UNESCO Reviews

From medieval torture to grim executions and infamous royal prisoners, the Tower of London has long found itself at the center of the city's dark history. Built by William the Conqueror in 1066, the historic castle has served as a Royal Menagerie, Her Majesty's prison, an execution site, a royal observatory, a Royal Mint, and a military storehouse over the course of its existence.

The Basics

Today, the tower famously displays the Crown Jewels (which include the Imperial State Crown) and holds centuries of history within its walls, drawing travelers from near and far. It remains guarded by members of the Royal Bodyguards, known as Beefeaters. Visitors can admire the Royal Armouries in the White Tower, walk along the battlements, and see where Anne Boleyn was executed by order of Henry VIII. The popular Torture at the Tower exhibit, the Coins and Kings exhibit at the Royal Mint, the Fusilier Museum, and the Line of Kings all shed light on the tower's history.

Things to Know Before You Go

This is an incredibly popular London attraction, so it's recommended that you buy your ticket or book your tour in advance.

Choose an early-access tour to beat the crowds, or combine your trip with visits to other top London sites.

Special events, medieval reenactments, and family activities are held at the tower throughout the year.

How to Get to the Tower of London

The tower is located at the north end of the Tower Bridge on London's Thames River waterfront. The closest tube station is Tower Hill via the Circle and District lines.

When to Get There

The tower is open March to October from 9am to 5:30pm (Sunday and Monday from 10am) and November to February from 9am to 4:30pm (Sunday and Monday from 10am). Due to its popularity, queues can get long, especially in the afternoon visiting first thing in the morning is your best bet to avoid crowds.

Unlocking the Tower's Secrets

The tower's wildly entertaining Beefeaters, or Yeoman Warders, share stories and secrets on the widely recommended Beefeater tour. Learn fun facts such as how six ravens are kept at the Tower of London at all times, and how legend has it that if they ever leave, the tower will fall. There's even a "raven master" tasked with looking after them and a seventh raven on hand just in case. Tours begin every 30 minutes.

Explore and wander dont just stick to the crown jewels ( amazing yes the castle is more so) climb the battlements and visit all the towers and enjoy the majestic white tower, you can spend 3 hours just enjoying the early norman design.

Had an excellent day here very very interesting history of our once great country, child friendly place lovely food outlets and friendly and helpful staff. But if I was you only go in the summer time it can be quite cold going around even inside the building's

Fabulous experience, so much history. Join a free tour with a local guide, a Beefeater and learn about the stories and tales of the Tower of London. The grand finale is the Crown Jewels, feel free to ask as many questions about the jewels, absolutely fascinating, some items were used in Prince Harry and Megan Markles wedding and how they transport them to the venues. Check out the vault doors!

Excellent visit that was more than entertaining, it was educational for this visitor from the States. A great representation of the history and roots of the English monarchy.

Must see spot. Enjoy the euro castles and the historic story inside. London pass is permitted and QR code is fast track.

Lovely to see all the lit lanterns. It was such a memorable event. Well done to the organisers.

This is a brilliant day out. But get there early to see the Crown Jewels or prepare for a long Que.

Try and take the Yoeman tour. Such a joy to listen to. The Yoeman delivered so much history in most interesting of ways. Getting to see the Crown Jewels is also amazing. Put this trip on your bucket list.

Beautiful place to visit in London. Pricey but worth the money spent if you are in London.

Sincerely appreciate the beauty and it only requires empathatizing the history to leave a statement in ones heart.

Amazing historical building! You want to have a fun day...take a guide whilst there! Those guys do an awesome job!

Interesting to see. Expect to spend a whole afternoon. Ticket fee is high. Take a walk over London Bridge after you exit or walk along the Thames.

Great place for young and old. A full day can be spent here. You can take your own food in or buy there. Highly recommended.

Just wow!! History meet modern, from how was to be medieval soldier to the queen jeweliry. Unforgattable experience!! Do not miss that!

Beautiful place to visit with your loved ones!! Stay back till evening and enjoy beer or PIMMS just below the tower of London at the castle!!

A must do in London
The nicest Tower of London close to all the others touristic attractions
Lots of happening all year long

I would recommend buying your tickets online in order to skip the massive lineup that will normally be there for tickets. Getting the audio guide is recommended, as it helps to elaborate and expand upon the various exhibits found throughout the castle.

If you want to see the Crown Jewels and not wait in line for over an hour, one should probably get here when it opens and go straight there. That said, there's so much more to see here other than the Jewels.

If you actually take your time going through here, you'll likely spend upwards of 5 hours touring the complex. Well worth the visit.

Great to visit first thing in the morning before it gets busy.

This place is most loved tourist attraction and a historical place. The world famous diamond "Koh-e-noor " is kept here for display and other very interesting items belonging to the royal families of earlier generation also displayed here.

Really amazing history and beautiful architecture. Definitely a must visit when in London.

Amazing history. Make sure to listen to a tour guide to start the tour

Amazon place with a lot of history facts ! Must do !

Must see in London, so much history in one place. The ravens were here too !

Its good historic place with lots of things to see including Kohinoor. One can easily spend 1.5 to 2 hours here. Ticket price is approximately GBP 30. At times it is very crowded.

Lots to see. Can be very busy and crowded at times. But worth a visit. Cafe there looked very nice

Great place, very interesting. The staff are very helpful also! The only thing would be, that a left luggage office would be MUCH appreciated...

Easy to spend most of the day there. Try the Ravens cafe for a quick lunch the sausages are pretty good.

Great location and museum. The royal jewels are beautifull

Another great visit ! HUGE, full of story and we got to see the jewels of the crown AND some ravens in action eating KFC hahahaha

Amazing landmark, absorb history around you mixed with the modern cafes and restaurants to take a rest in. A beautiful setting to get some great family pictures, make a day of it and see the tower In all of its glory. There is an annual BHF run held at tower of london moat - great fun to help and support charities.

WE ran the tower of london run in support of the British heart foundation in memory of our late Uncle Qadir. RIP UNCLE Q

Great bit of British history. A must if you are sight seeing. Home to the crown jewels and so much history to take in. Great for familes/couples/individuals.

Lots of nice places near by. Make sure you visit via Tower Bridge amd get lovely views from across the river. Shops and places to eat near by.

Brilliant day out. Tour by Yeoman Dave was excellent!!!

Great place to visit if stuck in London for the day. My self and the girlfriend had a good time. It's more like a museum than anything else. Great for any history buffs. If I really had to be picky it would be the price.

Some incredible history lessons and visuals along with one seriously old bathroom! Worth every min of traffic, people and time.

Lovely place to visit. We have visited a couple of times. The yeomen and other staff are very friendly and helpful. It is best for photos on a sunny blue sky day. Definitely recommend

One day is not enough to see everything! We took the tour with Yeoman Warder Jason Woodcock and enjoyed it thoroughly! Nice installations and exhibits.

Brilliant place to see the crown jewels and other things. plenty to see and spend time.

It's a large expanse.. loads of history. Majestic structure standing the test of time..
gets tiring as you walk around. The crown of jewels is interesting. The white tower has three storeys and is full of the armour collection. For an ametuer like me, it gets monotonous and exhausting after a point. The other towers are good.

Enjoyed it but wish parents would keep their little brats under control

Queue to see the jewels was too long to make it worth the wait.

The Tower of London makes for a great trip, though I will warn you in advance that this is very popular location. If you think that arriving in the morning fresh faced is going to allow you to beat the crowds think again. The Tower is formidable to look upon and when I was with a tour guide we got to learn about the locations long and bloody history. On a lighter not for anyone who enjoys unique nonfiction, ask about how the first escape from he tower happened.

So much history and has the potential to be so much better. The Crown Jewels are the focus but after that I found it hard to find significant points of interest. The history in the the towers and of the two Princes could be much better explained.

Beyond The Deepening Shadow: The Tower Remembers.
Amazing display for WW1 Centenary.

Excelent castle, but it's best to go on a day when it's not too crowded.

Awesome, well worth the time. Go early to see the crown jewels.

My second visit and loved it just as much as the first time. Really worth a visit if you are in London. We had time to visit only for about 2 and a half hours or so and it was definitely enough to see the most important bits and some extras. Definitely start with the Crown jewels and work your way around it at your own pace afterwards.

We visited in early December - a quiet time for visitors. There is plenty to see , with lots of written and recorded information. I enjoyed seeing the Crown jewels . Modern history ( during the Second world war ) is also covered. There are lots of places to buy food and drinks, and the staff are very knowledgeable and helpful.

I remember watching horror movies says a little kid and seeing the tower of London and thinking that it was really a tower, and now that I've been to the tower of London I realize that it's not a tower at all but more of a museum that set up to showcase a lot of English antiquities. it's a great selection of medieval armor and weapons artwork and other things that are fun to look at it makes about a half a day or so of an interesting visit be sure not to miss the tour. The tour starts in courtyard out front where there's a trebuchet. If you like my reviews click like

Clive was an excellent tour guide (very informative). Highly recommended if you have 2-3 hours to explore.

Great historical place. It's a recommended place to visit if you are in London

Had a great time wandering around and taking it all in. Crown Jewel exhibit was very well done. Totally worth doing, just get there early and I'd recommend the audio guide. The tour guides are just great and worth sticking around for.

Huge, interesting, and iconic. I would recommend the crown jewels definitely. A surreal experience.

Lots of interesting history ofcourse. But with the hoards of tourists it loses It's magic . You have to stand in line for att least 30 min to get in to Every room. For the crown jewels even longer. I Didn't get to see Them at all. That line was way to long and it was way to hot.

An amazing place, full of history. Loved it here. Need 3 hrs at least to take it all in.

A good trip. The wardens are very informative. A part of history that simply has to be seen.

Absolutely terrific place to visit on a visit to London. It s on a short list of places I would add to a one-day itinerary. The fortress is impressive. I wasn t expecting to care much for the Crown Jewels, but they were the real deal. If you should up early in the day, just after opening, you can see them without waiting.

Going here is like paying for access to several museums. If you buy the London Pass, it includes admission to the Tower.

For lunch, there isn t much around the tower, but you could walk about 15 minutes to Burrough Market across London bridge.

I love going to London and the Tower of London is one of my favourite place to visit

Fantastic. Take a tour they are great at engaging you in the history. Definitely worth doing.

Tower of London, wonderful, a fantastic piece of our heritage we loved and will definatly return to explore all it's hidden treasures, and to top it all my wife was over the Moon at having met the Raven master, and he was such a pleasant person and signed her copy of his Raven Master book, and also photo with him, spectacular, and an added bonus an actual Raven eating from her hand, a truly remarkable day, with lots to see and do also the Yeoman guides are all excellent at their job very witty + informative also knowledgeable fantastic highly recommend.Don't miss out go and see it for yourselves.

The entrance fee isn't that high, especially considering the fact that they have special prices for families and the elderly, etc. You can easily spend a full day strolling around on the castle grounds, and learn quite a bit about the history of The Tower of London. I'd without a doubt recommend a visit here to anyone, whether a local or a tourist.

Real cool place, saw alot and learned even more. In school really didnt pay attention in history but saw how much I missed out on and there's so much things to see and do from audio tour to a live tour which you get to see more than if you did the tour yourself.

Really worth the visit. Make sure you take one of the Yeoman's tours. Very entertaining and enlightening. Crown jewels exhibit is much better now since our last visit a few years ago.

Get there early - opening time.

Nice castle with tons of history both great and gruesome

Disappointed in the fact that i think there could be more information on the displays

Well impressed and the beefeater was excellent and very knowledgeable

Ohh, the jewels. Splendid and marvellous. I love everything BRITISH.

London's calling for our little autistic boys first attraction and from the off he loved every minute of the experience and a big thumbs up to the staff for all thier help with making us feel at ease with what can sometimes be quiet a challenge to negotiate ! Thank you Team Tower of London

Beautiful grounds and we enjoyed the daffodils in bloom. The Crown Jewels were in separate queue which moved quickly. The display was set up nicely. We visited on a Saturday. They had some very popular interactive activities for the kids going on. Our personal favorite was the up close and personal Ravens!

Amazing to be able to see a place steeped in history as a Palace, a prison and a fortress. Start tour at the crown jewels. The lines get extremely long and much time can be wasted standing in line

The Tower of London is a great place for anyone to visit. From the Bloody Tower to the crown jewels, there is so much to see and even more history to discover.

The Yeomam Guards (The Queen's Body Guard of the Yeomen of the Guard) are really informative and friendly. It is well worth joining with one of the guided tours, which are free of charge. These are informative and entertaining.

The crown jewels are everything you could imagine. But if there is no line to get in, then go and see them then. The line will quickly grow and it could take some time to get in.

The central White Tower is home to a large collection of armour.

You can visit various towers each with their own exhibition, from displays of gold crowns, to the history of the Royal Menagerie (a menagerie is a collection of captive animals, frequently exotic, kept for display), although no wild animals are kept there now.

The history of royal tragedy and intrigue is all contained within the walls.

I mean it's the Tower of London it's freaking amazing. Lots of cobblestone so wear flats!

perfect view of the tower and the tower bridge, big bus stop near by, and lots of in street bars and food shacks, several river cruise stops as well.

Wonderful place to visit in London ! The rich historical heritage of the UK is nicely exposed here. Find out about the crown jewels, kings, queens and prisons in here.

Awesome historical place and you can see marvelous Kohinoor of India .You can see all the diamonds at one place.worth to watch.

Was amazing as always, and not too many tourists. Was actually peaceful.