Table of Content
On the top of the World! Or at least on the top of London! If you follow my travels, you have probably noticed my striving to find the best places where you can enjoy the city from above. Some of the breath-taking views I was able to catch during my travels are in New York (here), Dubai (here), Los Angeles (here), Lisbon (here), Prague (here), Kuala Lumpur (here) and Singapore (here). Sometimes a good city view can be hard to come by. But definitely not in London!
The London Eye
The capital of England offers many opportunities to see the city from above. For example you can take the Emirates Air Line Cable Car; have a walk in Greenwich Park; visit the Shard – the tallest building in Western Europe; take the ArcelorMittal Orbit which is part of Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park; visit the Tower Bridge Exhibition; visit a gallery in St Paul’s Cathedral; or ride a giant big wheel of Coca-Cola London Eye.
The Big Ben from Coca-Cola Eye London
I chose the last one! And the reason why is the location of London Eye which is very close to the city centre – the views are quite impressive, as you can see the Houses of Parliament, Big Ben and Westminster Abbey. Furthermore, the London Eye offers a unique 360° panorama during the 30-minute ride.
The Capsule, Coca-Cola London Eye
The Coca-Cola London Eye Tickets & Prices
Standard Entry – £19.50, but only on weekdays when the tickets are purchased online 24 hours in advance.
Day & Night – £32.45 for two 30-minute rotations: the first admission between 11 am to 4 pm and the second admission is from 4 pm to closing.
Fast Track – £32.45 and you will not be waiting in a queue.
Flexi Fast Track – £40.00 to visit the London Eye any time during the day of your choice.
Champagne Experience – £36.00 for a Fast Track Ticket with Champagne.
Private Capsule – £550.00 for a private capsule, 3 to 25 guests.
London, UK
Interesting Facts about the Coca-Cola London Eye
1 It’s Europe’s tallest “Ferris” wheel.
2 No wait! The London Eye is not a Ferris wheel but the world’s tallest cantilevered observation wheel.
3 According to Wikipedia, the “Pleasure Wheels”, or Ferris wheel, have originated in 17th-century in Bulgaria!
4 The Wheel was built to celebrate the millennium.
5 … but it was officially opened to the public on 9 March 2000.
Coca-Cola London Eye, the Capsule
6 The London Eye cost approximately 70 million pounds to build.
7 At the very beginning, the London Eye was the world’s tallest wheel …
8 Today, the London Eye with its 136 m is number 4 in the list for the tallest Ferris Wheels in the World! Number one is the High Roller in Las Vegas 167.6 m (here), the second one is the Singapore Flyer with 165 m (here), and the third one is Star of Nanchang 160m in China.
9 The London Eye used to be London’s highest public viewing point too, but it was topped by the 245m high observation deck on the 72nd floor of The Shard on 1 February 2013.
London
10 The London Eye has more visitors per year than the Taj Mahal in India or the Great Pyramids of Giza in Egypt.
11 You can see up to 40 kilometres in all directions – at least as far as Windsor Castle!
12 It wasn’t London’s first big wheel.
London
13 The first wheel in London was The Great Wheel – a Ferris wheel (94 metres, 82.3m in diameter and with 40 cars) that was built for the Empire of India Exhibition at Earls Court.
14 The Great Wheel was inspired by the original Ferris wheel in Chicago and was open to the public on 17 July 1895 and “served” till 1906.
London
15 The London Eye had many official names: British Airways London Eye, Merlin Entertainments London Eye, EDF Energy London Eye and since January 2015, it’s official name had been changed to the Coca-Cola London Eye. Who pays – stays.
16 The Red Bull Academy turned the Eye into a rotating nightclub in 2013! 30 capsules had 30 different parties in order to celebrate the U.K.’s club culture.
HMRC, London
17 There is a record by UK celebrities held by the Supermodel Kate Moss who has been 25 times on the London Eye.
18 The American celebrity who holds that record is Jessica Alba, who was riding the Eye for 31 times.
Panorama of London
19 The London Eye has 32 capsules which are representative of the 32 London boroughs. But they are numbered from 1 to 32 – there is no capsule numbered 13.
20 All capsules are air-conditioned and can hold as many as 25 people.
21 A ride takes 30 minutes and the speed is about 1 kilometre per hour.
The Big Ben
22 You’re going to ride Skoda! The London Eye is part of the Skoda team and its parts come from all over Europe.
23 All 32 capsules were made by cable-car specialists Poma in the French Alps.
24 Each capsule of the London Eye weighs 10 tonnes.
London Panoramic View
London from above, Coca-Cola Eye View
25 The London Eye has one royal capsule since June 2013 in order to mark the 60th anniversary of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.
26 The London Eye can carry 800 people during each rotation.
27 The London Eye has different colours to celebrate various occasions: it was red, white and blue for Prince William and Kate Middleton’s wedding. In 2005 the eye was pink in order to celebrate the legalising of gay civil partnerships.
The London Eye and I
Enjoy the day!
