Spinnaker Tower

The tower opened in 2005 after a long and troubled construction, funded partly by lottery money intended for the millennium and finished six years late; the external lift jammed on opening day with the project manager inside. It stands 170 metres, shaped as two white curved sails, and has three viewing decks, the lowest at a hundred metres with a section of glass floor that visitors are invited to walk across and that many will not. The view covers the harbour with the naval base and its warships, the Solent, the Isle of Wight and, on clear days, the South Downs. In 2015 a sponsorship deal planned to repaint it in red and white, the colours of the rival Southampton football club; after a petition of over ten thousand signatures it was painted blue, gold and white instead, and it returned to all white in 2021.

The main sights

• The glass floor - a walk-on panel at a hundred metres above the harbour.
• The naval harbour - warships and the historic dockyard directly below.
• The Solent and Wight - the strait and the island on clear days.
• The sail form - two curved white sections rising from the quay.

When to go

Year-round; clear days give the Isle of Wight and the Downs, and hazy ones give very little. The tower closes in high wind. Sunset slots are popular and the upper open-air deck is exposed.

Practical notes

The lift has a history of faults and the tower has closed at short notice. Tickets are expensive for the time spent. The glass floor is small and queued for. Low cloud sits at deck level fairly often.

Nearby

Portsmouth Historic Dockyard is alongside; Gunwharf Quays outlet centre is at the foot.

Key facts