Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
This giant Ferris wheel, towering above London opposite Big Ben, is the world's highest
observational wheel and London's answer to the Eiffel Tower. Riding it is a memorable ex-
perience, even though London doesn't have much of a skyline, and the price is borderline
outrageous. Whether you ride or not, the wheel is a sight to behold.
The experience starts with a brief (four-minute) and engaging show combining a 3-D
movie with wind and water effects. Then it's time to spin around the Eye. Designed like a
giant bicycle wheel, it's a pan-European undertaking: British steel and Dutch engineering,
with Czech, German, French, and Italian mechanical parts. It's also very “green,” running
extremely efficiently and virtually silently. Twenty-five people ride in each of its 32 air-con-
ditioned capsules for the 30-minute rotation (you go around only once). Each capsule has a
bench, but most people stand. From the top of this 443-foot-high wheel even Big Ben looks
small.
Cost:
£19, or pay roughly twice as much for a combo-ticket with Madame Tussauds
Waxworks (sold cheaper online), other packages are available. Buy tickets at the box
office (in the corner of the County Hall building nearest the Eye), in advance by calling
0870-500-0600 or save 10 percent by booking online at
www.londoneye.com
.
Hours:
Daily July-Aug 10:00-21:30, April-June 10:00-21:00, Sept-March 10:00-20:00,
these are last-ascent times, closed Dec 25 and a few days in Jan for annual maintenance,
Tube: Waterloo or Westminster. Thames boats come and go from Waterloo Pier at the foot
of the wheel.
Crowd-Beating Tips:
The London Eye is busiest between 11:00 and 17:00, especially
on weekends year-round and every day in July and August. When it's crowded, you might
have to wait up to 30 minutes to buy your ticket, then another 30-45 minutes to board your
capsule. If you plan to visit during a busy time, call ahead or go online to pre-book your
ticket, then punch your confirmation code into the automated machine in the ticket office
(otherwise, you can pick up your ticket in the short “Groups and Ticket Collection” line at
desk #5; if you pre-reserve, there's rarely a wait to pick up your ticket, but you'll still wait
to board the wheel). You can pay an extra £10 for a Fast Track ticket that lets you jump the
queue, but the time you save is probably not worth the expense.
This impressive museum covers the wars of the last century—from World War I biplanes,
to the rise of fascism, to Montgomery's Africa campaign tank, to the Cold War, the Cuban
Missile Crisis, the Troubles in Northern Ireland, the wars in Iraq, and terrorism. Rather than
glorify war, the museum does its best to shine a light on the 100 million deaths of the 20th
century. It shows everyday life for people back home and never neglects the human side of
one of civilization's more uncivilized, persistent traits.
