 The view is amazing! 
See Birmingham From Above!
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Recommendation added: 03/09/2006 23:30
By: dewberry (YSUK rating +816)dewberry has been thanked 1 times for this contribution
"Birmingham's version of the London Eye has been operating on and off in the City Centre since the millennium, despite the fact that I'm a regular visitor to Town I've never bothered to take the ride. After a trip round its big brother (the London Eye) a few weeks ago I thought I'd stump up the £5 and get a birds eye view of the City.
Each turn of the wheels lasts for around 11 minutes, with the rotation speed seeming much slower than the London Eye. You can stay in your gondola for up to five revolutions, although my sister informs me that she went during a very quiet time in winter and went round nine times! This is nice though, as the wheel climbs higher you can gradually see further and further into the horizon and if a certain spot catches your eye you've got time to really look without worrying that you're going to miss something else. The trip, although relatively short, makes the most of the time available in 'the air'.
You can literally see for miles. Birmingham is absolutely massive and when I got to roughly half way up I could see far into the distance, past the expanse of City and into the countryside towards the Lickey Hills. The horizon just gets longer and longer the further up you go and once your gondola is at the apex of the turn, I promise you'll have a view to remember forever. It's gorgeous.
Compared to the London Eye this is a small ride, more akin to a ferris wheel. The Eye towers above London at 135 metres, while our version in Brum is just a fraction of the size at 60 metres. Birmingham is on a smaller scale than the capital though and while the wheel nestles into an area which has some massive buildings, I found I was able to see beyond the buildings quicker than I could in the much bigger Eye.
Birmingham is surrounded by countryside, although it's hard to remember this through the pollution. It was lovely to get such a vibrant panoramic view of the City and its surroundings. The scene was very easy to look at too, if that makes sense. As I slowly rose into the air I was enthralled looking at the beautiful buildings Brum has to offer, then going higher I could see the sprawling mass of housing and finally the lush green sights of the Lickey Hills in one direction and The Beacon in the other. Fabulous.
You take your ride in a sparkly glass gondola, which are a new upgrade to the wheel. When it first arrived in Birmingham the gondolas were (apparently) uncomfortable and cramped, they were exchanged for these roomy heated ones a couple of years ago. Each gondola is big enough for up to eight people to ride. The operators tend to give groups of five or more the gondola to themselves, and they'll try not to split a group up so everyone can ride together. The seating is soft and comfortable and the gondolas are stable enough for you to stand during your ride – mind you, the gondola will shake when more than one of you stands at a time so the five of us in ours were ordered (by me!) to keep still! A large portion of the gondola is glass and this means you can see up, to each side and erm… down. If, like me, you're not too good with heights then DO NOT LOOK DOWN. It's possible to stick your face against the glass and see practically to the pavement below the wheel – not a good move, you'll spend the next two minutes mesmerised until you realise how damned far away it is now…
For your ride the gondola will have either the heating or air conditioning on, this is great as I went on a freezing cold day and it was wonderfully warm inside. I can imagine how air conditioning would be needed in the middle of summer with all the glass! While the wheel turns a commentary runs giving the history of Birmingham in a nutshell, along with facts about different areas and points in time. It was really interesting to hear historical information about the City where I've always lived, the commentary was given in a very friendly and enthusiastic voice with none of the robotics I was expecting when told about the onboard commentary.
The queue was ok, which surprised me. I'd assumed the wheel would be a popular attraction, but on a Wednesday lunchtime we walked straight up to the wheel and got into the next gondola. I suppose it's a combination of the fact that the wheel has now been here for years and the long opening hours of the ride which keeps the queues down. You can get a ride between 11am and 11pm, with gondolas coming down to pick people up every fifteen minutes or so and this is probably the longest wait you're likely to have during the day. At night it gets busier as the view from the wheel is beautiful in the dark, with the coloured night time lights giving a spectacular scene. The wheel itself is gorgeous at night, lit up with hundreds of bulbs and visible across the City.
The prices are reasonable; an adult ticket costs £5, with children and OAP's paying £4. Comparing this once again to the London Eye, this is a full £8 cheaper and I'd say just as much fun. More fun actually as I was looking out over MY town, not some place I just happened to be as a tourist. The Eye is fully accessible to disabled visitors, thanks to ramped entrance into the gondola and hand rails placed throughout the wheel. It's open every day of the year except for Christmas Day, and while the wheel will still go round in windy weather they won't take passengers when it's blowing a gale.
To find the wheel you need to head to Centenary Square, which is a short walk from the main Birmingham shopping centre. Walk along Corporation Street into first Victoria Square and through to Chamberlain Square. From here simply look up and follow the sight of the wheel through the small glass pavilion area and into Centenary Square. The wheel is clearly signposted from all sides of the City Centre and is simple to get to. Centenary Square is located in a largely pedestrianised section of town and there's zero parking nearby, so either jump on one of hundreds of buses which go along Broad Street or get the train to New Street station and walk the route above. And don't forget your camera.
The Birmingham Eye
Centenary Square
Broad Street
Birmingham
B1 2EP
Tel (enquiries – Birmingham City Council): 0121 303 1111"
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