The Emirates Spinnaker Tower, Portsmouth’s view from the top

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You can see it from the motorway, from the Isle of Wight ferry and from halfway across the Solent. The Emirates Spinnaker Tower stands 170 metres above Gunwharf Quays, a slim white sail of a building that has become the symbol of modern Portsmouth.

Ride the lift to the top and the whole harbour opens up beneath you, from the grey shapes of the naval dockyard to the green hills of the South Downs. On a clear day the view runs for more than 20 miles. This is a guide to what waits up there, what it costs and how to make the most of a trip.

A sail above the harbour

The tower opened in 2005 as the centrepiece of the redeveloped Gunwharf Quays waterfront. Its shape is no accident. Two sweeping white arcs form a billowing spinnaker sail, a nod to the city’s long life of shipbuilding and sailing, with the open side turned towards the sea.

At 170 metres it is one of the tallest accessible structures on the south coast, taller than the London Eye and visible for miles in every direction. A high speed lift carries you most of the way up in about half a minute, though charity climbers sometimes take on the stairs instead.

The view decks, floor by floor

There are three levels to explore near the top, each with its own character:

• View Deck 1 sits about 100 metres up and holds the famous Sky Walk, a glass floor you can stand on and look straight down to the quayside below;
• View Deck 2 is the cafe level, a quieter space to sit with a coffee and watch the boats come and go;
• the top level is the open-air Sky Garden, where the breeze and the gulls remind you just how high you are.

The Sky Walk is the part that makes most people pause. Standing on a sheet of glass with the water far below is a real test of nerve, and plenty of visitors edge around it rather than across it. Children, naturally, run straight over.

What you can see from the top

The reward for the climb is a 350 degree panorama that takes in most of the eastern Solent. Touch screens on the decks help you name the landmarks, but the big ones are easy to pick out:

• the warships and cranes of the naval base and Portsmouth Historic Dockyard almost directly below;
• the Isle of Wight across the water, with the ferries and the hovercraft threading between;
• Southsea seafront, Old Portsmouth and the long shingle beach curving away to the east;
• the South Downs rising green and distant on the inland horizon.

Come on a clear afternoon and you might catch a frigate slipping out to sea, a ferry bound for France and a yacht race all in the same glance. Few viewpoints in southern England pack so much into one window.

Coffee, cocktails and a walk down the outside

You do not have to rush back down. The cafe on View Deck 2 serves brunch and afternoon tea through the day, then becomes a Sky Bar in the evening, which makes it a fine place to watch the sun drop behind the harbour.

For the truly brave there is the abseil, a roped descent down the outside of the tower from around 100 metres up. It runs on selected dates and books up fast, so check before you set your heart on it. The rest of us will be quite content with a flat white and a window seat.

By our reckoning the hour before sunset is the sweet spot, when the light turns gold and the harbour fills with returning boats.

Go up late on a clear day, stay for the sunset from the Sky Bar, and you get two views for the price of one.

Getting there and planning your visit

The tower could hardly be easier to reach. It stands at the far end of Gunwharf Quays, a couple of minutes on foot from Portsmouth Harbour railway station, where trains from London Waterloo and along the coast come in. Drivers can use the large Gunwharf car parks, which also serve the outlet shopping next door.

A few practical notes before you go:

Prices and hours shift with the seasons, so check before you travel. Tickets are usually cheaper booked online than on the door, and a combined ticket can tie the climb in with the shops and restaurants of Gunwharf Quays right beside it.

Portsmouth has grander history over at the dockyard and wilder weather on the seafront, but nothing else hands you the whole city in a single glance. Go up once and you will spend the rest of your stay spotting the places you looked down on.