By Nora Lindqvist · Updated · Affiliate links, explained in my disclosure
London Eye tickets start at $38.65 for standard entry on GetYourGuide, and that ticket is also the most reviewed option I found, at 4.6 stars from 40,657 reviews. The wheel stands 135 m tall, according to Wikidata, and the view is highest at the top of the rotation. I would ride about an hour before sunset, so you see the Thames in daylight, at dusk and lit up.
| Tour | From | Rating | Length | Free cancellation | Book |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The London Eye Entry Ticket | $38.65 | ★ 4.6 (40,657) | 30 minutes | Yes | Check availability |
| London Eye and Madame Tussauds Combo Ticket | $65.31 | ★ 4.7 (8,248) | 90 days | Yes | Check availability |
| London Eye, River Cruise, & Hop-on Hop-off Bus Tour | $73.31 | ★ 4.4 (6,786) | 2-day ticket | Yes | Check availability |
| Madame Tussauds, London Eye & SEA LIFE Combo Ticket | $71.98 | ★ 4.7 (3,451) | 7-day ticket | Yes | Check availability |
| Thames River Cruise with Optional London Eye Ticket | $20.66 | ★ 4.5 (4,503) | 45 minutes - 1.5 hours | Yes | Check availability |
| The London Pass®: 100+ Attractions including London Eye | $132 | ★ 4.2 (3,118) | 1 - 10 days | Yes | Check availability |
| The London Eye Champagne Experience | $65.31 | ★ 4.8 (917) | 30 minutes | Yes | Check availability |
| SEA LIFE & London Eye Combo Ticket | $65.31 | ★ 4.6 (1,167) | 90 days | Yes | Check availability |
I compared all eight London Eye tickets and combos that you can book on GetYourGuide right now. One is a plain entry ticket, one is a champagne flight, four are combos or a bus bundle that include the wheel, one is a river cruise with an optional wheel ticket, and one is a city pass. Every price, rating and inclusion comes from the listings, checked October 2026, in US dollars. Links open GetYourGuide in a new tab, and I earn a commission if you book, at no extra cost to you.
The London Eye is a cantilevered observation wheel on the South Bank of the River Thames. Here are the numbers behind the London Eye tickets on this page, each with its source.
| What | Detail |
|---|---|
| Ride | One slow rotation of about 30 minutes in a shared capsule, per the ticket listings |
| Capsules | 32 pods, per the entry ticket description |
| Address | Riverside Building, County Hall, Westminster Bridge Rd, London SE1 7PB, per Google Maps |
| Opening hours | Google Maps lists 11 AM to 6 PM for the day it shows; hours change by season, so check before you book |
| Google Maps rating | 4.5 |
| Cancellation | Free up to 24 hours before on every listing here |
It is the world's tallest cantilevered observation wheel, and the most popular paid tourist attraction in the United Kingdom with more than three million visitors annually.
Because it is a wheel and not a tower, there is no separate high or low deck to choose between. You ride one rotation and the view is widest at the top, 135 m up. Hours shift with the season, so for the exact slots on your date I would check the official London Eye site before buying London Eye tickets.
If you only want the ride, this is where I would start with London Eye tickets. The London Eye Entry Ticket is $38.65, and depending on the option you pick it gives you standard or fast-track admission, plus the free London Eye guide for iOS and Android. It is the cheapest plain way up, and the 40,657 reviews make it the best-tested option on the list.
My reasoning is simple. The operator is the wheel’s own company, there is no guide or bus to pay for, and you can cancel free up to 24 hours before. The listing bans large bags, luggage, food and drink, and professional cameras, so travel light.
The London Eye - MEG
My pick: My default for a first visit: $38.65, 4.6 stars from 40,657 reviews, with standard or fast-track admission depending on the option.
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A skip-the-line search usually means someone wants to avoid the queue, and among London Eye skip-the-line tickets the best match I found is the Madame Tussauds combo at $65.31. It pairs a ride on the wheel with the waxworks, and the reviewers I read mention no queue for admission to Madame Tussauds and tickets that worked smoothly through the mobile app. The listing itself says to join the standard queue and present your voucher, so do not expect a fast lane at the wheel.
That is worth knowing before you pay. The extra $26.66 over the standard ticket buys a second attraction and a 90-day window, not a faster boarding. If you want a shorter wait at the wheel itself, look at the fast-track options further down.
The London Eye - MEG
My pick: A two-attraction combo at $65.31 with a 4.67 rating from 8,248 reviews; the wheel is still the standard queue, so it is about value, not speed.
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London Eye tickets on this page run from $20.66 to $132, and the spread comes from what is bundled in. The plain ticket is the base at $38.65. Add Madame Tussauds or SEA LIFE and you pay $65.31 to $71.98, and a bus, river and wheel bundle is $73.31. The $132 London Pass is a multi-attraction pass, not a wheel ticket.
The $20.66 Thames cruise is the cheapest line on the list, but it is a boat trip. The listing says the London Eye ticket is included only if that option is selected, so compare the final price before you assume it is the cheap way up.
If you are pricing a trip for a group, this calculator works out the total for the product you pick and links straight to the booking page.
Calculator
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from per person, before any child or group discount
Prices are the lowest per-person prices on GetYourGuide when I last checked; the final price depends on the date, time slot and age.
The card for this section is the Thames River Cruise. It departs from the London Eye pier directly under the wheel and goes as far as Tower Bridge, returning 40 minutes later. It is a good pairing if you want the river view as well as the high one.
The London Eye - MEG
My pick: The lowest price on the list at $20.66, a 40-minute Thames cruise from the pier under the wheel; add the wheel ticket as an option.
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Google Maps shows the London Eye open from 11 AM to 6 PM on the day it lists, and the SEA LIFE combo listing says the wheel is open daily from 11 AM to 6 PM. Those are daytime windows for London Eye tickets, and they can differ by season, school holidays and events. Check the official site for the opening time on your date before you pick a slot.
A short hours window changes how I plan. In the shorter days of winter the sun sets before the wheel’s last slot, and in summer it sets well after, so the sunset ride I recommend is only possible in the darker months unless the wheel runs later on your date. The planner further down shows the sunset time for any day.
The card here is the Big Bus package, which fits the hours question because its own ticket lasts 24 or 48 hours. Its London Eye stop is on Westminster Bridge Road, next to the Lion Statue outside the London Marriott County Hall, so you can fit the wheel into a bus day around its opening time.
Big Bus Tours - London
My pick: A 24 or 48-hour bus ticket with a river cruise and a wheel ride from $73.31, so you can fit the London Eye into your own day.
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People searching for the height are usually checking what their London Eye tickets pay for. Wikidata lists the wheel at 135 m, and the Wikipedia article calls it the tallest cantilevered observation wheel in the world. You reach that point at the top of the rotation, which is when the view is widest, so the first half of the ride is the climb and the second half is the descent.
Calculator
135 m · 443 ft
km
to the horizon ( miles)
km
with typical atmospheric refraction
Geometric horizon d ≈ 3.57 × √h (km, h in metres); refraction adds about 8%. Haze and clouds usually limit the real view first. Formula: Distance to the horizon.
The listings describe what the height gives you. Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament and Buckingham Palace are the first things to pick out, and one listing says you can see as far as Windsor Castle on a clear day. Treat that as a best case on a very clear day rather than a promise.
If you want the three-attraction day around that height, the Madame Tussauds, London Eye and SEA LIFE combo is the one that turns the 135 m figure into a full itinerary, with waxworks and an aquarium either side of the ride.
Madame Tussauds London - MEG
My pick: Three attractions in one: the wheel, Madame Tussauds and SEA LIFE for $71.98, rated 4.68 from 3,451 reviews, valid for 7 days.
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I did not find a verified 2-for-1 offer in my data, so I will not invent one. What I can point to is the London Pass, which lists the London Eye among more than 100 attractions and says you can save up to 50% compared with buying each ticket alone. It is valid for 1 to 10 days at $132, and it has a lower rating than the others at 4.2 from 3,118 reviews.
A pass pays off only if you will really visit many attractions. For one ride, London Eye tickets bought on their own are cheaper than any pass. If a 2-for-1 coupon is the thing you came for, check the official site and any rail operator promotion yourself before you book.
Go City - London
My pick: A 1 to 10 day pass at $132 that covers the wheel and more than 100 other attractions; worth it only for a packed sightseeing trip.
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Fast track is the upgrade people ask about most when they shop for London Eye tickets. The entry ticket I recommended is standard or fast-track admission depending on the option you choose, and the champagne experience below includes a fast-track entrance as a fixed part of its $65.31 price. I do not have a separate fast-track price in my data, so check the options on the booking page for your date.
My rule is simple: if your slot is at sunset on a weekend or in a school holiday, the queue is more likely to be long, and fast track is the part I would spend on. One reviewer who booked it wrote that they were very glad to have opted for skip-the-line access. For a quiet weekday morning, the standard option is enough.
Among all London Eye tickets, the entry ticket carries 40,657 reviews at 4.6 stars, which is a big sample. The common praise is the view, the slow smooth movement and the sunset slot. The common complaints are the length of the line and a capsule glass that was not always clean, so photographers should bring a cloth or shoot at an angle.
It's something you have to do at least once. A unique view of London!
The champagne flight has the highest rating on the page, 4.85 from 917 reviews, and the Big Bus bundle has the lowest of the group at 4.38, which makes sense because a bus, a boat and a wheel are three experiences with three ways to disappoint. For the wheel alone, I trust the standard ticket’s score because of its sample size.
I found no code for cheaper London Eye tickets that I could verify, and I will not pretend there is a secret one. The real saving is in the combos. The SEA LIFE and London Eye combo is $65.31 at a 4.6 rating, and the Madame Tussauds combo is the same price. Compared with buying the $38.65 wheel ticket alone, each combo adds a second attraction for $26.66.
The SEA LIFE combo is a leftover in my ranking, not the best match for a discount search. It is worth it if you already want the aquarium. The listing tells you to use the ticket holder entrance for SEA LIFE and queue A for the wheel, 30 minutes before your slot, and it allows a couple of rebookings according to one reviewer.
Sea Life London - MEG
My pick: A leftover pick for discount hunters: the aquarium plus the wheel for $65.31, good for families who want both.
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For a special occasion, this is the version of London Eye tickets I would pick. You are greeted at the VIP reception desk in County Hall, use a fast-track entrance to a shared capsule for the standard 30-minute flight, and are served a glass of Moët and Chandon Impérial Brut by a personal host. It costs $65.31, and it is the best-rated ticket here at 4.85 from 917 reviews.
It is a shared capsule and not a private one, so do not expect a private pod. One reviewer wrote that it was hard to find where to go at first, and you must bring a passport or ID card. Another said the small group and short queue made it worth the extra money.
The London Eye - MEG
My pick: The upgrade I would book for a birthday or anniversary: fast track, a glass of Moët and a host for $65.31, rated 4.85.
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Cloud cover decides how good the view is, so timing matters when you buy London Eye tickets. In the 2025 weather data from Open-Meteo, the clearest months were April at 44% average cloud cover, then March and September at 51%. The cloudiest were October at 76% and January at 75%. Sunset runs from 15:51 in December to 21:19 in June.
| Month | Sunset (London time) | Cloud cover | Sunshine a day | Rainy days |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 16:21 | 75% | 3.5 h | 13 |
| Feb | 17:16 | 73% | 4.1 h | 10 |
| Marclearest | 18:05 | 51% | 9.2 h | 3 |
| Aprclearest | 19:57 | 44% | 11.4 h | 4 |
| May | 20:46 | 56% | 11.2 h | 7 |
| Jun | 21:19 | 54% | 12.9 h | 7 |
| Jul | 21:11 | 59% | 11.6 h | 9 |
| Aug | 20:22 | 60% | 10.5 h | 7 |
| Sepclearest | 19:14 | 51% | 9.3 h | 11 |
| Oct | 18:07 | 76% | 5.3 h | 9 |
| Nov | 16:11 | 69% | 4.3 h | 15 |
| Dec | 15:51 | 71% | 3.5 h | 10 |
Pick a date, and the planner below shows the sunset and the entry time I would book.
Sunset planner
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book this entry time (50 min before sunset)
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sunset, London time
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typical cloud cover that week
Sunset and cloud cover for the same dates in 2025 at the deck (Open-Meteo historical weather (ERA5), 2025); sunset moves by about a minute between years.
My rule for London Eye tickets is to arrive 45 to 60 minutes before sunset, so the queue is in daylight and the ride reaches the top for the golden hour. In winter that means a mid-afternoon slot, since the sun sets as early as 15:51. Spring and September are my pick for the best odds of a clear sky.
On a clear day the horizon is a long way off, and the calculator in the height section shows how far. The landmarks below are what you will pick out first. Distances are straight-line from the wheel, computed from the Google Maps coordinates.
Cultural landmark
4.6 · 99,459 Google reviews
London SW1A 0AA, United Kingdom
Open in Google Maps
Tourist attraction
4.6 · 52,936 Google reviews
Dean's Yard, London SW1P 3PA, United Kingdom
Open in Google Maps
Plaza
4.6 · 141,314 Google reviews
Trafalgar Sq, London WC2N 5DS, United Kingdom
Open in Google Maps
Historical landmark
4.5 · 196,170 Google reviews
London SW1A 1AA, United Kingdom
Open in Google Maps
Tourist attraction
4.7 · 58,211 Google reviews
St. Paul's Churchyard, London EC4M 8AD, United Kingdom
Tourist attraction
4.6 · 47,844 Google reviews
32 London Bridge St, London SE1 9SG, United Kingdom
Open in Google Maps
Tourist attraction
4.7 · 122,624 Google reviews
London EC3N 4AB, United Kingdom
Big Ben is the closest at 0.34 km (0.21 miles), and Westminster Abbey is 0.56 km (0.35 miles) away. Trafalgar Square is 0.59 km (0.37 miles) to the north, and Buckingham Palace is 1.32 km (0.82 miles) to the west. St. Paul’s Cathedral is 2.06 km (1.28 miles) east, The Shard is 2.54 km (1.58 miles), and the Tower of London is the farthest of the group at 3.31 km (2.05 miles).
London has several high viewpoints within a short ride of the place you book London Eye tickets for. Ratings and review counts are from Google Maps, and distances are straight-line from the London Eye.
| Deck | Google rating | Reviews | Distance | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| London Eye | 4.5 | n/a | the wheel itself | Paid |
| Sky Garden | 4.6 | 78,632 | 2.87 km (1.78 mi) | Free, booking needed |
| The View from The Shard | 4.6 | 8,280 | 2.54 km (1.58 mi) | Paid |
| Tate Modern Viewing Level | 4.4 | 658 | 1.64 km (1.02 mi) | Free |
| Primrose Hill Viewpoint | 4.8 | 324 | 4.76 km (2.96 mi) | Free |
| Parliament Hill Viewpoint | 4.7 | 5,210 | 6.72 km (4.18 mi) | Free |
The wheel is the only one here where the view moves, and it is the one with the river at your feet. The Shard is the paid rival for height, and Sky Garden is the one I would pair with London Eye tickets if you want a free second view. Sky Garden entry is free, but see the Sky Garden site for how to book.
The standard London Eye Entry Ticket is $38.65 on GetYourGuide, rated 4.6 from 40,657 reviews. Combos with Madame Tussauds or SEA LIFE start at $65.31, and the champagne flight is $65.31 as well. The Thames cruise at $20.66 is the cheapest listing, but the wheel ticket is an optional extra on it. Prices are in US dollars and vary by date.
The plain entry ticket at $38.65 is the cheapest way I found to ride the wheel by itself. The $20.66 Thames cruise looks cheaper, but it is a boat trip with the London Eye as an option you add. I found no verified discount code, so I would book the standard ticket and compare the date you want.
I have no measured queue times, so I can't give you a number. One reviewer wrote that the wait lines were a bit long, and another was glad to have chosen skip-the-line access. The champagne experience includes fast-track entry, and the entry ticket is standard or fast-track depending on the option you book.
You need a ticket to board, and the listings I compared are all bookable online for a time slot. The SEA LIFE combo asks you to reach the standard entrance, queue A, 30 minutes before your slot. Turning up without a booking is possible to try, but I would reserve ahead and check the official site for availability.
For a first visit I think so. The wheel is 135 m tall according to Wikidata, and the entry ticket holds a 4.6 rating across more than 40,000 reviews. One reviewer wrote that it is something you have to do at least once. If you have limited time and a tight budget, a free viewpoint is the alternative.
I would book a slot around sunset, so you see London in daylight, at dusk and then lit up. Sunset ranges from 15:51 in December to 21:19 in June in the 2025 Open-Meteo data. Check the opening time for your date first, because Google Maps shows a daytime window that ends at 6 PM on the day it lists.
The standard flight is about 30 minutes, which is the duration on the entry ticket and the champagne listing. The wheel turns slowly, and one reviewer described the very slow and smooth movement that let them walk around the capsule. The capsule is shared, so you can move to either side for photos.