Manchester Big Wheel

Travelled all the way from rochdale with three children all excited to go on the wheel for a birthday treat, checked the web site before setting off, one hour later three kids crying, what did we find, CLOSED TILL FURTHER NOTICE… NO ONE BIT HAPPY.

Good for a one off, great views and where better to spice up your love life :-)

This wheel in the heart of the city centre is a popular tourist attraction with views stretching over the city when you reach its highest points. However, as a resident in Manchester and a student, it’s price at times and the fact that as you’re rising in the wheel, you only get to see the walls of the Printworks, Arndale and the Triangle up until about ¾ of the way up, defeats the point of the wheel.
However, once you reach the top, definitely worth a look.

Manchester’s big wheel is like all the other big wheels that currently pollute Britain. The only good thing I can think of, when looking at these huge white ferris pennies is that, should Britain ever get turned upside down by some kind of robot dinosaur, the entire country will be able to wheel itself to safety on the sea-​bed. Provided we travel south, we’ll end up somewhere sunnier, which is great. Other than that, you can slowly travel ’round this great bloody thing and look at Manchester city centre from a slightly different angle. If you’re lucky, you might see a dead body on a roof that the police haven’t been informed about and you’ll get your 15 seconds of fame by appearing on a Crimewatch reconstruction. So, yeah. It’s a massive wheel.

I’ve been up twice, once in the day once when it’s dark. Personally prefer when it’s dark. Quite romantic, bit of champers before hand and all set.
Staff are really polite. Its £6.50 to go around about 4 times, usually stopping at the top to take photos/​smooch/​admire the view.
Worth a trip around.

Das hat Spaß gemacht! Mit 60 Metern so hoch wie das große Riesenrad auf dem Hamburger Dom, steht dieses hier doch mitten in der belebten Einkaufsmeile Manchesters und bietet einen unheimlich interessanten Blick über die Dächer der Stadt auf Wolkenkratzer, Parks und in unmittelbarer Umgebung auch auf die Manchester Cathedral.
Mit Infokanälen in mehreren Sprachen (sogar Deutsch) ausgestattet, bieten die geschlossenen Gondeln Platz für 6 Personen, die 4 Runden für 7,50 Pfund (Erwachsene) drehen. Wir hatten Glück und konnten ohne Wartezeit direkt einchecken vorher wird übrigens ein Foto gemacht, denn hinterher gibts was tolles: ein pickepacke volles Erinnerungspaket mit Schlüsselanhängern, CD etc für ca. 17 Pfund, wenn man es denn haben möchte. Wir haben es (leider) abgelehnt, was ich jetzt bereue.
Auf jeden Fall eine Fahrt wert! Nachtrag: Im März haben wir es dann nachgeholt und nach einer weiteren Fahrt auch das Erinnerungspaket gekauft. Als ich im Juli wieder dort war, war das Riesenrad weg es wurde im April abgebaut und steht jetzt in Edinburgh.

My young son and I went on this wonder of a wheel when it first arrived in Manchester and that was a good 5 years or so ago. We enjoyed it but felt a bit scared when our carriage stopped right at the top! After the scary moment, eased by moments of prayer… lol, we noticed we could see buildings that looked like those on our street (not living far from City Centre helps), his school, our church spiral, the busy landmark for Stagecoach bus garage and most of the city. It was a clear, slightly windy but cloud-​free day. The best part of the experience for us, was making the decline and jumping out of our temporary confinement! I would pay up to £6.50 for a ride on it, though at the time we went on, it cost about a fiver.

Worth doing once for a different perspective of Manchester.

Ah, the joy of Big Wheels. Of course, if you’re being uncharitable, it can be said that if you’ve been on one Big Wheel, you’ve been on them all. And, that if you’ve been on the Manchester Big Wheel once, you’ve got absolutely no need to go it again. As it is, I’ve been on the Manchester Big Wheel numerous times and loved it each and every time. I’ve been on it on a grey and blustery day, when the mist hung low over Manchester and you could barely make out the spires of the Cathedral and the top of the Arndale Centre through the fog, I’ve been on it on a sunny day, when the windows of the Beetham Tower glinted like diamonds, and I’ve even been lucky enough to go on it at night, with all the lights of the city winking in the distance whilst I sipped champagne.
OK, so it’s no Millenium Wheel, but there’s still a certain romance to it. When you’re at the top with all of Manchester underneath it, you feel like royalty with the world at your feet. And, best of all, it’s across the road from Sinclairs Oyster Bar — arguably one of the best bars in Central Manchester. So, if you get the collywobbles when you’re facing terrifying heights, you can always pop in there afterwards for a swift whisky or five.
So, when it comes to this Northerner, you can keep all of those pretenders Big Wheels. For me, the Manchester Wheel is the only wheel that matters.

I went on the Big Wheel either at the end of 2007 or early in 2008. I’ve not been since, and so I will have to agree with those who say that, once you’ve been there, you’ve been there. On the other hand, the wheel and the ride have to be absolutely, totally breathtaking to make you ride the wheel again, and again, and again. Or maybe Manchester has to be a bit more exciting, when seen from above.
As with any other big wheel, it gives the biggest thrills to someone who’s never seen the city. When I went on the Big Wheel in Liverpool in November 2009, I found the panorama of the city astonishing. But in Manchester I remember looking down from my gondola and contemplating the fact how past and present sit so closely to each other, and how the past is being steadily squeezed out.
Still, it is a good entertainment, a great tourist attraction, which evidently brings additional income to the city, otherwise it is unlikely that we’d have the Big Wheel in the Exchange Square for a few years now. Last but not least, it is a favourite site for photography enthusiasts. Although it sometimes looks good in daylight, evening and early night are the best times to take photos or to go for a ride.

Bit expensive for what it is. good to see the views of the city, but wouldnt go on again. Was like £6.50 i think.
contact number– 0161 8 319 918

Went on the Wheel a few years ago — quite disappointing. You can only just see up to the top of the Printworks, and since it’s such a short journey, you just go round, and round, and round, and round, and round for about ten minutes. Not worth your time or money.

We went round on the wheel a couple of years ago. It was good fun, and the views were certainly spectacular; we also went round a total of 4 times for paying just once, which was nice. But it was a good job we did, because the prices seemed very high — when so many tourist attractions these days are free, we rather resented having to pay so much. It wouldn’t have been so bad if the assistants had been pleasant — but they were rather aggressive and rude, which spoilt the occasion somewhat. If you’ve got the cash and don’t mind being spoken harshly to, it’s not a bad trip.

We saw this a few times when going to the MEN Arena but hadnt had a chance to go on it until recently.
It was great fun, last about 15 minutes and does 3 rotations and you get a commentary to point out the landmarks.
They gave us a little capsule to ourself which was lovely as the private ones you normally pay extra for but it wasnt too busy i suppose so we were lucky (mind you they only hold about 4 — 6 people anyway i would say) and i can’t imagine anyone wanting a private one on this wheel unless it was to propose or something.
Private capsules are £48.00, Vip ones £55.00 and Vip with Champagne is £70.00 — I believe the Vip ones have a glass floor — not sure i like the sound of that anyway!
It costs £6.50 for adults and £4.50 for children aged 3 –12 years. 1 – 3 years are £1.00 and under 1’s are free.
You can book online it says when youre there if you want for a discount, think it’s 10%
I believe it’s open every day apart from Christmas Day and weather permitting of course, the next time we went and wanted to take our daughter on it it was closed due to the high winds unfortunately.

After a meal out on a Saturday night we went on the wheel and found it the ideal way to cap off a nice evening in Manchester. Fantastic views overlooking the whole of the city, and we were surprised to find that you can stay on for as long as you want, although I expect in busier times that your stay on the wheel may be a bit shorter.
Perhaps a little pricey for some at £6.50 per person, but as a one off, definitely worth doing.
Even if you’re a Manchester resident, then take this opportunity to hop on the wheel and get a view of the city as you’ve never seen it before!

After a successful temporary stint a few years ago a new improved and even bigger wheel is now a permanent feature in Manchesters city centre. The wheel really does look amazing, both from closeby and far away as from certain angles you can see it when approaching the city centre.
One a clear day it is said that you can see Old Trafford and the Trafford Centre, and at night if you’re lucky to have no cloud around the views of the city lights really are beautiful.
It’s not cheap but neither is it too expensive, and you do get a few goes round for your money. Its also not like a ferris wheel in a rickety little carriage, the pods are enclosed and comfortable, and for those willing to spend a little more there is also a VIP pod available!

This is a lovely attraction to go on. I’m not too good with heights but felt very safe in the pods. We went at night and it was nice to see everywhere lit up but I think daytime would have better and you’d get a better view of the city and beyond.
You get two full revolutions of the wheel and it turns nice and slowly. The cost is £5 which is probably a bit on the expensive side but saying that it’s well worth it once you are up there and certainly worth doing once.

This is a lovely attraction in the heart of Manchester!!!
You get lovely views of the city below you and you can see for miles.
There is an optional commentary in the pod with different languages available.
Im not great with heights, but felt at ease in the pod and enjoyed the ride. Apart from when my daughter swopped sides to sit next to me and it swung a bit.
I’d like to go on again. Its not the cheapest thing to do but you get a discount for booking on line before hand.
would recommend to a friend to go!

This is a great landmark and is excellent to scare people who are elderly or scared of heights! Oh what fun I have.
Anyway in my opinion this is substantially better and more impressive at night time than during the day.
I find the voice guide irritating and to be honest just a big advert for Channel M (has anyone actually seriously watched channel M?)
If you have people visiting Manchester then do take them on the wheel as it is quite impressive. It will also keep the children entertained during the holidays.

If you are just visiting Manchester, it is defientley worth going on the Big Wheel which is now a permanent fixture in the city centre. It offers a great view of the city that you can enjoy with upto 6 of your friends or family. The ticket prices arent drastically expensive, its £6.00 for an adult ticket. Obviously this is one of the main tourist attractions in the city, but you get to see Manchester from a different point of view, and when the weather is nice the views can be breathaking. Its a great thing to take kids on but beware that during busy seasons there can be large queues.

There’s something about big wheels… everyone knows they’re rubbish and yet we still like them.
The best thing about this wheel I think, aside from the fantastic view of the beautiful Arndale Tower in all its glory, is the addition it makes to the Manchester skyline… try driving towards the city from the hills in the North (e.g. coming from the Prestwich area) at around sunset and the wheel is a wonderful focal point in a pretty spectacular panorama.
The second best thing is its proximity to Sinclair’s Oyster Bar — undoubtedly one of the best pubs in the world. £6? I wouldn’t bother… that’s 5 pints in Sinclair’s!!! (after which it might just be worth a ride on the wheel).