London at its best (London Eye)

Member Name: jazzypinkpuppet

Product:	London Eye
Date:	24/07/09 (86 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Outstanding views of London, romantic experience.

Disadvantages: Tickets a bit pricey.

I have been lucky enough to travel on the eye twice since it opened in 2000 and both visits were a different experience. Obviously the wheel itself has always been the same and the sights more or less have been the same but because of the different times of day I went and the fact that one time I had my children with me and the other was just me and my husband, each time has had a different feel to it.

What is it ?
Most people will have heard about the London eye or 'Millennium wheel' as it used to be known. It is a massive big wheel that is permanently erected on the south bank, next to county hall nearly opposite the houses of parliament.
It took seven years to build and is now one of Londons biggest tourist attractions.
It has 32 'pods' which at full capacity can carry 25 people each, that's 800 passengers per rotation !!
The clear pods have a small bench in the middle if you want to sit down during the ride, other than that they are completely clear and spacious giving you room to look at London from all views.

Getting tickets and boarding
Tickets cost £17.00 for adults, £8.50 for children aged 4-15 and £14.00 for senior citizens and disabled people. Children under 4 travel free. If you book online you can save ten percent.
When you first arrive at the London eye, you may be overwhelmed by the hundreds of people buzzing around, tourist groups, school trips etc, it is a very busy place and I would advise booking early on their website so that you have a set boarding time and can avoid the queues.
If you do have to buy tickets there is a large building in front of the wheels entrance this is where you can buy tickets, find out information and buy London eye merchandise.
Once you have your ticket, proceed to the queue when I bought my tickets on the day although the queue seemed long, I found it moved fairly quickly and we were on in less that 20 minutes.

The ride.
The wheel moves very slowly, you can hardly feel you are moving. It takes half an hour to get round and you will see all the sights and skyline on London.
There is a recorded voice giving useful information about the sights and history of London.
They say that on a good clear day you can see for 25 miles when you are at the top.
I went once during the day and once at night and I have to say I enjoyed the night time views the best all the lights twinkling it had more of an atmosphere and romantic feel about it.
It is a beautiful relaxing ride, a couple who were in the pod with us were complaining they were bored and that they thought it would go faster, its not a theme park ride, it is a ride that can give you a different view of London and appreciate some of the wonderful architecture and buildings our capital city has to offer.

I would say that this is an experience you should have, it is half an hour of interesting information and beautiuful views that would not be possible to see from the ground.
I do think they could make the ticket prices lower, for us to take the children it cost £51, bearing in mind that each rotation can hold 800 people even at half capacity they are making nearly £14000 per hour!!

Summary: This is an experience with a difference, I think it is well worth visiting if you are in London.