We didn't ever make it up in the London Eye, supposedly the best place to see panoramic views of London. But I'd been told that the top of St. Paul's was just as good, and I can't imagine the views being any better than what we saw there.

I found out later that Anna Quindlen agrees, in Imagined London, and even derives a profound idea from the comparison:

I'm glad we were able to take the steps, and the view was certainly wonderful, especially given the good weather we had that day. Not to mention a bit cheaper, and with the glorious interior of St. Paul's included in the price.

Here are three samples of St. Paul's views, first looking east, then east-south-east, then southeast. And these views aren't even from the topmost gallery, but from the middle distance.

The tall buildings in the farthest distance are the Canary Wharf development

Canary Wharf is at the far left here, too; and note all the construction cranes

the bridges you see here are Southwark, Cannon Street (railway) and London Bridge

There are other places to get good views, too, including Westminster Cathedral, whose charge to climb to the top of its tower is substantially lower than St. Paul's.

I got panoramic views of a completely different part of London—the Canary Wharf area —from the top of Observatory Hill in Greenwich. The handsome older buildings are the Royal Naval College and the snazzy new buildings across the river are part of the rapidly expanding area that will be hosting much of the 2012 Olympic activities.

And here is a view of Greenwich Pier from across the river:

London parks are also good places for panoramic views, especially Parliament Hill in Hampstead Heath, a view from which is on the left below. On the right is a long shot of some notable London landmarks— specifically Westminster Abbey and the Victoria Tower of the Houses of Parliament—along with some lovely clouds, from the Serpentine in Hyde Park.

Smaller panoramas are just as photogenic in London. Here are a couple of views of Trafalgar Square. On the left the National Gallery and St. Martin in the Fields are highlighted, while on the right the pride of place goes to Nelson's column.

The Thames provides the location for the most famous, and memorable, panoramas, however. Here are some:

London Eye, with County Hall in the background	riverside scene from the Victoria Embankment at noon (note height of sun) in December
handsome skyline of the City (including the iconic Gherkin) from the South Bank	looking downstream from London Bridge, toward the much prettier Tower Bridge and the HMS Belfast (on the right)

I'll close with some more views from St. Paul's:

Millennium Bridge and Tate Modern, along with other riverside buildings, from the Stone Gallery (mid-way point)	a closer look at the Bridge (being inspected), the Globe, and some river traffic
another Stone Gallery view, which is, I believe, looking due west
the Old Bailey tells us this is looking due northwest, so the hill in the distance might be Hampstead Heath	The London (BT) Telecom Tower in this shot means it's looking almost due west

looking back upstream from the topmost gallery—isn't London beautiful!?

These panoramic photos, and more, are in this Flickr set.

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