What about using a Gorillapod?

All hand held. No resting on anything. I stepped up the ISO on the camera for the night shots. However, it (or rather the lens I had) seems to be pretty damn good at image stabilisation, what helps.

I wouldn't bother.

Mark

To be honest, the space up there is fairly small, and the constant milling around of people would make a tripod (or similar) + long exposure hard to achieve. I expect that if you were a pro and had paid for a license to do commercial photography that the considerations would be different.

Better take a camera that can handle low light exposures in hand held environments. Oh, yes. Turn that flash off too!

How long did you get on the viewing platform?
Is there a time limit as to how long you can stay up there?

Parents are coming down to visit after Easter and we usually go to London one day they are here so a trip up the Shard could be a good activity to do while they are here.

No time limit. Once you are in, you are in. However, no facilities at the top. There are toilets, but they are closed due to people having sex in them. This does mean that you are there for as long as your bladder and/or bowels can hold out. The are also no refreshments up there, and I don't think they'd allow you to take a picnic. I expect that if there were more home comforts up there, it would fill up as people would not leave.

We were there for a good three hours or so.

Book in advance. The tickets on the day are £100 a head, if you can get in. Also try to get a time when you see the change from day to night. If you are lucky with the weather, you'll get a sunset. You'll see the lights come on over the city during that time.