Tips For Visiting The Tower Of London

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Visiting the Tower of London was high on my priority list when we were planning our visit to England. Since we have a few fortresses here in Canada, I couldn’t wait to check one out in Europe! We had a great day we missed some things that I wish we hadn’t! I’ll go over what I wish we knew before we went, but first a little info on the Tower of London:

Tower Of London History

The Tower of London is a palace and fortress located on the River Themes in London. One of the main buildings, The White Tower was built by William the Conqueror in 1078, the rest of the tower has undergone expansions under the control of many Kings. The tower has been many things over the years: a royal residence, a prison, an armory, a treasury, the home of the Royal Mint, and more modernly the home of the Crown Jewels. It is now a UNESCO World Heritage site visited by more than 2.8 million people annually.

Getting To The Tower Of London

The Tower of London is easily accessible by the underground. The Tower Hill station is a 5 minute walk and accessible by the District and Circle Lines.

Bus routes: 15, 42, 78, 100, RV1 stop close by. Major bus tours will also stop at The Tower Of London.

If you arrive by car, there is no onsite parking.

Opening Hours & Tickets

Summer (01 March – 31 October)
Tuesday-Saturday- 09:00-17:30
Sunday-Monday- 10:00-17:30
Last admission- 17:00

Winter (01 November – 28 February)
Tuesday-Saturday- 09:00-16:30
Sunday-Monday- 10:00-16:30
Last admission- 16:00

They are closed on December 24, 25 and 26, & January 1

Buy your tickets online or at the gate. Note that it is more expensive at the gate! There is a discount for families, seniors and full time students. Check out their current prices here.

Onsite Amenities

The Tower of London has free Wi-Fi onsite, as well as bathrooms, and restaurants. There are places to park your strollers (or buggies if you’re from the UK) as well as baby changing facilities if you are traveling with children.

My Top 6 Tips For Visiting The Tower Of London

1) Buy your ticket in advance or have a London Pass.
Luckily we had the London Pass and we got to bypass the long line. The line for tickets can get quite long so in order to have the most time possible to explore, buy your tickets in advance! You also save 15% off the price of the ticket by planning ahead, a win-win! Buy your tickets on the website, or do like we did, and buy the London Pass.

2) Get there early.
I had planned so much into one day; we didn’t get to the Tower Of London until after lunch. Check the hours before you go! The Tower Of London was closing at 4:30 and we ran out of time to explore, and missed out on the Tower Bridge completely.

By [Duncan] from Nottingham, UK (Tower of London from the Shard) [CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

4) No photos of the Crown Jewels.
When you head in to see the Crown Jewels, allow lots of time, and sadly, no photos! They are the real deal and so beautiful.

5) You might be a little let down on the execution site.
I was expecting this – possibly still bloody – big deal of an execution site where people like Anne Boleyn lost their heads. Most executions actually took place outside the Tower of London on Tower Hill. There’s a small “coffee table” (that’s how our Yeoman Warder described in on our tour!) to commemorate the area where executions took place.

6) Check the times guide for re-enactments.
There are lots of re-enactments happening throughout the day in different locations. If any of them are of interest to you, check them out! We didn’t get to see any of these but I wish we had made time for it.

Bonus Tip: Take your time to read and enjoy.
There’s so much to see. It was one of the highlights of our honeymoon and I definitely want to visit again!

Have you visited? Let me know your tips in the comments!

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