I wanted to capture the last sunset of 2025 with an expansive view of London. So I climbed to the top of the famous dome of St. Paul’s Cathedral, squeezing my way up the ever-narrower spiral staircases and internal alleyways until I reached the Golden Gallery that circles the spire on top of the dome. It was 3:30, so I had a half hour to wait for sunset. Today the sky was clear, but the cityscape was filled with a light haze. As the sun sank lower, and the other tourists snapped their selfies to my left and right, I realized the sunset would be perfectly aligned! Below is the view just before the sun disappeared into the southwestern clouds, seen right through the London Eye, past Big Ben (Elizabeth Tower), Westminster Abbey, and our flat in Pimlico. Neat!
right through the London Eye and over Big Ben (Elizabeth Tower) and Westminster Abbey.
Here’s a close-up view.
Below you can see the front of St. Paul’s Cathedral as approached from The Strand; the Golden Gallery is the fenced area at the top of the dome at the base of the spire.
at the top of the dome and the base of the spire.
See more photos, full-scale, in the photo gallery. Below is a map, from The Photographer’s Emphemeris app, showing the alignment. St. Paul’s is at the top center, and the orange line shows the direction of the sunset to the southwest. The blue dot on the orange line shows the location of our flat. I only discovered this amazing alignment after returning home!
David Kotz 
Lovely! We’re not going to really get a “last sunset” here in the slaggy weather. No idea what time we’ll be celebrating the new year, either – we’ve crossed four of the seven time zones we’re going to transit, so Douglas Adams’ assertion that all time is an illusion (lunchtime, doubly so) seems apt.