United Kingdom Ferris wheel
Wheel of Manchester
You can see 121 km from here, looking west.
Calculating the panorama…
Drag to turn around. The relief is drawn 2.2 times taller so the ridges can be read; far ridges are paler, as in the real air.
The view
Up to 121 km away.
Calculated on the relief one degree at a time, up to 250 km, with the curvature of the Earth and the refraction of the air: what stands above the horizon from here.
Our own rating, from the relief and the climate only: open horizon (35 points), how far you see (25), sea and named peaks in view (20) and clear months (20).
- 121 kmFarthest ridgelooking west
- 99%Open horizonof the circle where the horizon is below your eyes
- 260Peaks in viewnamed summits that rise above the relief in front
- 49 mAltitudeabove the sea, at the highest point of the viewpoint
The 260 peaks you can name from here
From west to east as you turn around: height, distance and direction. Each one links to its guide on Peakyas, our mountain atlas.
From the relief only: buildings, trees and haze are not in the model. On a hazy day you see much less; 250 km is the limit of our calculation.
The sun
The best sunsets are from April to May.
When the sun really disappears from this viewpoint — behind the relief or into the sea — and in which direction, on the 15th of each month, in local time.
- Jansouth-west6 min before the sea-level sunset18%
- Febwest4 min before the sea-level sunset21%
- Marwest4 min before the sea-level sunset24%
- Aprwest6 min before the sea-level sunset27%
- Maynorth-west8 min before the sea-level sunset28%
- Junnorth-west14 min before the sea-level sunset25%
- Julnorth-west12 min before the sea-level sunset25%
- Augnorth-west6 min before the sea-level sunset23%
- Sepwest6 min before the sea-level sunset25%
- Octwest6 min before the sea-level sunset22%
- Novsouth-west6 min before the sea-level sunset19%
- Decsouth-west8 min before the sea-level sunset18%
- Time: when the sun goes behind the horizon you see from here.
- Minutes: how much earlier the relief hides the sun.
- %: share of clear sky that month (NASA, 2001–2020).
The highlighted months are the clearest. Golden hour starts about an hour before.
The place
Wheel of Manchester.
Ferris wheel
Wheel of Manchester is a Ferris wheel in United Kingdom, 49 m above the sea.
On a clear day the farthest ridge you can see is 121 km away, looking west.
260 named peaks rise above the relief in front; the most prominent is Snowdon (1,085 m), 130 km away.
The horizon is open, below your eyes, over 99% of the circle.
The skies are clearest from April to May.
Get there and stay
- Going upCheck the opening hours before you go: towers and decks close in bad weather.
- 5th Urmston (Aquilifer) Scout Camp Sitecampsite · 8.5 km · 5 within 10 km
- The Light Boutique ApartHotelplace to stay · 0.4 km · 216 within 10 km
- Manchester City Centrenearest town · 0.4 km in a straight linePlaces to stay in Manchester City CentreBooking.com · sponsored link↗
- Manchester Airport (MAN)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 15 km in a straight lineCar hire at MAN airport (Manchester, Greater Manchester)Discover Cars · sponsored link↗
Plan the visit
A guided tour, a bed nearby, a car.
Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.
From above
The viewpoint and its surroundings.
The satellite image of the 6 × 6 km around the viewpoint, with what OpenStreetMap shows nearby.
Around, in OpenStreetMap
- 4other viewpoints within 5 kmHeaton Park Colonnade, Colonnade from Manchester Town Hall and 2 more
- 7marked trails within 3 kmCheshire Ring Canal Walk, Medlock Valley Way, Irwell Sculpture Trail and 4 more
- 53shelters and huts within 5 km
- 2,076car parks within 3 km
- 5visitor centres within 5 kmChinese Health Information Office, Manchester Cathedral Visitor Centre, Philips Park Lodge and 2 more
- 618restaurants and cafés within 3 km
- 5campsites within 10 km5th Urmston (Aquilifer) Scout Camp Site, Giants Seat Scout and Community Campsite and 3 more
- 216places to stay within 10 kmThe Light Boutique ApartHotel, Hatters Hostel, Crown & Anchor and 213 more
- named peaks within 5 km
- cable car and funicular stations within 5 km
Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit. A low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet.
In our other atlases
What you see from Wheel of Manchester, and what is near.
Everything around this viewpoint — mountains, water, forests, birds, caves and the night sky — in the family's atlases.
Peakyas28 mountains within 25 km
Lakeyas2 lakes within 15 km
Forestyas2 forests and trees within 15 km
Darkskyas3 dark-sky places within 30 km
Riveryasthe river nearbyFigures from the sister sites' databases (Wikidata, HydroATLAS, GeoNames, OpenStreetMap, GBIF). Links open when each site is online.
Photographs
The view, as people saw it.
Other viewpoints nearby.
Wheel of Manchester
United Kingdom
- 70Viewyas Score
- 121 kmFarthest ridge
- 260Peaks in view
- 49 mAltitude
Peak District
United Kingdom · 27 km
- 75Viewyas Score
- 140 kmFarthest ridge
- 347Peaks in view
- 634 mAltitude
Windgather Rocks
United Kingdom · 26 km
- 73Viewyas Score
- 140 kmFarthest ridge
- 383Peaks in view
- 408 mAltitude
The Wheel of Liverpool
United Kingdom · 50 km
- 76Viewyas Score
- 125 kmFarthest ridge
- 358Peaks in view
- 12 mAltitude
Where these figures come from
| Name and type | Wikidata (Q7992032) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| Sun | J. Meeus, Astronomical Algorithms |
| Peaks in view | Peakyas (Wikidata, CC0) |
| Panorama and altitude | Copernicus DEM GLO-90 / GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA |
| Clouds | NASA POWER (CERES SYN1deg, 2001–2020; MERRA-2) |
| What is around | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
| Sister atlases | Peakyas, Islandyas, Lakeyas, Forestyas, Darkskyas, Riveryas |
Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.
The family
Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers, canyons, caves, dark skies, viewpoints, birdwatching or forests?
Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, in seven languages.
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Every island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Visit rivers
Every river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.Visit 
canyons
Every canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Visit 
caves
Every cave with its real depth and length: the rock above, the temperature inside all year, and how to visit.Visit dark skies
Where the night is still dark: the sky of every place, the Milky Way month by month, the Moon, eclipses and auroras.Visit 
viewpoints
Every viewpoint with its real 360° panorama: the peaks you can name, how far you see and where the sun sets.You are here
birdwatching
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