London Eye & River Cruise

On a very wet and very windy Sunday morning we boarded the 8:10 National Express coach from Ringwood to London Victoria for our prebooked River Cruise/London Eye Experience and lunch.
We could not have picked a worse day for it but as it tuned out the weather in London did improve at the right time. We arrived at Victoria Coach Station on time and walked the short distance to Victoria Underground Station to catch the tube to Waterloo on the south bank of the Thames. When we came up onto the South Bank from the underground it was still very wet and windy and we had to take the short walk to what originally was the Greater London Council building, until the GLC was disbanded by Margaret Thatcher, that now houses the ticket office for the British Airways London Eye.
Our river trip was booked for 11:45 and by the time we boarded the boat it had finally stopped raining and the skies were starting to clear. On board we were greeted with a well needed glass of warm mulled wine. The boat trip lasted about 40 mins and took us down river as far as Docklands and back to the London Eye and the commentary for the trip was very informative.

We then grabbed a quick cup of coffee before stepping on board the London Eye. Apart from a very short shower when our Pod reached the top of the Eye our views were spectacular.

We landed at about 1:30 and took the short tube journey from Waterloo to Charing Cross and then a short walk up the Strand to Porters English Restaurant in Covent Garden. After lunch we took a stroll around Covent Garden before returning to Victoria to catch our 17:00 coach back to Ringwood.