buildings which make up Ally Pally, as well as a lot of London.
Soon it was time to climb down the other side of the building and back inside the internal staircase to the ground. Our experience took just over 60 minutes and we were able to buy the photos which our guide took at the end.
The experience was totally different to our climb over the top of the O2. The climbing wasn’t nearly as strenuous but it was still a really great experience and the teens loved it.
Let me know if this is something you would try?
