Portmouth’s Spinnaker Tower Review
Spinnaker Tower
Portsmouth
Reviewed by Jenny Bennett
On a rainy and windy Sunday we made our way to Gunwharf Quays in Portsmouth to take part in their Festive Fun activates. Myself, my husband and our 3 year old daughter easily found a parking space in the car park below Gunwharf and followed the signs through the shopping centre to the reception of the Spinnaker Tower. After a brief wait to go through security we picked up our tickets.
The Spinnaker itself is beautiful – it looks over the Solent and has three viewing platforms on various heights that (on a clear day) let you see for miles. Sadly on a day like we visited you could barely see as far as Gosport but we’ve visited before and can attest to the spectacular views that can be seen!
After collecting our tickets we walked round the corner to a section where you can have a photo to buy later on and we were delighted to see the big man in red waiting for us. This was our daughters first time meeting him and she was more than a little intimidated by the giant man in a red suit but he handled it brilliantly. He didn’t force her to come over but came down to her height and gave her a little wave and offered her a gift. She warmed up to him once she realised the big red man came with gifts but still didn’t want her photo taken and we were so happy he didn’t try to force the matter.
The Spinnaker is holding various events over the festive period including visits from Father Christmas, a reindeer trail, model spinnaker painting, speedboat driving simulators and the brilliant but slightly nerve racking glass floor on the 1st floor. It’s only a section of the floor that’s glass and it’s great to be able to get a bird’s eye view of the boats, people and restaurants below. Emma loved it and kept running backwards and forwards over the glass which I was fine with but when she started jumping I’ll admit I held my breath. I have a healthy respect for great depths – heights don’t bother me as such, it’s more the fear of how far the ground is from my feet that I worry about. The floor was good though and I walked over it a few times and even laid down for my Spinnaker Selfie.
The speedboat driving was excellent but the stand is quite high so I’d recommend being prepared being used as a stool or your little one standing on your bag to reach the wheel! We all had a go and it turns out my daughter who couldn’t see the screen was better at driving a speedboat than me so it proves to me I should stick to the roads for the foreseeable future!
The views from the top floor are great – it has an open grid roof so on a day like we went you might get a little wet but it is worth it. With telescopes on the 1st and 3rd floors and the option of audio commentary in several languages to let you know what you are seeing around you. There are also interactive touch screens on the 1st floor that you can use to find buildings, historic places and ships around you. The whole experience is very well planned out and even though it was fairly busy when we went as the second floor was closed for a wedding we never felt cramped or crowded at any point.
The reindeer trail will stake you around the whole structure and if you find each reindeer you’ll be able to use the clues attached to its antlers to make the name of a popular Christmas song. I won’t give it away but safe to say the song will be stuck in your head for a while! Each completed form that is handed in gets entered into the prize draw to win shopping vouchers.
We thoroughly enjoyed our visit and it took around 1.5 hours for us to follow the trail and then we went for lunch at the very pleasant and reasonably priced café on the ground floor. If you book online an adult ticket is £8.10 and an online child price is £6.40 with under 3’s going free. There are discounts for seniors and students online as well so the prices are reasonable for such a big attraction on the south coast.
Rating: 4/5
For more information or to book tickets visit www.spinnakertower.co.uk.
Spinnaker Tower, Gunwharf Quays, Portsmouth, Hampshire, PO1 3TT
