London Eye
#4sur 10 lieux à visiter à LondonLondon, England, United Kingdom
Aussi appelé Millennium Wheel
L'essentiel
Horaires d'ouverture : 11:00–18:00 and 10:00–20:30. Entrée : £39. Comptez 30 min.
Mis à jour le · Rédigé par Traveliac, avec assistance IA · 5 min de lecture
- Horaires d'ouverture
- 11:00–20:30
- Winter/spring: daily 11:00–18:00; summer: daily 10:00–20:30, hours extended for peak season
- Prix d'entrée
- £39
- Billet à partir de
- Durée nécessaire
- 30 min
- Meilleurs mois
- May – Jul, Sep
- Adresse
- Riverside Building, County Hall, Westminster Bridge Road, London SE1 7PB
À propos de London Eye
The London Eye stands 135 metres tall on the South Bank of the Thames, opposite the Houses of Parliament, and carries passengers in 32 sealed glass capsules on a single rotation lasting roughly 30 minutes. Built for the Millennium in 2000 to a design by architects David Marks and Julia Barfield, the wheel was intended as a temporary five-year structure but proved popular enough to remain, and it held the title of the world's tallest Ferris wheel until Singapore's Flyer surpassed it in 2008. Each capsule holds up to 25 people and rotates slowly enough — about 0.9 kilometres per hour — that the wheel rarely stops fully to load, passengers step on and off while it inches forward. The structure is a cantilevered design, supported on one side only by an A-frame, an engineering choice made to leave the river-facing aspect unobstructed for views; the rim is held in tension by 64 spokes, the longest cable-stayed spoke arrangement of its kind when built. On a clear day the capsules give sightlines of up to 40 kilometres, taking in Windsor Castle to the west on the rare occasions visibility allows.
Horaires de London Eye
- Horaires d'ouverture
- 11:00–20:30
Mon–Sun 11:00–18:00 and 10:00–20:30 - Winter/spring: daily 11:00–18:00; summer: daily 10:00–20:30, hours extended for peak season
- Fermé le
- 25 December, annual January maintenance closure (dates vary)
Bon à savoir : Closed for a scheduled annual maintenance period in January; specific dates vary year to year and are posted on the official site.
Horaires d'ouverture établis à partir de londoneye.com et de sources publiques, mis à jour le . Ils peuvent changer sans préavis — vérifiez avant de partir. Comment nous rédigeons ces guides
Prix d'entrée de London Eye
| Billet | Prix |
|---|---|
| Billet standard | £39 |
| Tarif réduit (étudiant / senior) | £33 |
| Enfants | £33 |
Standard adult tickets booked online start around £39 as of 2026; pricing is dynamic by date and time, rising on weekends and in peak summer. Fast Track tickets, which cut queue time, run from around £44. Children (under 16) and concession pricing is close to standard adult rates and varies by date; check londoneye.com for the exact figure on a chosen date. Under-3s ride free but still require a booked (free) ticket.
Tarifs établis à partir de londoneye.com et de sources publiques, mis à jour le . Ils peuvent changer sans préavis — vérifiez avant de partir. Comment nous rédigeons ces guides
Meilleure période pour visiter London Eye
- Quiet
- Busy
- Very busy
10:00 – 11:30
Morning OpeningBest time to go
Shortest queues of the day for both standard and Fast Track lines; capsules are frequently under half full.
Quiet12:00 – 16:00
Midday-Afternoon Peak
Coach tour groups and day-trippers converge on the South Bank; standard queue can exceed 60 minutes in summer.
Very busy16:00 – 18:00
Late Afternoon
Queue eases slightly but remains substantial; light is favourable for photography without full sunset crowding yet.
BusySunset slot (varies seasonally)
Sunset Rotation
The single most in-demand slot of the day, selling out first online; capsules fill to capacity for the western Thames-facing view.
Very busy
Histoire de London Eye
The London Eye emerged from a 1993 architectural competition run by The Sunday Times and The Architecture Foundation seeking ideas to mark the millennium; no entry won outright, but David Marks and Julia Barfield's wheel concept gathered enough backing from British Airways as sponsor to proceed independently. Construction required assembling the wheel horizontally on floating pontoons in the Thames before hydraulically raising it to vertical in October 1999, an operation that took several days and drew large crowds along the South Bank.
The Eye opened to the public on 9 March 2000, later than its planned New Year's Eve 1999 debut owing to construction and safety-certification delays. Ownership and sponsorship have changed hands several times since — British Airways divested its stake in 2008, and the attraction has traded under names including the Merlin Entertainments London Eye and, more recently, the Lastminute.com London Eye, reflecting successive naming-rights deals rather than structural change.
The wheel's original five-year temporary planning permission was made permanent in 2002 after sustained popularity made removal commercially and politically unfeasible, cementing its place in the South Bank skyline alongside County Hall, the building it stands beside.
Règles et étiquette à London Eye
London Eye capsules are fully enclosed and climate-controlled, and photography is unrestricted; tripods are discouraged simply for space reasons given up to 25 passengers share the pod. Large luggage and rucksacks over cabin-bag size must be left at a paid locker facility near the ticket office, as capsules have minimal storage space.
Booking a specific time slot is effectively mandatory in peak season; walk-up capacity is limited and queues without a pre-booked ticket regularly exceed an hour in July and August. Fast Track tickets board through a separate, shorter line and are worth the premium on weekends and school holidays specifically.
The boarding process does not stop the wheel; passengers step onto the moving capsule at a gap timed by staff, which can be disorienting for visitors with mobility difficulties — accessible capsules that do stop fully are available on request when booking.
Conseils pour visiter London Eye
- 1
London Eye tickets bought further in advance online are meaningfully cheaper than day-of or walk-up purchases, and combination tickets bundling the Eye with the nearby London Dungeon or SEA LIFE London Aquarium, both under the same operator, offer a modest discount for visitors doing more than one South Bank attraction in a day.
- 2
Sunset slots sell out first in summer because the light crossing the Thames and lighting up Big Ben and the Palace of Westminster from the west-facing side of the rotation is the single most photographed moment on the wheel; booking that slot requires checking the specific sunset time for the visit date, since it shifts across the season.
- 3
The South Bank promenade beneath the Eye is free to walk and lined with second-hand book stalls under Waterloo Bridge, food trucks, and skateboarders at the undercroft near the Royal Festival Hall, worth 30–40 minutes before or after the ride itself. Pickpocket risk concentrates in the queue itself, where dense, slow-moving crowds are a known target area — keep bags zipped and to the front.
Comment se rendre à London Eye
Riverside Building, County Hall, Westminster Bridge Road, London SE1 7PBItinéraire sur Google Maps
Depuis Waterloo Station
0.4 km · 5 min walk
Free on foot
Depuis Westminster Underground Station
0.6 km · 8 min walk across Westminster Bridge
Free on foot
Depuis Heathrow Airport (LHR)
27 km · 55–65 min
£13.90 off-peak Elizabeth line fare or equivalent Tube fare
Aéroport le plus proche
Depuis London City Airport (LCY)
14 km, approximately 35 minutes via DLR and Jubilee line.
Gare la plus proche
Depuis Waterloo station
400 metres, 5 minutes on foot; Westminster Underground – across Westminster Bridge, 8 minutes on foot.
FAQ — London Eye
How much does the London Eye cost?
Standard adult tickets booked online start around £39 as of 2026, with prices varying by date and time and rising on weekends and in summer. Fast Track tickets, which reduce queue time, start around £44. Confirm exact pricing for a chosen date at londoneye.com.
How long does a ride on the London Eye take?
One full rotation takes approximately 30 minutes. The wheel moves continuously at a slow pace, and passengers board and alight from the moving capsule rather than a full stop.
Does the London Eye stop for passengers to get on?
No, generally it does not. The wheel rotates continuously at roughly 0.9 kilometres per hour, slow enough for passengers to step on and off, though it can be stopped fully for passengers with mobility needs on request.
What is the best time to ride the London Eye for views?
Sunset is the most sought-after slot, giving views over the Thames and the Palace of Westminster as the city lights come on, though these tickets sell out first and cost more. Early morning at opening offers the shortest queues instead.
Rédigé avec l'assistance de l'IA à partir de sources officielles et de registres publics, et publié seulement après les vérifications décrites dans Comment nous rédigeons ces guides. Personne chez Traveliac ne s'est rendu sur place. Mis à jour le . Comment nous classons et vérifions les lieux
