A Trip on the London Eye

By Steve Evans

(Click on the images for a larger picture)

During a week off work, we had the perfect weather for a trip to London and a spin on the London Eye. So I went to their website - http://www.londoneye.com to book our trip in advance just to make sure. I booked an 11.30am trip on the Eye followed by a not to be missed trip on the river cruise at 12.45. They ask you to collect your tickets half an hour before your "Flight", but due to a combination of heavy traffic on the M3 and missing our tube at Richmond we arrived at the site late, but this wasn't a problem as our tickets for the Eye are valid till 8pm that day and the boat ride wasn't due to leave for over an hour, so we decided to get a bite to eat from the cafe on the site (Expect to pay £4.50 for a sandwich and over £2 for a fruit juice, though the coffee was quite reasonable) while we waited for the boat trip.

The actual trip lasted 45 minutes and is well worth the money as you see all the well known sights of London from the river, and our guide for the day had a wealth of knowledge about everything we saw, from historic information about the Houses of Parliament, to why Blackfriars bridge has empty columns in the middle. Plus you see details on the river you can't see from the land, like the fact that certain bridges have carved birds both sides on the pillars, the inward tide side has fresh water birds whereas the outgoing tide side has sea birds carved into it.

And where else would you get this view of Tower Bridge?

Unfortunately our trip had to finish and we made our way back to dry land and joined the queue for the Eye,

notice the red electric motors that turn the Eye.

After a 15 minute wait we boarded our flight

And marvelled at the views around us

All good things come to an end, and after half an hour it's time to disembark

Although my feet were sore from all the walking, we had a wonderful day in London

which was made even better by a hearty meal at our favourite restaurant on the way home.