View from the Gods: Floating above London's stellar skyline on a helicopter tour

In roughly 20 minutes of whirring like a sycamore seed on an autumn breeze over London's main sights, I feel like I've got the measure of this city.

From 1250ft up, the view of the capital is entirely unfettered and for every iconic tourist snapshot: Big Ben, the London Eye, the Olympic Park (the Velodrome really does look like a pringle from here) there are some equally beguiling workaday views. Construction workers at the top of the new Leadenhall Building skyscraper; mid-morning pottering on the Fulham Palace Meadow allotments; schoolkids running like ants over numerous rectangles of sporting turf.

London general aerial view

Here's looking at you London! Tourists can now take a tour from Battersea Heliport in the capital's south-west

We take off on our helicopter sightseeing tour from Battersea Heliport, in London's south-west, just a few minutes after watching a more luxurious chopper - think cream leather seats and roomy interior - pad down on the landing circle before us. Its passengers, two ladies of a certain age, disembark carrying expensive shopping bags. A shiatsu dog trails behind them. So casual is their demeanour that they might have just stepped off the number 23 bus.

Jo Tweedy and London sightseeing tour heilicopter

Big yellow sky taxi: Jo pictured with the G-ORKI helicopter used for the sightseeing tours

Helicopter pilot flies around the Shard

Tickling the top of the Shard: Pilot Paul circles London's newest viewing platform

The Barclays London Heliport, to give the hub its full, official name, is sandwiched between Battersea and Wandsworth bridges and this is the first time tourists have been able to use it for the simple pleasure of sightseeing.

In operation since 1959 - as black and white video footage in the waiting lounge explains - the heliport has been essential for the Air Ambulance and Police Air Support Units. It's also a very easy way for the rich and famous to get in and out of the capital quickly and largely unseen.

Aerial of Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament

Politics from a different angle: Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament

Before we take to the skies, I ask if I can have a look at the heliport's autograph book. A glass case is lifted and there before me are some very famous signatures, some of whom have jetted in as recently as last week. I ask if I can divulge a few names and am told in no uncertain terms that I can't.

"Discretion is really important, that's why a lot of celebrities use us," the receptionist offers. She continues: "We get lots of famous people, businessmen and politicians. And footballers too - it can get busy on transfer day as the players get jetted around to different clubs."

A compact space to the side of the main heliport has been transformed for the tourist flights to ensure the business of flying in high profile clients can continue uninterrupted. Our bright yellow G-ORKI helicopter can seat five passengers and a 20-minute tour costs £199. Tours can be booked online and will be available seven days a week.

Aerial shot of London's Shard building
St Katherine's Docks

Railways and waterways: London's transport network is easily spied from the skies and, right, the boats moored at St Katherine's Docks

The company behind the new sightseeing service is The London Helicopter. Managing Director Chris Mann, initially inspired by a helicopter tour of his own in South Africa, is confident tourists will love the chance to glimpse London from above.

He said: "I am really looking forward to seeing helicopter sightseeing flights become as popular here as they are in New York, Las Vegas and Cape Town. Our city has the most amazing collection of buildings and monuments, the view from the air really sets them in context in a way which simply isn't possible from any other vantage point."

Work continues on the new Leadenhall Building, left of the distinctive 'Gherkin' in London's City district

Moving on up: Work continues on the new Leadenhall Building, pictured left of the distinctive 'Gherkin'

London's skies are busier than you might think when it comes to helicopter traffic. With seatbelts, lifejackets and headphones on, we wait for Heathrow to give our pilot, Paul, the green light. The west London airport controls the airspace and helimeds (medical helicopters) and police are given priority. Indeed, ten minutes later, we are asked to hold above the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich as a helimed makes its way to the Royal London Hospital.

There were a few anxious faces in the waiting room before the flight and talk of travel sickness being common did little to allay them. An entirely different experience to taking a commercial flight, riding in a helicopter is much more rudimentary. Headphones are essential to combat the blade and engine noise and it's a squash in the back. But bouncing gently over the Thames, it's hard not to be thrilled by what these minnows of the skies can enable you to see.

Horse Guards Parade aerial shot

Morning spectacle: Tourists at Horse Guards Parade form a perfect D-shape around marching guards

The city lays itself bare from this angle. The brown railway lines narrow and fatten as they reach the central stations; Clapham, Victoria, Waterloo. There are hidden courtyards, squares of water - with yachts - and green lungs that I had no idea existed.

There was no squinting required to see the Queen's Guards training at Wellington Barracks or the tourists on the London Eye. The Shard - at 1016ft high - is London's newest sightseeing charm but from here you feel like you could pick it up, take it home and use it as a cheese grater.

London eye from above
The allotments at Fulham Palace Meadows

City for all seasons: Tourists take a ride on the London Eye and, right, the allotments at Fulham Palace Meadows can be clearly seen from 1250ft

A cruise ship docks alongside the Cutty Sark in Greenwich

Strange bedfellows: A cruise ship docks alongside the Cutty Sark in Greenwich

There were more temporary surprises too. An unexpected cruise ship - with its own helipad - dwarfed the nearby Cutty Sark in Greenwich. So incongruous did it look sitting on this curve of the Thames, that you can't help wondering if curiosity simply proved too much for the captain and he sailed up the Thames on a whim.

At roughly £10 a minute, a London helicopter ride from Battersea may well cost more than many visiting tourists' flight tickets. However, with so many free attractions (the British Museum, Tate Modern and the Science Museum among them) already in this glorious city, I'd argue it is worth the outlay.

For 20 eye-widening minutes, England's amorphous capital feels like your personal playground. 

Travel facts

Flights on the London Helicopter cost £199 from Battersea heliport or £129 from Redhill heliport (in Surrey). Tours last 20 or 30 minutes respectively.

To book or for more information, visit