The Tower of London Pt 1 - Planning a Visit
With some 2.8 million visitors in 2017, the Tower of London is the most visited paid for attraction in the UK. It goes without saying therefore that a bit of planning before going there will help the visit go more smoothly.
Timing is always important of course, but with a steep entry price of £26.80 without donation for a full adult fare (Jan 2019), it pays to find out if you can reduce your admission costs. If, like me, you travel to London by train, then you can check out the 2for1 London offers available to passengers here https://www.daysoutguide.co.uk/tower-of-london
The offer, if it’s available, is based solely on the full price adult ticket including donation, which as of January 2019 is £29.50; in other words, a total of £29.50 for two people regardless of whether you qualify for a concession or not.
There are also reductions of 15% on the Tower of London website if you book in advance.
It may be worth considering a membership to the ‘Historic Royal Palaces’ which also covers Hampton Court Palace, Kensington Palace, the Banqueting House and Kew Palace (Kew Gardens are not included). The current individual cost is £52 a year for a Direct Debit membership (Jan 2019).
Getting to the Tower is pretty straightforward. Tower Hill Tube station is just across the road.
For those who are interested, the site of The Scaffold can be seen on Tower Hill, so you may want to check it out before crossing the busy road to the Tower. There were only 7 executions inside the Tower and 125 on Tower Hill.
After crossing the road, the Welcome Centre where you buy your tickets is on the right-hand side and the entrance to the Tower is usually through the West Gate, but not always. It’ll be well signposted in any case.
After entering the Tower, you may want to consider going on one of the popular ‘Yeoman Warder’ tours. They run every half an hour and last about an hour. I’m not usually one to go on guided tours but I’d make an exception for one of these. Not only are they a part of the image, but they’re also very informative and highly entertaining – just don’t call them ‘Beefeaters’.
There are no hidden extra costs after buying your ticket and photography is permitted except in the Crown Jewels, the Chapel Royal of St. Peter ad Vincula, the Martin Tower and the Chapel of St. John inside the White Tower.
To see most of the things there are to see I suggest that you allow at least 3 hours. Ok. It can be expensive to visit, but if you’re not likely to get another chance, it’s still worth biting the bullet, especially if you can find an offer that trims the admission price.
Originally posted 2019-01-20 09:38:35.
Visited hre in the 70s so yes, this took me back. Can’t remember what it cost then but I think it was still pricey. Then again it is London so….. greatpsot.
As much as I like to go off the beaten path, sometimes you just have to bite the bullet and mingle with lots of other tourists to see places like the Tower of London. So much of our history went on behind those walls.
You do a good mixture of both actually.
I’m glad you think so Shey 🙂
I absolutely do. and it is good to visit and to show you have, the bigger attractions too.
You probably would have guessed that I do everything in my power to visit hotspots at a quiet time.
Well you are wiise but at least you do it. We once wandered through St. Peter’s Square at midnight… Totally deserted.
I don’t know if you’re religious or not, but that would have been quite a poignant moment even if you’re not.
I’m not religious but it was quite something because it is always crowded there.
I’m not religious either but I did the opposite to you. Went there in 1978 on a Sunday in September and saw Pope John Paul I address a huge crowd in St Peter’s Square. He died only a few days later, and had only reigned for 33 days. We were supposed to be on holiday, but the country went into mourning and everything was shut up for days.
Right. I think I’ve probably got heroines who would say, ‘One hates to speak ill of the dead BUT how inconsiderate was that?….’ My husband is religious and the first time we went to Rome he had to hear mass said there and it was unbearably packed. We also stayed both times we went in a hotel that was nearby so we did pass through it a bit and it was always busy but that night..well.. …
Rome is a fantastic city, whether you’re religious or not.
We loved it. We would have gone back but the price of flights, not Rome itself but getting there, just got ridic. Our younger girl and her hubby finnally got round to going there for his belated 40th last October. She messaged me when she was looking into it all to ask how the hell we had afforded the hotel we were in both times cos they had looked at it given where it was for accessibility. I think it had been entirely revamped since we went so obvi it was dearer, but the cost was why our gazes fell instead upon Prague.
As they say – So many places to see and so little time to see them, and they could also add and’ so little money’ to see them with
Exaactly…. What was ironic was it was that daughter and her man who put us onto Prague cos they had a long weekend there some yaers back and when they told us the price and the cost of thigns there…well… that was it. But you avhe to factor in so much especially these days.
I was there once, years ago, but I can’t remember when or with whom.