is The London Eye worth riding?

[shaynaatl]

We will only be in London for 3 nights. Should the Eye be on our list? Also, would you buy tickets in advance? I've read it's not that impressive if the weather isn't clear.

[lauree1183]

We did the London Eye but only because we had a BOGO coupon from the national rail system (http://www.daysoutguide.co.uk/). Otherwise there is no way we would have paid for it, it just wouldn't have been worth $30/person to us.

That being said it was a fun and enjoyable experience We went in November and had no lines and beautiful weather.

[omeomi]

I loved going on the Eye. The views were beautiful.

I'd personally opt to buy tickets in advance, but that's because the lines were crazy long when I was there. It all really depends on the time of day you want to go and the time of year. I got lucky and got on right around twilight, so during the ride I got to see the sun set and all the lights of the city come out.

Definitely check the weather ahead of time, and see what the annual patterns are like before buying your tickets. I would have been disappointed if it was socked in fog when I rode.

[hz80408]

We did it, like lauree, with the BOGO coupons via National Rail. The downfall was that with those, we couldnt' buy in advance.

The ticket line took about 20 minutes on a Wednesday (beginning of April). When I got to the counter, at noon, I was told the next boarding time was 1:30. I bought the tickets, we went to a pub on Thames, west of the Eye, had lunch and came back to board.

If you don't have the BOGO option, I'd definitely prebuy the tickets.

I think it's worth going up because it gave a great aerial view of the city and helped you located major points of interest. It was no Eiffel Tower, but we enjoyed it.

[sunshinedaydreams]

IMO, it was absolutely not worth it. We stood in line for over 30 min just to buy tickets ($30 USD each); then another 35+ min to get on the Eye. We were stuffed in the pod with it so full we could barely move, and everyone pushed and shoved for window space. After the first ~5 minutes, it had kind of lost its novelty, but we were stuck on there with the crowd for another 20-ish minutes. I also thought the views of most things (Parliament, Big Ben, etc.) were just as nice from the ground.

I guess I should also mention that I hate crowds. But, IMO, it is overrated and over priced.

[mbcdefg]

When I asked about this back on the Nest message board before our London trip in 2010, the concensus was that it wasn't worth it.

A lot of people instead suggested climbing to the top of Saint Paul's Cathedral for nice views, so we did that instead. We spent a whole afternoon there to look around the cathedral and then climb to the top.

The views were nice, but MH got nervous from the height so I didn't get as many scenic photos as I would've liked. And the staircase to get to the top gets really tight and winding the further up you go, so it's not for the claustrophobic.

[sunshinedaydreams]

Yes, Saint Paul's Cathedral was much better, IMO. The climb is a bit long and a bit tight, but the views are awesome! And the cathedral was amazing. We went late in the afternoon and stayed for Evensong, which was really cool!

[atouchofklasse]

It was ok. I don't ever have to do it again.

Ditto St. Paul's.