UNESCO Reviews

Wow what a place. Well worth a visit. Missed the crown jewelry. The queue was soooo long. It went around half the courtyard.

Well maintained. Visited during pandemic so some areas closed but still worthwhile. Lovely to see it a bit quieter and without the usual crowds.

I love this place. You can literally spend a whole day looking around here. Get yourself a ticket and get inside the tower. You can explore all the armours, the gruesome torture tools used hundreds of years ago and of course, the crown jewels. I recommend buying your tickets in advance if you wish to make the most of this day out as the que to buy tickets can be long. The history in this place is absolutely amazing and make sure you take time to read all the information plaques as you will learn some really fascinating facts about our monarchy. What are you waiting for? Get down there..

Great place to visit. Kind of has a little chilling feeling with all the history it holds, especially the dungeons and where there was torture. Loved seeing the Ravens, such beautiful birds.

Loved all of it! Go on one of the guided tours! You will not be disappointed.

Well I loved it, other than the fact that they claim to have Koh-i-Noor and other jewels from around the world to be theirs. Expensive ticket and deceiving prices as the donation from your side is automatically added without asking. Other then that, nice place and for art and history lovers, take your time out for this lovely place

The Tower of London, officially Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is separated from the eastern edge of the square mile of the City of London by the open space known as Tower Hill. It was founded towards the end of 1066 as part of the Norman Conquest of England. The White Tower, which gives the entire castle its name, was built by William the Conqueror in 1078 and was a resented symbol of oppression, inflicted upon London by the new ruling elite. The castle was also used as a prison from 1100 (Ranulf Flambard) until 1952 (Kray twins), although that was not its primary purpose. A grand palace early in its history, it served as a royal residence. As a whole, the Tower is a complex of several buildings set within two concentric rings of defensive walls and a moat. There were several phases of expansion, mainly under kings Richard I, Henry III, and Edward I in the 12th and 13th centuries. The general layout established by the late 13th century remains despite later activity on the site.

The Tower of London has played a prominent role in English history. It was besieged several times, and controlling it has been important to controlling the country. The Tower has served variously as an armoury, a treasury, a menagerie, the home of the Royal Mint, a public record office, and the home of the Crown Jewels of England. From the early 14th century until the reign of Charles II, a procession would be led from the Tower to Westminster Abbey on the coronation of a monarch. In the absence of the monarch, the Constable of the Tower is in charge of the castle. This was a powerful and trusted position in the medieval period. In the late 15th century, the castle was the prison of the Princes in the Tower. Under the Tudors, the Tower became used less as a royal residence, and despite attempts to refortify and repair the castle, its defensive systems lagged behind developments to deal with artillery.

The peak period of the castle's use as a prison was the 16th and 17th centuries, when many figures who had fallen into disgrace, such as Elizabeth I before she became queen, Sir Walter Raleigh, and Elizabeth Throckmorton, were held within its walls. This use has led to the phrase "sent to the Tower". Despite its enduring reputation as a place of torture and death, popularised by 16th-century religious propagandists and 19th-century writers, only seven people were executed within the Tower before the World Wars of the 20th century. Executions were more commonly held on the notorious Tower Hill to the north of the castle, with 112 occurring there over a 400-year period. In the latter half of the 19th century, institutions such as the Royal Mint moved out of the castle to other locations, leaving many buildings empty. Anthony Salvin and John Taylor took the opportunity to restore the Tower to what was felt to be its medieval appearance, clearing out many of the vacant post-medieval structures.

In the First and Second World Wars, the Tower was again used as a prison and witnessed the executions of 12 men for espionage. After the Second World War, damage caused during the Blitz was repaired, and the castle reopened to the public. Today, the Tower of London is one of the country's most popular tourist attractions. Under the ceremonial charge of the Constable of the Tower, and operated by the Resident Governor of the Tower of London and Keeper of the Jewel House, the property is cared for by the charity Historic Royal Palaces and is protected as a World Heritage Site.

Excerpt from Wikipedia

Plenty to see and read about. Enthusiastic tour guide

Loved this place. I was so impressed. We had a guided tour with one of the warders. He was very funny and very knowledgeable. I went with my husband and would love to go back and take our daughter. It isn't wheelchair friendly and I think disabled people would struggle to see everything.

I was working as a waitress. Too many steps for me to carry food up & down!

Excellent experience. Take the beefeaters tour, and plan for plenty of time to see all of the tower.

Great place. More to see and do than we ever thought. Scott Kelly was a great Yeomen Guard. Fab tour with him.

Interesting to see, as you realize that the bridge and the tower are two separate things! We didn't do the tour, but were glad to see the exterior architecture nonetheless. I suggest using metro to get there and a river taxi to continue on to Westminster, etc. A great way to see the city.

Very interesting place. Much bigger than I thought it would be. Somewhat confusing to find your way around so I know I missed bits that would have been interesting if I could have found them.

If you love history, this is definitely the place to visit. Especially when listening to the tours by the Beefeaters.

Well worth the visit. I recommend this tour it is very interesting and the guide was one of the best I've ever had. The place is full of history and there are a lot of things to see here.

Our tour guide, Shady, was fantastic with lots of humourous anecdotes and we had a wonderful day out. However the food from the cafe was cold, bland and over priced. Aside from that it's a great attraction.

Great day out. Be prepared to queue but plenty to see and do for all ages. Pricey to get in so worth checking out corporate deals like CSSC which we used.

Went there for remembrance day 2018 and beautiful display of torches! Serene!

Great Place to visit and get historic knowledge about English Kings and Quuens. A lot of information points in few languages( even in Polish - but sad right now they dont offer audio guides in Polish). A lot of clean toilets. Ticket could be little cheaper. You need at least 5-6 h to visit all places.

Incredible place, amazing history and very knowledgeable tour guides, tour takes about 50 minutes. Ticket price grants access to all areas including seeing the crown jewels. Obviously no parking onsite but very easy to find ! And easy underground or DLR transport links.

It was nicely maintained; Certain rooms were greatly researched and explained clearly to visitors. You literally walk amongst centuries of English History here so it is a must-visit area.

So much to look at! The crown Jewell s are breathtaking but you re not allowed to take pictures. Allow 3-4 hours for your visit.

Excellent experience, would highly recommend. Needs 3-4 hrs to see it all, the Yeoman Warder (Beefeater) guided tour is an absolute must, they are both extremely knowledgeable and very funny.

Amaze! Highly recommended that you check out the walking tour as the beefeater guide would introduce the history of the place, do take note that the whole tour takes 45mins-1hr and will end up at the chapel right smack in the center of the attraction.

If you have the london pass, you get to enter for free!

Humbling experience to see the lights. It was organised and planned well.

Thank you to the organisers.

I didn't go in so fair warning: This review is not about the experience but just about the building. And it's a good place to visit just to look at. It's a really nice historic building and really close to the tower bridge.

Well worthwhile experience and a must see while in London. Definately recommend taking one of the Yeoman tours and seeing the crown jewels. The line will be long but are incredible.

Visited to see the flames in the moat to remember the fallen at the end of ww1. Very moving. Extremely busy but a good evening

This site has been on my "to do" list for a while. We finally made it to the UK, so we added the tower to our list of sites to see, and it did not disappoint. So much English history here to take in. Pace yourself and don't miss the Yeoman Warder's tour. Very informative.

The history of such a building is incredible.
The artistry of the crown jewels is breathtaking.
The craftsmanship of the armor is amazing
Great experience, if your a history buff expect to spend most of the day.

Beefeater tour was excellent. The rest, while well organized and beautifully maintained, wasn't the most thrilling. I think kids would like it more

Absolutely love this place, so much fun, dark history, easy to take yourself back and imagine how things were. Would recommend a beefeater tour for good amounts of info and plenty of laughs

Amazing, you really feel you are experiencing history at first hand. The guided tour by the woman beef eater was both funny and very informative. Well worth the money. Give yourself several hours for the visit

Amazing piece of history and oustanding host by the Beefeater Especially the legend himself Scott Kelly...

The jewels were amazing. The history is fascinating

My Husband and I had a wonderful experience at the Tower of London. We learned a lot from the tours, especially the Yeoman Warder tour. We also went on the White Tower tour which I also recommend! Allow 3-4 hours during off-peak times and 4-5 hours during peak times so you have chance to see everything! The Tower of London is perfect for those who love to learn about history :)

Mostly a great day, except for a Welsh Guardsman by The Jewel House shouting aggressively at my six year old without due cause, after which my children were too upset to continue our visit.

Do not visit London without stopping at the tower. It's a really amazing castle, perfect for children and adults. The beefeaters are awesome and hilarious, make SURE to catch one of their tours while there. Highlights include the crown jewels, arms and armor museum in the central tower, and amazing views of tower bridge. There is a lot of walking, so I'd recommend seeing the tower earlier in your trip. Takes London pass with no wait, just go directly to the entrance.

People look at the price an go eeeessshhh! But go round an see everything totally worth every penny. Enjoyed learning on british history and all the fabulous people from history

Great experience to do whilst in London. Be aware that you'll likely need to queue for certain rooms, such as the Crown Jewels.

Go there and have a bellly triangle, you'll love it

Great tour! Definitely recommend the yeoman tour: informative, official, yet hilarious.

Worth joining a Beefeater tour around the Tower, they're usually very entertaining and bring the Tower's gruesome history to life!

Everything looked brilliant and the staff were all friendly and helpful! There was so much to see, I'd definitely come back sometime.

Such an historic and wonderful place to visit! The same place where Kings are buried and Anne Boleyn was beheaded. This is a must see if you're visiting London.

Absolutely Fantastic place to visit and very interesting

Ask the guards to tell you the story of whose keys in the closing of the castle ceremony. Oldest show in the world. Not interrupted not even by wars.

Absolutely fascinating visit and well worth the admission price, considering you can spend a whole day here. Crown Jewels breathtaking and rather sad photos weren t permitted in the vaults. Beefeaters ran both funny and fascinating walking tours around the extensive grounds and left with wonderful tales from years gone by. Brilliant.

Fantastic place to visit. I highly recommend the guided tour.

Love it! Take your walking shoes. And plan on being there most of the day it's worth it though is you love history!

Was great was a really good day and very interesting

Great site to gain knowledge of British history. A lovely day out.

Good place , crown of jewels must to visit . Need 4~5 hrs to really go thru all places .

One of the more expensive tourist attractions, but there's quite a lot to see and fun activities for kids (at least in summer). The tour with the Beefeater is a must!

Fantastic place to visit and free to get in as part of the London pass system. You must do the yeoman talks very entertaining and all included in the entrance fee. Also chance to see the crown jewels

Take a yoeman's tour. Fun and informative! See the crown jewels & the white tower. It's all amazing!

Fabulous a must see attraction very busy but worth the queuing.

Queue die crown Jewels on a Sunday is a disaster. Goes way to slow. But all the rest is worth to see. Free guide tours are great. The guide "spike", he was great

Wonderful experience. It would be best to read a little history about the Tower of London before the visit to be able to appreciate its history. We also tried the restaurant inside, food was great.

Love this place. Great value and lots of history to see. Beautiful pics to be had.

Great piece of history, can get congested when busy. They offer a military discount.

It's a great visit, about 4 hours without children and crowds. It is a lot of up and down steps. The beefeater tour is fab especially if you get AJ the lady warder.

if you join a member of the hrp , you can enjoy annual membership , while the ticket can be refunded for the registration
the tower of London has displayed many gems , crowns, and noble instruments 10 centuries ago. Not the least the bitterness of the execution, death of pets of kings in the tower and notorious imprisonment of the officials once set the fire on thames.

Worth the price of admission. Tons of history and plenty on the grounds to see, even some royal jewels. My family and I loved it.

Attended the Remembrance lighting of the lamps. Surrounding facilities were understaffed and I'll equipped to deal with the larger than normal crowds. G4S also struggled to control the numbers, thankfully there was no, for example First Aid incident that required Ambulance assistance, the crew would have struggled to get access to the casualty. The Tower itself awesome. Make sure you're well funded, everything is expensive.

Being a Londoner I cant believe I've only been to see the crown jewels twice in my life. Well worth a visit. Beefeaters very friendly and informative. Grandchildren loved it.

World heritage site, a place for Kohinoor Diamond...

One of the best historic place to visit in London beautiful autumn is here central London easy to reach and cover long time of History if you are visiting the Tower of London go to Tower Bridge, I highly advise you to buy the combo ticket cheaper but it will be a very long day

It was enjoyable to be immersed in the rich history of the tower. Also fun was the friendly and witty banter with Beefeaters against the backdrop of rich historical structures. The crown jewels constantly left me expecting Johnny English to turn a corner and give a queen-lookalike a football tackle!
Defo a recommend!

A fascinating place to visit with lots of background history

One of London icons. Well worth a visit. Entrence fee typical London price but when going with one of the yeoman it's worth every penny. Full of history and so close to the modern London that every picture taken looks great. I would recommend a visit to everyone.

Surely the name of this place sells itself. What more can be said. Nice walk back on the South Bank tho the London Eye. Allow for an hours walk for this. Longer if you stop off to take in more sights or stop off at one of the many bars and restaurants along the way

Impressive. Got to see the Kohinoor. And tons (literally tons) of gold and a lot of history. Well organised / managed. Despite being crowded we never felt rushed or cramped. The ravens were pretty cool too!

Booked a london pass ticket to gain access. All very easy and enjoyable. Relevant historical informations

It s an amazing place, full of history, a little expensive for my taste but beside that is pretty good. I visited with my children using a stroller, not 100% recommended but possible, a little extra effort

Best museum I ve found so fare while exploring London. The price is slightly on the higher side but you get to see the Crown Jewels and other notable items that everyone has heard from word of mouth. Also allows you to see the Tower Bridge quite well. A lot of good displays and history to learn.