The London Eye
Nihan Uğurlu · Keyfi Yazılarım ·
Travel memories from 2015. Hours and prices may change; check official links before visiting.
Personal travel notes, discoveries along the way and photographs from the original story.
Travel notes
The London Eye
The London Eye is the giant observation wheel beside the Thames at Jubilee Gardens. My original notes described it as Europe's tallest, at 135 metres. Its designers were David Marks, Julia Barfield, Malcolm Cook, Mark Sparrowhawk, Steven Chilton and Nic Bailey. In the account I recorded then, Marks and Barfield entered their idea in a millennium design competition and won, with British Airways becoming the sponsor. Construction took about a year and a half, using 1,700 tonnes of steel and 3,000 tonnes of concrete. Each capsule holds 25 people; my notes gave a weight of 500 kilograms and a height of eight metres for each one.
The London Eye
The London Eye is ideal for seeing London from above. It moves slowly enough to let you take everything in. A full rotation takes around 30 minutes, and the glass capsules offer a 360-degree panorama. I would recommend a clear day, though.
The London Eye
As it is so popular, buying a ticket at the entrance can take a while. There was a long queue when we arrived, although it thinned out later in the evening. The opening hours I recorded were from 10 am, with closing times varying between 8 pm and 9:30 pm. We walked beside the river while waiting for the queue to shorten, then bought our tickets. The prices noted here were £29 per person, or £26 online.
The London Eye
This country really knows how to attract visitors and make the most of its sights. We climbed into one of the capsules. It was beautiful at night, but I would love to see it by day too, especially in sunshine. The wheel moves very slowly, so you can see everything. There was only one other couple in our capsule, which would normally be almost impossible during the day 🙂 I would certainly come here!
The London Eye at night
I recommend seeing the London Eye both by day and at night. There are also tickets that let you skip the queue, but they cost more than standard tickets, so the choice is yours. The building behind the Eye is the SEA LIFE London Aquarium.
A London Eye capsule
The view from up there is wonderful: Big Ben's lights on one side, The Shard on another, illuminated bridges everywhere and a beautiful panorama over the Thames. If you are afraid of heights, perhaps give it a miss :)
