The Emirates Air Line | London's only cable car

This week we had family visiting us from up-north. After visiting the London Eye and Buckingham Palace we decided to take a ride on the Emirates Air Line, London's only cable car.

 The car crosses the River Thames between Greenwich and the Royal Docks and is just a five minute walk from the O2 and North Greenwich Tube station. 

With cabins arriving every 30 seconds, the queue on a busy Saturday moved steadily. We were under the impression that you can use an Oyster card for entrance - however, there are some hidden T&C's attached. 

You can only use pay as you go credit (travel cards are not accepted) and if you are planning a round-robin journey you are required to get off at the other end to touch out and then touch in again and join the queue. I'd recommend buying tickets at the box for this type of journey so you can stay in your car the whole journey - it was a little stressful having to jump off the car at each end with three small children and a buggy. It's also worth noting that you can't use a contactless debit/credit card. 

 

 The 'flight' is approximately 10 minutes each way and gives a lovely view of the O2 and city - we had a great time watching the boats below us and the idea of travelling by cable car is rather novel. 

My only disappointment was that the car flights over a junk yard - a view that wasn't too appealing to show our visitors. For £6.80 return on Oyster card the experience is well worth a visit if you're in the area.

Between 28 March and 30 September Emirates are offering night flight experiences after 19:00 each day. Flight durations are extended to approximately 25 minutes (12-13 minutes each way) so you can enjoy an even more relaxing trip across the Thames.

Prices can be found here.