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.