UNESCO Reviews

The Tower of London, officially Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle located on the north bank of the River Thames in central London.

Rich history and great interactive attractions. Lots to do and see, including the armory, coin minting, toture chambers, kings chamber and crown jewels. It gets very busy with long wait times. So either get there early or tick another item of your London to do list... Queue like the British.

Go there for the Crown jewels, Diamonds, torture chambers and relics... this is a sight worth seeing.. i would recommend that you buy tickets online to get a good deal or with the big bus... the beef eaters are outstanding do attend their walk through their sense of humour is infectious.

Y'all should visit this place because the history is gr8

Lots of interesting things to see. Very busy place. I recommend eating before heading over there as places to eat are limited & extremely overpriced!

Tower of London.

We have always wanted to visit this iconic attraction but never have had the time over the years but it was worth it...

As for location, getting here is pretty easy, the closest stations are Tower Hill Underground (Circle/District Line) and Tower Gateway (DLR), both are walking distance from here which is great.
As for buses, i know the number 15 passes by here but i'm sure a few more do or close by which i don't know off.

My advice is to book your tickets in advance via their website to save time and perhaps a little money too but if you were to buy them in person, there are locations that sell them right by the attraction. It is a good idea to get there a little early too, saves queuing.

There are time slots if you want to hear the Beefeaters (Yeomen Warders) take you on a little tour about the history of the place which last less than a hour.

There are a few cafes scattered around for refreshments and same goes for the gift shops but speaking of the gift shops, each one are different from the other, so make sure if you want to purchase something, get it there and then, although at the end of your visit, there will be a final gift shop with most, if not all of the smaller ones combined.

Because of the structure, some place aren't made for modern equipment, so if you plan to bring your little one that's still using a pushchair & pram, i wouldn't advice to bring it unless you don't mind leaving it out nearby or have a foldable one.

My advice would be to wear comfortable footwear and perhaps a backpack to put your belongings and gift shop items in to save you carrying it throughout the visit.

Lastly, take your time, don't rush, it should take between 2-4 hours from start to finish.

P.S. Wednesday seem to be the least busiest, perhaps book your visit then?

Great history of the building with their tour what a great place to visit!

This is a great place to visit, along with the portrait gallery. Between the two you are able to pick up a lot of the English history. The Tower really makes you feel like you are exploring castle grounds and taking in all kinds of history. The Yeoman tour is well worth it, very funny tour guides full of information. 10/10 would recommend this on your next stop to London.

It's really an experience walking through the castle, historical artefacts are well preserved and displayed with the use of written description boards, videos, audio. Really very well done.
And we got to enjoy looking at the crown jewels. Do yourself a favour and spare the 3 hours to take this very informative and interesting tour. Some beautiful photo opps.

Great day lots to see , it's amazing how much the British empire stole from everyone !

Very good. Great to see and hear history of this amazing place. Very long lines to some exhibits such as crown jewels.

One of the best place to visit in London - The history & the view. Visit in the afternoon to have the best lighting for taking picture

Amazing day out , so much to see, will definitely go back

Excellent family day out, reasonable price when booked in advance with family concession. Huge queues to buy tickets, far better to skip the queues and buy online. Child friendly activities in half term were free and entertaining. Children loved The Knight School.

What absolute joy that place is, loads to do and see for all ages, truly a wonderful place to visit.

Definitely a must to visit if you're a visitor to london! Great historical place. Can be really crowded at weekends and other holiday times though.

While it is an expensive day out, you do get good value for your money. The tour by the Yeomen Warder is excellent and provides a lot of history, the White Tower has a really great exhibit of armour and they have added an additional room at the end with various interactive games that the children enjoyed. If you have the energy, you could spend and entire day here taking it all in

The social distancing in place is really good. The staff are really helpful and informative. It was amaxing being here while it is so quiet as the photos I got I wouldn't have got otherwise.

Special place with a lot of history. Worth doing the guided tour with the Yeoman Waeders (or Beefeaters)
Go straight to the Crown Jewels because it gets crowded quickly

A great look into the history of London. Take his one tip, get there on opening. We got there just before 9am and there was barely anyone around. It was great.
Then, on exit we saw hoards of bus tours arriving.

Get there early as possible. Long lines and make sure you take a photo of the Raven. Also beefeater tours are a must.

Beefeater Dave is fn Funny, made the tour great. Also when they say no cameras or mobile phone in the chapel, don't use them!!!
Dave had no problems with throwing out someone . Respect Dave

Excellent day out for all, great history lesson for the youngsters and refresher fir the parents and grandparents. Highly recommended minimum half day London excursion.

Lawrence provided us a highly informative and entertaining tour of the castle and tower. Highly recommended, although he did assure us his name should be Malcolm if we didn t enjoy the experience. Thanks very much Lawrence. Learnt more in 30 mins with you than I did my entire journey schooling in Australia.

Amazing castle to visit in London. Wonderful displays and history dripping out of every corner. Very expensive bit worth every penny.

We enjoyed touring the Tower of London. We did not stay with a guide but did overhear guides speaking and they seemed very knowledgeable. It was so cool to see everything inside and we definitely recommend! It does take some time to get through, especially if it's crowded, so plan ahead for spending a few hours here.

This will occupy you all day so much to see and learn about. Highly recommend that to take a guided talk by one of the Yoman warders they are brilliant!

Great site! Definitely worth the visit in the morning when the crowds are smaller. It's short of a star only because by the time I saw most of the sites, the line to see the crown jewels was massive, and I didn't get to see them. Visit early!

Superb day out with lots to see. Don't forget to go around twice past Crown Jewels to take them all in. Truly spectacular.

Loved it! A ton of history and picturesque views! Can easily spend 4-6 hours inside.

We got in for free via my partners work.
It was a good experience and we learned a lot.
I personally wouldn't have payed for a full price ticket as I think it's a little steep. There's a few gift shops inside and facts hidden everywhere. It was interesting to see what it was like back then.
Also nice view of tower bridge.

What a fantastic place a huge amount of history in what can only be described a very small area of london.
Great tours hosted by the yeomanry guards, and last but not least the Crown jewels awesome

Top notch. Could spend an entire day and not see it all. Very nice amor displays. Fun for the family. Lots of stairs.

Wow, what an amazing building and fascinating piece of history. A must see when you are in here. 10 stars for sure! What a great trip.

What an amazing place. On a weekend trip to London we found ourselves with a full day that was dry and sunny. So we headed to the Tower. I had read a few reviews and knew it would be busy but was suprised by the constant flow of people arriving. You can go on free tours or just have a wander by yourself like we did. There are audio tours too of all languages. We spent a good 4 maybe 5 hours here. The queue to the Crown jewels took around 30minutes to get through the doors and then another 20 before you see the actual items. The most interesting place was the armoury in the keep. Absolutely fascinating and a journey through time. Make sure you head in!

Really good family place. 'Beefeater' tours really good and funny. Lots of information and helpful staff.

A great honour to have been a guest here with an insight to age old British history

Love this place obviously its very busy as it's a tourist attraction but it's not that bad it's big enough and lots to do. Recommend the tours by beefeater they very interesting a d kept you entertained as your given the tour around. All beefeaters are helpful and will gladly have photo with you there is so much to see and do give this place a go

Great time learning about history from the Yeoman Warders or "Beefeaters" -- Clive in our case -- who are able to entertainingly explain the oftentimes gruesome history of the place. You can spend quite a few hours going through the various buildings and towers here and still maintain the desire to learn more. Fortunately there are books in the gift shop.

We only visited it from the outside, but it was still impressive.

Awesome weapons collection in the white tower but they don't keep the crown jewels there anymore, which was a bit disappointing.

Excellent must see place in London especially if you have limited time and want to see a castle while visiting London. The price of admission is kinda steep but worth it

Brilliant place to visit. So much to see and not too busy which helps

Went for the Ceremony of the Keys, was very good, mum has been wanting to go for past 50 years but no one took her, until she mentioned it to me. Very quickly informative, although a very long waiting time to see it over a year, it was very good to witness! Definitely recommend

To appreciate The Tower of London one must know a bit of history, as the Tower has played a great roll in English history. The imprisonment of the two young princes, and their kiiing. The execution of Ann Bolyn, 2nd or 3rd wife of Henry VIII, by sword. There is a brass plaque on the ground where this took place. The death of Mary, Queen of Scotts took place there, along with much political activity, and executions to change England from a Catholic country to a Protestant one, "The Church of England" with the various intrigues and wars which were based in religion. The Tower is most definatley a place to visit, also to see the Beefeater guards, in their spectacular uniforms...take time to visit and absorb the history of the place, in fact, study up on English History, and that will make your visit all the more meaningful.

Dripping in history and tradition. One of those places that you have to see more than once.

I expect many who have recently visited the Tower were surprised by the changes. The quality of the presentation of displays and collections has been improved and updated, using excellent visuals and static info plaques. The Wardens(Beefeaters) with their well rehearsed patter wouldn t go amiss at a comedy club. That said, they are very knowledgeable and the passion they feel for their Tower/home comes over. The tickets are a little pricey, though what price to pay for one of the nation s premier historic landmarks.

Fantastic visit. My first trip as a Londoner of over 40 years! The lure of a less crowded environment tipped the balance and the family and I went. Worth getting a year membership in order to visit the other palaces and Royal Gardens around London. Really informative beefeaters and well kept towers.

Absolutely amazing. Plenty of history and Beefeaters were exceptional.

My first time coming here was ten years ago and I visited often, bringing family from India or friends.

Top tourist attraction of London, historic place, good facility, meet the beefeater, great mimic to the day back then. if you don t have time stroll along river bank is also great with the view of Thames river and tower bridge

A must for a London trip. I recommend to use the voice guide.

Well worth a visit. Take the yeoman warders tour it's worth it. But spend a day there.

Really great! Especially for kids. It takes up most of the day though so I might nor recommend it if you only have a few days in London.

I visited the tower of London at the weekend and it is a wonderful impressive building, even more wonderful by night would recommend a visit

Its a historic castle in the middle of ultra modern London city.

The Tower of London, officially Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle located on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, 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 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 defences 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.

Very interesting place, with a special history. Cool to visit this monument, and to see the Queen's jewelry

YW Jason Woodcock gave the guided tour when we visited. Really funny & knowledgeable & we had a great time.

Awe inspiring. The beefeaters were brilliant gents, giving their time to everyone they could. You MUST do this with their tour. I could have spent the whole day there. Very proud to be British :0)

Price is a bit high, but worth it from my view. Take time to talk to a yomen even if you don t do the tour. So interesting. It s a step back and the historical importance is hard to beat. Buy your ticket in advance.

What an amazing place to visit!! I am doing this review and I haven't been since 2015 but this place just still amazes me, I am so desperate to get back. The history of the Tower is just amazing. The Beef Eaters make the experience even more interesting with the humor in the free tours conducted. The jewels are amazing and its fun going to the gift shops. Wear comfy shoes as there is a lot of stairs and walking to be done. Would be spooky at night!

THE Tower of London is one of the places to see before you die. If not the most important sight in whole London, you will undoubtedly be overwhelmed by its thousand year-long history. Listen to one of the Beefeaters in historic uniforms at a guided tour and you will learn so much of the impressive and bloody past of the location and English history. We were lucky enough to get guided by Dave, a witty decorated Ex-Sergeant Major of Her Majesty's Army, formerly stationed in Berlin. A must-see (if not must-have) for sure are the British Crown Jewels, even a glimpse of Cullinan I and Koh-I-Noor enlighten your day. Plan at least 2 to 3 hours and better buy your tickets ahead online to save you some precious time.

Great to spend a morning. Go early and beat the crowds

Fascinating historical location. The tour by the Yeoman warder was entertaining and informative of the history.

It was another great experience in my London staying. I have visited this iconic place more than five times so far and every time the touch with the midievel history excites me. It is impressive how much attention and cares are taken the Tower area to be preserved. Highly recommended is a meeting with the beeffiters and why not to take a pictures with them. All kind of typical London's souvenirs are available in the surounding shops. And if you feel hungry fish and chips in original English way prepared will give you some positive energy.

So much to explore - jewels, white tower, battlements, ravens, beefeaters and actors - excellent

We had a great time at the Tower. The atmosphere, the staff, the things you can see and admire are very inviting. Especially the fact that you can come back to discover more things and and parts of the Tower promises a never ending love story for everybody who'd like to discover the old parts of London with an attractive combination of modern age media.

Its a fantastic place to visit. The history and prestige is difficult to beat, but with that comes the queues!!!!!

Really good place to get a grip on the history of monarchy in London.
Take the Yewman Warder guided tour (free when you bought a ticket).

Very good place, but if you Wana see all the place you have to buy a ticket

it is so beautiful and so historical, the yeoul man is so professional and fun, great,funny and specific introduction. though the ticket is quite expensive.

Ok but nothing more. Maybe I'm too old. On a fairly quiet Covid summer day you queue for 45 mins to go through the jewels display in 10 mins. No additional background info. Gotta be done though.another 30 min queue for White Tower. Very 'meh' inside.

By car it's congested... Let's be real. However, you see people just enjoying themselves and having a good time as a whole. The culture and the architecture of this city is amazing and definitely worth seeing.

If you have an interest in English history, then you will love it!

Loved the expositions, it's a beautiful castle. You can learn a lot of info but it never overwhelms you. Lots is taught through interactive games, especially great for kids. I enjoyed it immensely.

It's a whole day out and a historical time capsule. Expensive but well worth the visit

Loved the your by beefeater, so lively, funny and informative

You must take the tour with one of the "Beefeaters"! They are full of facts and humor. The line to see the Crown Jewels went quickly the day we were there and worth the wait I would say. You will learn lots about the history of London here. This is included on the London Pass.

Would have loved to take the tour with a Beefeater but the kids couldn't understand them.
Great location, Crown Jewels are impressive, torture room was not that spectacular. But Tower of London is definitely worth the visit.