Description
The London Eye is the giant observation wheel on the South Bank of the Thames, between Westminster Bridge and Hungerford Bridge: its glass capsules lift passengers 135 meters above the river for a slow half-hour ride over the rooftops of central London.
The ride itself is the main event. The wheel turns at about 26 centimeters a second, so slowly that it does not stop: passengers simply walk on and off the moving capsules at ground level. It is halted only for those who need more time to board.
There are 32 sealed, air-conditioned capsules, each weighing 10 tonnes and holding up to 25 people. Inside there is a bench, but most people walk around the glass for the view, which changes slowly as the capsule climbs, peaks and comes back down.
The numbering runs from 1 to 33 and skips 13, for superstitious reasons, and each capsule stands for one of the London boroughs. One of them was named the Coronation Capsule in 2013, for the 60th anniversary of Elizabeth II's coronation.
The structure is worth a look from the ground too. The rim hangs on tensioned steel cables like a huge spoked bicycle wheel, and the whole thing is cantilevered: it is held up by an A-frame on one side only. At night LED lights color the rim.
Before boarding, a short 4D film in nearby County Hall shows London's landmarks through the eyes of a seagull, with wind, falling snow and scents in the room. It lasts about four minutes.
The wheel began as an entry to a 1993 newspaper competition for a millennium landmark, by the architects David Marks and Julia Barfield, a husband-and-wife team. The judges declared no winner, so the couple remortgaged their home and went ahead anyway.
It was built in sections floated up the Thames on barges, assembled lying flat on platforms in the river and then raised, at two degrees an hour, with a week's pause halfway up. Steel, cables, bearings and capsules came from six European countries.
Prime Minister Tony Blair opened it on 31 December 1999 by firing a laser beam across the Thames, but a clutch problem in the capsules kept the paying public waiting until March 2000. It was meant to stand for only five years, and became permanent in 2002.
Don't miss
• The ride in a glass capsule.
• The view from the top.
• The 4D film in County Hall.
• The wheel lit up at night.
Did you know?
• Every New Year's Eve more than 2,000 fireworks are launched from the wheel itself.
• At least 6,000 people have proposed marriage on board.
• The wheel's height can come up in the Life in the UK test for British citizenship.
The ride itself is the main event. The wheel turns at about 26 centimeters a second, so slowly that it does not stop: passengers simply walk on and off the moving capsules at ground level. It is halted only for those who need more time to board.
There are 32 sealed, air-conditioned capsules, each weighing 10 tonnes and holding up to 25 people. Inside there is a bench, but most people walk around the glass for the view, which changes slowly as the capsule climbs, peaks and comes back down.
The numbering runs from 1 to 33 and skips 13, for superstitious reasons, and each capsule stands for one of the London boroughs. One of them was named the Coronation Capsule in 2013, for the 60th anniversary of Elizabeth II's coronation.
The structure is worth a look from the ground too. The rim hangs on tensioned steel cables like a huge spoked bicycle wheel, and the whole thing is cantilevered: it is held up by an A-frame on one side only. At night LED lights color the rim.
Before boarding, a short 4D film in nearby County Hall shows London's landmarks through the eyes of a seagull, with wind, falling snow and scents in the room. It lasts about four minutes.
The wheel began as an entry to a 1993 newspaper competition for a millennium landmark, by the architects David Marks and Julia Barfield, a husband-and-wife team. The judges declared no winner, so the couple remortgaged their home and went ahead anyway.
It was built in sections floated up the Thames on barges, assembled lying flat on platforms in the river and then raised, at two degrees an hour, with a week's pause halfway up. Steel, cables, bearings and capsules came from six European countries.
Prime Minister Tony Blair opened it on 31 December 1999 by firing a laser beam across the Thames, but a clutch problem in the capsules kept the paying public waiting until March 2000. It was meant to stand for only five years, and became permanent in 2002.
Don't miss
• The ride in a glass capsule.
• The view from the top.
• The 4D film in County Hall.
• The wheel lit up at night.
Did you know?
• Every New Year's Eve more than 2,000 fireworks are launched from the wheel itself.
• At least 6,000 people have proposed marriage on board.
• The wheel's height can come up in the Life in the UK test for British citizenship.