Tower of London Tickets and Tours: how to buy, prices and schedules

On the banks of the Thames, the Tower of London is one of the most famous monuments in the United Kingdom. Nearly 3 million tourists visit this exceptionally preserved medieval Norman fortress every year. There are several ways to get to know the Tower of London: if you prefer to see it at your leisure, you can buy a skip-the-line ticket, and if you prefer to learn more about its history and get a good understanding of every corner, there are guided tours.

The best option

Tower of London Tickets Including Crown Jewels and Beefeater Tour

Tour the inside of the Tower of London with an expert guide

A perfect plan to get to know the legendary Tower of London in depth. Make the most of it and ask the expert guide for advice and recommendations to make your experience as complete as possible.

From £39 at Hellotickets

If you really want to soak up the history behind the walls of the Tower of London and it's your first time visiting, the best way to do it is with this Tower of London tour. On this option you will be accompanied by a guide, allowing you to ask any questions you may have.

With a duration of between 2 and 3 hours, this guided tour will give you the best route to see the most essential parts of this immense architectural complex, including the Crown Jewels exhibition, and will explain step by step everything there is to know about the Tower of London.

Recommended if... you want to learn the best kept secrets of the mysterious Tower of London from an expert guide.

Another option is to go to the entrance and buy your tickets at the ticket office. There you can choose the ticket that includes access to the Crown Jewels. It gives you the chance to see the glittering collection of the Crown Jewels in one day or explore the site on your own at your own pace, but you'll have to wait in the long queues at the entrance.

You can also take a free guided tour inside with an authentic Beefeater guard. If you fancy joining this tour, it starts every half hour and lasts 60 minutes. You'll be taken inside the Tower through the intriguing tales told by these 'Yeomen Warders', guides dressed as the guards who once watched over the Tower's prisoners and guarded the safety of its royal jewels.

The price of the ticket for the Tower of London starts at £40 in Hellotickets. However, if you want your experience to be as complete as possible you can opt for a ticket for the Tower of London with access to the Crown Jewels and tour with a Beefeater guard, whose price is from 44 €.

In addition, you can also combine the Tower of London ticket with other sightseeing plans such as a cruise, so it's an offer to the Tower of London, changing of the guard and Thames cruise, which will cost around €150 or a tour of London and tickets to the Tower of London from €119.

The Tower of London is a must-see and 100% recommended on your trip to the British capital. If you decide to go, you can visit it independently or complement it with a tour of London or even a cruise on the Thames. Here are all the options available:

As one of the most important attractions in London, the Tower of London is included in several of the sightseeing passes, which you can read about in this other article about the Tower of London. London Pass. The London Pass includes everything you can visit in London in terms of cultural and historical sightseeing. You'll have access to over 80 attractions, and you'll save time by skipping the queue at attractions and money by not having to pay for individual tickets for each attraction.

The price of the London Pass varies according to the number of days of use. The maximum duration is 10 days, but you can customise it and pay for 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 days. To give you an idea of the convenience: for example, with a 6-day adult London Pass, priced at around £171, you can visit a number of attractions that if you paid for them separately would add up to over £600.

On the other hand, if you want to see the must-see London in a minimum of 4 days, but would also like to spice up your trip with other leisure activities, such as a visit to Madame Tussauds, the London Dungeon or the London Eye, the London Explorer Pass will be your best option. With this pass you choose by number of attractions to visit, avoiding long queues at each attraction and saving up to 35% on entrance fees.

The Tower of London's monumental ensemble can be overwhelming if you don't have much time for your visit, so I'd like to recommend some of the must-see areas.

The Tower of London is open every day of the year, except 24, 25 and 26 December and 1 January.

The opening times of the Tower of London vary at different times of the year, sometimes opening from 9am to 4.30pm and sometimes from 10am to 5.30pm, so please check the official website, depending on the dates in the calendar when you are travelling.

The Tower of London stands in St Katharine's & Wapping (Tower Hamlets), in the historic and financial centre of London, the famous 'City', and is therefore well served by public transport. On your arrival, get an Oyster Card, which you can buy at any of its underground stations, to move around the capital in a more agile and economical way:

Metro

The nearest tube stop to the Tower of London is Tower Hill (District Line, Circle Line), a 5-minute walk away. You can also get there on the Docklands Light Railway (DLR), as DLR's Tower Gateway Station is right next to Tower Hill tube station.

Bus

Most of London's sightseeing buses, which you will have access to if you choose a London Pass or London Explorer Pass, stop at the Tower of London. By city bus, you can get there on the 15, 42, 78, 100 and RV1.

Train

You can also get to the Tower of London by getting off at Fenchurch Street train stop, a 5 minute walk away, or from London Bridge stop, a 15 minute walk away.

Boat

There are several river cruises on the River Thames, including the London Pass and London Explorer Pass, which make stops to visit the Tower of London. The nearest pier is Tower Pier, which can be reached from Charing Cross, Westminster and Greenwich.

In general, to get from one end of the city to the other, I recommend that you consider taking a cruise on the Thames. There are different types of cruises, I explain all about them in this article on 7 Best Thames River Cruises in London.

An important point to note when visiting the Tower of London is that while it is accessible and will appeal to all types of travellers, you should be aware that it is not accessible with certain needs such as a wheelchair.

It does, however, have a number of volunteers (subject to availability) to help visitors with special needs. For the latter, there is also the possibility of access with an assistance animal and information in Braille, in most of the attraction, for the blind or visually impaired, as well as the possibility of hiring a sign language interpreter for the deaf or hearing impaired.

There are also paid audio guides to enhance your visit (around £4), a lift to one of the most iconic parts of the attraction, 'The White Tower', and seats to rest your legs at various points in the fortress, as well as several toilets, some of them adapted (mainly those on the outside of the Tower).

Built in 1066, this fortress overlooking central London has been truly 'depreciated' over its nine centuries of life. It was once a terrifying prison of inhumane conditions, a place of execution for notorious traitors to the Crown and later became a Royal residence.

During its history, it has also been used as an armoury, Royal Mint and treasury and even as a custodian of the Crown Jewels and as a zoo for wild animals. There is plenty of history to be discovered within its walls. In fact, a tour of the entire architectural ensemble will take you no less than 3 hours.

For all these reasons, the Tower of London was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1988.

Thanks to the exceptional location of the Tower of London, you can take advantage of your visit to discover other important places in the city. Just 293 metres from the Tower of London you will discover City Hall, the futuristic building that houses London's City Hall and, a little further on, 343 metres away, walk across the city's most famous bridge, Tower Bridge.

Nearby, 569 metres from the Tower of London, you can admire the Monument to the Great Fire, a 61-metre Doric stone column that represents the great fire that devastated London in 1666 and its subsequent reconstruction.

If you're interested in naval history, you'll enjoy (244m from the Tower of London) the HMS Belfast, a floating museum that was the flagship of the British Navy. Within this area you'll also have the opportunity to cross London Bridge, the bridge over the River Thames that connects the City of London with the borough of Southwark.

Vicky's Traveller Tip

While you're in the area, take the opportunity to go up to the incredible viewpoint of The View from the Shard, on the other side of the river.

If besides the history and architecture of the famous Tower of London you are interested in visiting other key places in the history of England, I invite you to read this other article I wrote about the Tower of London. London Westminster Abbey Tickets: how to buy and pricesone of the most emblematic places in the city.

A smart way to get around the big city is the hop-on, hop-off bus. Don't be swayed by the opinion that it's too touristy, because after all, it will allow you to move quickly between the city's sights while still enjoying the sights. I tell you all about it in the London Sightseeing Buses.