Birds Eye View (London Eye)

Member Name: skittle

Product:	London Eye
Date:	16/10/00 (271 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A great experience

Disadvantages: None that I can think of

Forget the millennium dome, it's the London Eye that is going to be the success story of the millennium.

I rode the Eye on a rainy day in springtime and even though the visibility wasn't great it was absolutely breathtaking. The views are totally amazing and as there were only about a dozen people to a car there was no overcrowding and everybody got a really good view.

I'm scared of heights and I was very, very worried that I'd be terrified in what is really just a large jam jar circling a huge bicycle wheel but for some reason it felt absolutely safe and once I was on the wheel I didn't give a second thought to how high we were going or what was holding us up there. I think this is probably because the cars move so slowly, it takes a full hour for each car to circle the wheel but this means that you just don't notice that you're creeping gradually higher and higher.

I was very impressed to notice that the wheel is also suitable for disabled visitors. The London Eye turns continuously but it pauses it for a moment when necessary to allow wheelchair access.

A tour guide accompanies each and every car. Ours wasn't at all pushy and wasn't one of those annoying types who keep up a whining monologue that nobody listens to throughout the trip, however, he was more than happy to answer questions and take photo's when asked. My one criticism would have to be that as he was Australian he didn't know London very well at all so when some American tourists asked him the name of a building he couldnt tell them. I would have expected that the guides should have been given full training so that they could recognise the important sites around the eye.

One word of warning, book in advance if possible! I didn't and even though it was a truly miserable day I had to queue for half an hour to buy tickets in the first place and then wait for another hour for my turn on the eye, if I'd pr
ebooked I would have been on in minutes.

I'd recommend the London Eye to anybody, even if you are a Londoner it's nice to get a new perspective on the tired old city!

Summary: