London Eye: Great London attraction or expensive time wasting disappointment
Written by Kimberly Sullivan
As anyone traveling with kids knows, travel plans alter radically once you are lugging along pint-sized companions. On a recent trip to London with my children, I had plenty of activities to fill our days, but none of them included queuing up for kilometers to go on a giant ferris wheel.
Unfortunately for parents hoping to avoid it, the London Eye is visible all over the city and it was nearly impossible to keep my kids from voicing their enthusiasm – constantly – about going on a ride. So after multiple entreaties of “Please, mommy, pleeaase!”, I finally gave in.
Fortunately, it was a spectacular day, complete with sun and blue skies. Between the price tag and the hassle of waiting in an endless queue, my Europe travel tip is to only ride the London Eye if weather conditions are ideal.
The queuing system is efficient, with timed tickets. It took us about 40 minutes to navigate the queue and enter our “pod”. You can buy Fast Track tickets to avoid the wait, but at double the (already steep) price tag, we opted for the normal tickets.
Admittedly, the views over London are pretty spectacular. The pods travel slowly, so you have adequate time to admire the panorama on your one revolution.
Needless, to say, my kids were thrilled with the novelty and were able to point out places we had already visited. Their enthusiasm was contagious and, as a fan of seeing the city from a bird’s eye perspective, I enjoyed my time, too.
Attracting about 3.5 million visitors a year, the London Eye is hardly an off-the-beaten path tip, but if you are accompanying kids – or just kids-at-heart – a revolution on the London Eye may be a welcome addition to your London visit. Karen has written a post “Why London is a top European destination for kids” with more ideas about family friendly activities in the UK capital.
Best of London Tips
Read our Best of London Travel Tips, to help you get the most from your visit to the city.
As you say the London Eye is a bit expensive when you haven’t planned it.
This is why in our EPok London Pack we have tips on how to get 2 for 1 offers on certain attractions just in case you decide to go on the off chance.
For instance there’s a 2 for 1 offer on the Eye until the end of this month.
I have never been on the London Eye – everytime I think about going there’s always a queue of people and I don’t do queues when travelling! The only negative comment I have heard about the London Eye is that it is slow.
I agree with you about always wanting to avoid a long queue, Darren. Luckily, however, this manages to be pretty efficient. Timing your visit to the London Eye during key World Cup matches might be a good way to avoid the queue…