The wheel should take only an hour or two at most. I’d do that first, and then go to the places I saw from above. I’m sure aerial maps, from the perspective of the wheel, are readily available.
I hope to be there for weeks. I’ll spend all my kids inheritance money. 
I would agree with this. I thought it was fantastic, but haven’t felt the urge to repeat the experience in the approx. 15 times I’ve been to London since.
But I certainly recommend it to anyone who hasn’t been on it before.
I did it in September. It was OK, but I didn’t think it was as great as I had been led to believe. I was a guest of Lloyd’s so I didn’t pay anything. If I’d paid, I think I’d have been a bit disappointed.
I’ve been on it and enjoyed it greatly. I could easily do it again. The weather was a bit miserable- cloudy and raining - which somehow seemed perfect.
I’ve been on it twice - it’s very good (for what it is) and well worth at least one trip. Booking in advance will save you the worst of the queueing (in the ticket office), and the line to actually get on moves pretty fast.
I’ve seen some cool videos on youtube where they rig the thing up with fireworks for the New Years celebration.
From pictures and videos I’ve seen I think it’s very pretty, in a kind of futuristic but old way. Like something in a 1950’s science fiction movie or drawing. Maybe it’s the spokes.
I went on it this summer. We started just as the sun was setting so we ended up with a number of beautiful photos of the city as the lights began to poke through the darkness.
No need to do it again but definitely worth doing once.
I live in epping and my wife lived in ealing when we first dated. Going from one end of the central line to the other loses its appeal after the first 50 times.
But there’s a really good bakers and a butchers in theydon if you ever go.
My wife and I rode it in October. There was no line to speak of, and the ride was close to 40 minutes long (I think). It’s pretty cool, if for no other reason than the spokes of the wheel are impossibly long and thin and clearly violating some fundamental laws of physics as there is no way they can support the weight of that thing – even though they do.
We bumped into a couple who were there last month and said it wasn’t running, so if you do go check the maintenance schedule.
I like the Tube, too, although the Docklands Light Railway is even more impressive in my opinion. There’s something very futuristic about getting into a driverless train.
Oh, and the pedestrian tunnel under the Thames at Greenwich – that was cool, too!
And that New Doctor Who episode with the plastic men.
There are so many high places in London (it’s ringed with hills, for a start), but it does give a unique view right by the Palace of Westminster. I’ve been on it once, or maybe twice, and would probably go on it again if I was in the vicinity and had nothing else to do. It’s fun, and I do love this city. Any view of it is good.
It’s also fun to stand on Westminster Bridge in the evening as it gets dark, and watch the stupid people taking pictures of their own reflections by forgetting to switch off the flash inside the pod.
I’ll try to remember, if I do go, to do just that in case you’re standing on Westminster Bridge that night. I’ll be the only old man with a red clown nose.