The Reykjavik Ferris Wheel
The idea of a Ferris wheel at the port of Reykjavík has come up again and again in recent years. It goes back to a city working group that discussed ideas for improving the quality of life of city residents and the possibility of offering special outdoor activities near the sea. Many found the idea "funny", and partly on the premise that neither the city nor the port would have to cover the costs of the Ferris wheel, in September 2023 a majority in the Reykjavík city parliament voted in favor of then-mayor Dagur B. Eggertsson's proposal, to commission a feasibility study for a Ferris wheel on Miðbakki.
However, in a survey in September 2023, only 34% of the population liked the idea, and 42% of people rejected the idea of setting up a Ferris wheel on a trial basis at the old harbor in Reykjavík. Younger respondents tended to like the idea better than older ones and people from Reykjavík were 46% against the Ferris wheel, while in other areas only 35% were against it.
In March 2024 , the city of Reykjavík put the project out to tender , with the potential operator supposed to cover the entire costs of building and operating the Ferris wheel, while the city would make the area at the harbor available for a certain period of time. The height limit for the Ferris wheel was around 30 meters, and the construction must "withstand Icelandic conditions", including the peculiarities of wind and weather.
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| Taylor's Tivoli car (at the folk festival in Selfoss) |
The contract runs until September 2024 , meaning the operator pays 1 million ISK (the equivalent of around €6,600) per month for the use of the area at the harbor, where there is actually a kind of bicycle parkour.
The Ferris wheel should be 32 meters high and have 24 carriages , usually with 6 seats each, but it should also offer wheelchair access. Around 140 people could travel if all cabins were full.
The Ferris wheel was shipped to Iceland in pieces and was originally scheduled to be installed at the harbor on Miðbakki in early June 2024. It could actually be built and put into operation on the national holiday, June 17, 2024 .
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| Reykjavík (2024) - London and Vienna (2016) |
The English term "Ferris Wheel" goes back to George Ferris, the inventor of the Ferris wheel at the World's Fair in Chicago in 1893. The Ferris Wheel at that time was a good 80 meters high. A British engineer then bought the patent for the Ferris wheels from Ferris and built four more Ferris wheels in Europe. The only one of these wheels that is still standing today is the Vienna Ferris Wheel in the Prater with a height of around 64 meters , which was built in 1897 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Emperor Franz Joseph I.
Also well known is the London Eye , the 135 meter high Ferris wheel on the Thames, which was put into operation in 2000. It is now considered one of the symbols of the British capital.
The Icelandic word for "Ferris wheel", namely "Parísarhjól", the "Paris wheel", goes back to the Ferris wheel that was built on the occasion of the World Exhibition in Paris in 1900 . It was in operation until 1920 and, with a diameter of 100 meters, was the largest Ferris wheel in the world throughout its operational life.
The Ferris wheel is scheduled to remain open until September 15, 2024 , daily from 12 p.m. to 11 p.m. (subject to short-term closures due to weather ).
Prices
The price for a ride on the Ferris wheel in Reykjavík is 3,000 ISK for an adult , which is the equivalent of almost €20, and for a child under 1.40 m 2,000 ISK (the equivalent of around €13.25). There is a discount for 4 people, then the trip for all four will cost 10,000 ISK (a good €66).
If you book a ticket online on the website reykjavikwheel.is, it costs 500 ISK (around €3.30) less per person.
Price comparison
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| Above: Ferris wheel at the Wiesbaden Christmas market Below: Vienna Ferris Wheel and London Eye |
Just for fun, I looked online to find out how much a ride on a Ferris wheel costs somewhere else:
For the London Eye, an advance ticket for adults costs 29 pounds, or around €33, according to the homepage, otherwise the price is probably around 42 pounds, or €49. For children aged 2 to 15, the ticket is slightly cheaper in advance at 26 pounds or regular 38 pounds; children under 2 years don't cost anything.
In Vienna you probably pay €14 for an adult and €6.50 for a child for a 12-minute ride on the historic Ferris wheel.
At the recent fair in Frankfurt, as far as I found online, it was around €6 per adult and €4 per child.
Reactions of the population
In the first week after the Ferris wheel opened, an average of 150 people rode it per day. Considering that around 140 people could ride the Ferris wheel when fully occupied, I don't think that's that much.
In a survey at the end of June, 15% of Icelanders said they had already ridden the Ferris wheel or at least thought they would ride it. The current mayor of Reykjavík, Einar Þorsteinsson, was quite satisfied with this - after all, that would be almost 60,000 people who would perhaps ride the Ferris wheel.
In fact, the number of visitors probably falls short of the expectations of the city and the operator. There wasn't much activity around the Ferris wheel, as Kane Taylor, the owner of the operating company Taylor Tivoli Iceland ehf., explained in a newspaper interview at the end of July. But that is also due to the bad weather and the sometimes very negative publicity. He also has various marketing ideas, in particular they want to get more locals excited about the Ferris wheel. There is now an offer through a telephone provider where you can buy two tickets for the price of one. Taylor said he hoped the measures would have an impact in the future and that visitor numbers would improve. A balance will be drawn at the end of the summer.
The city also emphasizes that this is a pilot project and that a decision will be made at the end of the summer whether the bike will be rebuilt next year.
When we were in Reykjavík during the week, we also took a look at the Ferris wheel. A few young people were playing football nearby, a number of tourists were walking along the harbor, but there was actually no one at the Ferris wheel, not a single person was riding the bike, even though it was spinning diligently.
To be honest - we didn't go along either.
On the one hand, the price isn't a bargain, and on the other hand, my husband is afraid of heights.
I had thought about going for a ride to look at Reykjavík and the local mountain Esja "from above" from a height of around 30 meters, but somehow I just didn't feel like it, this completely deserted bike and then the location at the harbor, feeling crammed in between the newly built, relatively high houses on one side and a cruise ship on the other. The cruise ship that was at the port that day was one of the smaller ships with a good 500 passengers (the really large cruise ships don't dock at the "old port" in Miðbakki, but a little further out at the "new" port of Skarfabakki, where, by the way the ferry to Viðey also starts). But spend 20 € or with children (over 1.40 m) then even almost 40 €, just to be able to see the passengers in their cabins and on the deck...?
I just didn't like the location, I missed the space, the view...
I'm curious to see what the conclusion of the city and the operator will be at the end of the summer, and whether the pilot project will be continued next summer...
When we were in the city again at the weekend , this time in calmer weather, the Ferris wheel was busier , at least four of the cabins were occupied, one even had four or five people.
You can stand towards the Ferris wheel however you want - it's all a question of perspective!
[Translated from here.]
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