OXO Tower and Gabriel's Wharf

The OXO tower is close to Blackfriars Bridge on the south bank of the Thames.  From the bridge, it is possible to see the tower with the letters OXO running vertically.  Once owned by the manufacturers of OXO cubes, it now houses a bar and brasserie and also a more expensive restaurant (run by Harvey Nichols), and offers stunning views of the Thames from all.  There are also vegetarian and vegan menus for the brasserie and restaurant, which is good to know if you have non-meat eaters in your party, but you do need to book in advance.  However, we have eaten in the bar before (although the menu is limited), and the food was tasty (we had the burgers), less pricey and we still had a great view, even without booking.

The OXO Tower building

If you don't want to eat or drink though, there is also a free public viewing gallery up here, to take in views of the city.

Underneath the main tower are many little shops and a few cafes on the ground and first floors, selling a wide variety of things from jewellery to funky gifts, clothes and home wares.  Also on the ground floor is a gallery which houses some really interesting exhibitions which are usually free to take a look around, change frequently and are worth popping into.

Just next to Oxo Tower Wharf is Gabriel's Wharf which also has many more little designer-maker shops, and also a delicious pizza restaurant and bike hire scheme; it is easy to spend some time browsing around both the OXO Tower and Gabriel's Wharf, and together with other local projects, this area is known as the Coin Street Community.

Gabriel's Wharf, and London Beach!
Look out for the man sculpting sand on the corner

Shops at Gabriel's Wharf
(Vendula (L) is fab for handbags)

More shops at Gabriel's Wharf

You can easily spend a couple of hours eating, drinking and pottering around the shops.  A handy thing to also note is that there are public toilets in the yellow building in Gabriel's Wharf.

Southbank Skatepark

A rare quiet time!

Nestled under the Southbank Centre, close to the London Eye, you will find a place where teenagers hang out on their bikes and skateboards, the Southbank Skatepark.  Apart from being quite fun to watch for a while, there is another attraction that I have found here and that is the colourful and quirky graffiti that adorns the walls.

Brightening the place up

I used to work within walking distance of this area, and I'd periodically pop down there at lunchtimes to go and look at the artwork, because it would change on a week by week basis. Because it's quite dark under there, it always had a bit of a grungy feeling to me.  I was always more of a fan of the faces that sprung up than the wordy tagging, but I found it frequently interesting and unusual and worth stopping and taking in for 10 minutes if you're in the area. Here's a selection of images from my camera.

Kev Munday http://www.kevmunday.co.uk/

If you go outside of school hours, you more than likely won't be able to get close up before you get mown down by someone on wheels, so be warned and be careful!!  The safest place to watch from is probably the barrier rail between the pedestrian path and the skate park.

The London Eye

The London Eye is a big wheel offering great views of London, situated on the South Bank of the Thames and close to Waterloo station.  I've been on it a few times, and although it is expensive it is a pretty neat thing to do at least once.  A ride on the London Eye will take roughly about 30 minutes once you are in the capsule (dependent on people getting on and off).

London Eye

There is an opportunity for discounts by booking on the website, however, I would only do that if you can guarantee decent weather and clear skies.  I don't feel as though it is worth the price in heavy rain or very bad weather and I would spend the money on other attractions.

View towards Houses of Parliament from London Eye

View towards Buckingham Palace from London Eye
(St James's Park in foreground)

There are a number of options available, including private capsules and special tasting sessions, but I've never really felt the need to do this...once inside, people move around the capsule so you can get the change in view and people are usually willing to move over so each group can take their photos.  The capsules are fairly large though and the website states that at peak times there would be roughly 28 people in each capsule.

One thing I would suggest is to also take a trip up in the evening.  I've been lucky enough to be on the London Eye on 5th November, and as far as the eye could see there were fireworks going off, it was pretty spectacular.  I've noticed that the website is offering a day and night ticket for the same date, and with a bit of planning, I think this would be a brilliant way to see the best of both.

London Eye at night with a purple colour edit

Included in the price of the ticket is the option to take in the 4D experience in the main building before you go on the wheel.  A few of my friends have skipped this part, but it is a wonderful introduction to the eye, and it's free, so definitely go and do it!

One of the options offered is to include a river cruise with your trip on the London Eye.  This cruise only goes part way up the river but does offer commentary, and if you'd like the commentary then it is probably worth the extra to do this upgrade.  However, if you are happy just to potter around by yourself on the Thames, I think a better option is to use the Thames Clipper commuter boats - they can be caught from Waterloo pier just the same, but go much further along the river for a decent price and you can buy a hop on, hop off ticket, but I will post about these as a separate topic.