The Merlin Entertainments London Eye which is also known as London Eye which is also famous as Millennium Wheel is at a height of 135 metres or 443 feet. Is the biggest Ferris wheel in the Europe and is the most renowned paid tourist attraction in the United Kingdom. It is visited by over 3 million people per annum. It was erected in the year of 1999 and was the tallest Ferris wheel in the universe. But in May 2006, the Star of Nanchang which was160 m became the tallest Ferris Wheel and then on 11th of Feb 2008 the Singapore Flyer which was 165 m became the tallest. . But, it is still mentioned by its owners and operators as the world's tallest cantilevered observation wheel. This is told because the entire wheel and other parts of it are supported by an A-frame on one side only !!
The London Eye is situated at the west of Jubilee Gardens and on the South Bank of the Thames River. It is situated in the London Borough of Lambeth. It is situated between between Westminster Bridge and Hungerford Bridge. This site is besides the former Dome of Discovery. This dome of discovery was built in 1951 and the reason for building it was for the for the Festival of Britain.
London Eye Fireworks 1st January, 2011 (Official BBC video)
Location
The Merlin Entertainments London Eye Riverside Building County Hall Westminster Bridge Road London - SE17PB
Inside County Hall, the tickets selling office is located. This is also the building in front of London eye.
By tube
You can walk to London eye from the following stations: Embankment or Charing Cross or Waterloo and Westminster The tube station which is closest to the London Eye is Waterloo. If you start walking for 5 minutes from the Waterloo station, you will reach London Eye. Once you come out of the Waterloo Station, just see for the sign boards which would direct you to the South Bank.
On the north side of the Thmes river are the 2 stations Charing Cross and Embankment. These two stations are close to eachother. If you walk for around 10 to 15 minutes from either stations towards London Eye, you will reach London eye. The Station which is closest to the Big Ben and to the Houses of Parliament is the Westminster tube station. Get out of the Westminster tube station by taking the exit 1 and then look at the sign boards and follow the way to Westminster Pier.
Charing Cross and Waterloo are the closest rail stations to london eye. The rail station that is closest to London eye is Waterloo. The time taken to walk from Waterloo is 5 minutes. From south bank you will have to take the sixth exit and then you will have to see and follow the sign boards. The time taken to walk from Charing Cross to london Eye is 15 minutes. You will have to cross the hunger ford bridge.
You can plan your journey from the following TFL journey planner tool.
By bus
You can take busses 381 or 77 or 211 to London eye. You can also hire a London sight seeing bus. Covent garden and Tate Modern are linked to the Lonon eye via the RV1 road.
You can plan your journey from the following TFL journey planner tool.
You can also visit London eye via a coach. But then you will have to you will have to reserve for the coach parking before you arrive there. This would also be true for vehicles like a minibus for the disabled. The good thing is that this is a free parking but the problem is that the space is not unlimited. Within 20 minutes you can drop and pick up your group of people. You cant keep your coach parked over there for the whole period till the group returns. But if you want to do that you could call them on - 0044(0)8709908886.
By car
Now since London eye is located in Central london, it could be a little difficult to get there. The best way to get to london eye would be to choose the public transport. You could still drive to the london eye. There are 3 car parking areas located very near by in the South Bank location. Congestion charges apply near the London Eye. To know more about the congestion charge you could call on - 0044(0)8459001234 or visit the website by googling something like congestion charge zone central london london eye may be.
By boat
You can also choose the water route via river to the Millennium Pier (London Eye). You can travel from Westminster Piers, St. Katherine's, Royal Arsenal Wollwich, Greenwich, Masthouse Terrace, Hilton Docklands, Canary Wharf, Tower, London Bridge, Blackfriars, Embankment, Bankside, the Millbank or O2.
Average cost per person - 15 pounds. Nearest Tube Station - Waterloo Places to eat near London eye - McDonalds, 2 other shops, roadside hot dogs Best to be there at evening/ night Pictures of London eye are present in this blog Places to see OUTSIDE London eye - River Thames, Big Ben, Parliament House, Tower Bridge, London Bridge.
On the last Sunday which was the 1st Aug 2010, me and my family had been to visit the places near London Eye. The cost of the tickets were for around 15 pounds per person. We did not buy the tickets as we had already been inside the London Eye once. It is one of the biggest wheels in the world and takes around 25 to 30 minutes to complete one rotation during which the people sitting inside the egg shaped compartments of the London eye can view various places of London through the glass walls. I am not sure at what points you can see which places. But I hope that in the near future they introduce a recorded voice in each shell which would tell in which direction the various places were. There is plenty of space for quite a lot of people. The last time I went there, we were around 8 people and there were others too which were around another 8. I think there is a provision of setting the automatic cameras on the London eye shells to take your pics when you stand at the proper locations as directed inside the vessel.
You get this view of beautiful buildings, the Swiss bank, the Big Ben, the Parliament building, the Thames river etc.. Before entering the London eye vessels, they show you a 3D video which is cool too.
I would recommend you to visit London eye in the evening when there is enough light to view the places from the top. But when you get down, it is better being in the dark. I mean it is very beautiful at night. The London eye gets its blue colour and the passage way in front of it, which has trees on both the sides is lit up with blue lights. It’s a very beautiful scene. Good for taking pictures.
When you get out of the London Eye and start walking towards your right, you can see the Thames river on your right and behind it you can see the Big Ben and the Parliament house which are good backgrounds for taking pictures. In the night the parliament house and the Big Ben are lit up with lights and look very beautiful. They look as if made out of gold. When you walk further you reach a bridge and when you take a right turn to actually walk on the bridge, you get a full view of the London eye on the right and the big Ben and the parliament house on the left. These are very very good places to take pictures. I also took my wife's picture with a Scottish pied piper on the bridge. You get fresh and hot dogs on the bridge with friend onions, you also get other snacks and souvenirs on the bridge.
I guess you are not allowed to take drinks and food inside the London Eye shell, but I did see a group of posh office people in suits drinking Champagne inside the London eye car.
There is a McDonalds near London Eye in case you are hungry and two other shops which serve hot dogs, ice cream etc.. In the same mall where McDonalds is, there is play Casino and loads of other games to play including video games, coin games, bowling etc.
People - Girish Suryawanshi, Shruti Vasant (Wife of Girish), Ravi Vasant, Prachi Dighe (Wife of Ravi), Jayanthi Vasant (Shruti's and Ravi's Mom and Girish's and Prachi's Mother in law)
