My husband, the skeptic, isn't interested either, but the kids really want to go. It is pricey, and I would imagine they'd get bored by the last 20 minutes or so, but maybe if we go when we first arrive, or the day after it will give us all a nice perspective on London. More people seem to love it than not - we'll see. I'll certainly report back.

Cholmondley- I've read your posts on the Greenwich Eye before, so we'll look into that too. Are you doing any more of the London Walks?

The Greenwich wheel is a fair bit smaller than the Eye and the capsules are rather smaller pods.

I haven't been on it as they won't let me on for free (and I refuse to pay for anything in Greenwich). It looks fun but it's not a direct comparison.

http://www.greenwichwheel.com/

"It is pricey, and I would imagine they'd get bored by the last 20 minutes or so"

The ride only lasts about 30 minutes but it goes around fairly slowly. I think kids look at this big wheel and imagine the ride is going to be like at a ferris wheel at a fair. It isn't like that at all and kids, especially little kids, may not be that interested in looking out at scenes of the city as you revolve slowly around.

It is a unique kind of experience and if the day is clear you get a good feel for how London goes on and on. You can easily spot main places like Buckingham Palace and St. Pauls..but there is no written guide or description of what you are seeing as you revolve so it is less educational in that way. You'd better know already what you are looking for in the distance.

My husband was not particularly interested in doing this either, but we agreed because the 12 year old was into it and we'd made her walk through too many museums. I don't think the Eye lived up to her expectations. I'm not sorry we did it, but people should know what they are getting into and balance expectations, price, etc. I would certainly avoid it if the weather wasn't clear.

&quot;<i>there is no written guide or description of what you are seeing as you revolve </i>&quot;

Yes, there is a guide. You can buy it in the ticket hall or at the kiosk before queueing up to board.

My granddaughter and I were in London in June and decided to go on the London Eye at the spur of the moment. Bought our tickets and were in our pod in the matter of fifteen minutes. No line to speak of. We were with a tour group so did not know when we would be having free time to do our own thing so couldn't buy them ahead.

I wouldn't purchase tickets ahead of time either. Personally, I would only do it if you are in that area, the lines are short, and you have seen a lot of what London has to offer. I also found the Eye a little boring the first two times I went up. It was on two different trips to London, each time with a different daughter. On a trip with my husband he wanted to go up and pleaded with me to go again. I relented and accompanied him. I have to say that I enjoyed that ride the best. Because I was with DH, I think not! The reason was that by then I had been to London a total of 4 or 5 times so when I was up in the Eye I was able to pick out different areas of the city, sites, etc.
If it is your first time to the city there is very little that you will be able to identify, it will look like an enormous city. You will see the river, of course, Parliament buildings, Westminster Abbey, and a couple of other things. So at the very least, if you feel as though you want to do it, save it for near the end of your stay.

Just my humble opinion.

&quot;Yes, there is a guide. You can buy it in the ticket hall or at the kiosk before queueing up to board.&quot;

This is good information to know. We did not see this guide and the ticket seller didn't ask if we wanted one, so I didn't know about it. How much is it? I thought it would be nice if there were a couple of maps posted inside the pod that showed where the major sites were located. Or an inexpensive map/brochure printed up that you got with your ticket (the tickets aren't cheap so it doesn't seem unreasonable to include something like this with the price of admission.)

Then if you want more details you could buy a guide..sort of like they do at the Tower. We bought the booklet because we wanted more history and info, but saw lots of people with a brochure map of the place.

They sell the guide in the gift shop. It's about two quid I think.

My kids were 12 and 14 when I took them on the Eye. While they thought it was OK, and quite enjoyed seeing London from up above, having me point out things to them they had only previously seen from the ground, frankly once they saw the trampolines and bungee bouncing stuff in front of County Hall on the way down that was all they wanted to do! They enjoyed that much more...

I've got what they called an &quot;in-flight mini-guide&quot; - pull-out panorama photos of the views available with the various sights and buildings named.

so...after reading this I guess it is NOT a good idea to buy a timed ticket for L25? We are planning on going around 5:30-6:00 in the evening (17:30-18:00). what do you think of that time on a SATURDAY?
-smschloss

Finally in London, and just came from the Eye. We got there about 6pm on a Friday and it looked so crowded that we thought we made a mistake not pre-booking. But the lines went very fast and then after that we waited to board which also went fast-just a fwe minutes really. It was a last minute decision to do the Eye tonight, and I liked that I had the freedom to go when we wanted once we got here. We waited maybe 15 minutes -tops.

we were in london one early june
went during a week day
the queues were long but it wasnt too bad a wait
the london eye is ok and you have to do it but afterwards, it's notthat memorable
nicer views elsewhere in the world for sure