Location: Archbishop’s Park, Carlisle Lane, Lambeth, London, SE1 7LE
Date & Time: Saturday 23rd June
Cost: £25-30
Session: 1 hour
Closest station: Lambeth North
Zip Now London

---

First Impressions

This was another Timeout find! As you would have seen from our previous posts we’re always down to take our adventure levels up a notch and try something new. The thought of speeding through the London Sky on a zip line definitely got our attention!  The videos on the website, pictures and overall marketing drew us in. We were ready to get our adrenaline pumping!

Location

Archbishop’s Park is about an 11 minute walk from Waterloo station and approx. 8 minute walk from Lambeth North Station. Quite a central location and pretty easy to get to. This was our first time at Archbishop’s park and it was definitely not what we expected. After reading statements on the Zip London site about this being the “biggest, fastest city-centre zip wire in the world”, we just expected a larger park, something  more along the lines of Hyde Park or even Greenwich Park. At this point we were sceptical and wondering what we paid for! However, we make the best of all situations, so we walked on and joined the queue to register and get the safety briefing.

Maria’s Thoughts

This was not what I thought it would be! Zip London did a great job with the promo on their site as it definitely enticed me into buying a ticket but the experience just didn’t live up to their hype and my subsequent expectation. I mean it was okay, fun but way too short and actually a lot slower than I thought it would be. It was a bit of an anti-climax if I’m honest.

On a more positive note, the staff were friendly, the safety seemed in check (as best as I could assess) and although we had to wait it wasn’t too long. This experience doesn’t beat the zip-lining I’ve tried at Go Ape , neither has it put me off zip-lining again in the future. I just wouldn’t do it at this particular site unless it was free of course 👀. If you want a little thill but nothing too drastic this would be a good option. 

Nifesi’s Thoughts

To start, the zip line was a shorter ride than I expected and although it was good, it wasn’t as thrilling as I thought. As we mentioned earlier the location was basic, therefore the view once in the ride wasn’t much to rave about. However at the top platform waiting to ride the view is pretty and the skyline is something to see. They provided us with safety instructions before the ride, with staff checking out straps etc. to be honest, there’s not much to say.

I also did the Mega drop (bungee jump). Unfortunately in my opinion, it was an epic fail, the height from which you dropped was most definitely shorter than I expected, and the drop down was so slow, its like the elastic wasn’t very good. Additionally, the location of the landing mat was not always where you landed and as the journey down was short, occasionally people just landed in a crumpled state to the left of the mat with no cushion to their fall.

I felt that the strap/rope used for the jump didn’t have any elastic to it, therefore didn’t take any of the gravitational impact from being dropped down. Also the drop mat was very thin and basically was no help at all. The real challenge was taking the step/leap off the platform to do the drop….it was very nerve wracking as its completely against my body’s natural action, like when in life do you ever step off a ledge knowing there is nothing directly beneath you. Anyway, personally this wasn’t anything to shout about, but if you wanna try it as a baby step before bungee jumping or another more extensive zip ride, I’d say give it a go. It didn’t fulfil my adrenaline junkie juices.

If my above description barely makes sense, watch our Youtube video and trust me everything I’ve said above will make sense.

 

 

---

Overall activity rating:  

---

We have told, now it’s time  for YOU to tell… Please let us know your thoughts and experiences in the comment section below.

Until our next post continue to Taste, Experience, Laugh and Live life to the absolute fullest.

x