No other building in Britain has packed in as much history as the Tower of London — and most of it is the kind you’d cross the road to avoid in person. Nearly a thousand years of coronations and executions, imprisonment and treasure, all crammed into one riverside fortress that has been a palace, a jail, a mint, a zoo and, still, the vault for the Crown Jewels. The catch is the crowds: get your timing wrong and you’ll spend your visit in a queue. Get it right and it’s the best few hours of history in London. Here’s how.
A Thousand Years in One Fortress
The Tower began as a statement of conquest. After winning at Hastings in 1066, William the Conqueror raised a great stone keep by the Thames to overawe his new capital; that keep — the White Tower, begun around 1078 — still stands at the heart of it all. According to Historic Royal Palaces, later kings wrapped it in rings of walls and a moat.
It’s the darker history people come for. Prisoners arrived by boat through Traitors’ Gate, and a select, unlucky few were executed on Tower Green — including two of Henry VIII’s queens, Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard, and the nine-day queen Lady Jane Grey. Today the Tower guards the working Crown Jewels, is watched over by the Yeoman Warders (“Beefeaters”) and its famous resident ravens, and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site (1988).
Getting There
The nearest Underground station is Tower Hill (District and Circle lines), two minutes’ walk away; Tower Gateway (DLR) and London Bridge are also close, and Thames river boats stop at Tower Pier — arriving by boat is the atmospheric option.
Best Tower of London Tours & Skip-the-Line Tickets
Tower of London Entry with Crown Jewels & Beefeater Tour — Best Overall
Admission plus a guided run through the Crown Jewels, White Tower, Traitors’ Gate and Tower Green — the easiest way to make sense of a very layered site.
Early-Access Crown Jewels Tour with the Opening Ceremony — Best for Beating the Crowds
Get in before the public, watch the official opening ceremony, and stand in front of the Crown Jewels in near-silence — the single best fix for the Tower’s biggest problem.
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Tickets, Timing & How to Beat the Queue
- Adult admission is about £37 (online is the same price as the gate, but booking online guarantees your date). Under-5s are free, and there are concession rates for children, students and over-65s. Historic Royal Palaces members go free — and membership (from about £65 a year, covering Hampton Court, Kensington Palace and three more) pays for itself in roughly two visits.
- Go at opening, mid-week. The Tower opens at 9am Tuesday–Saturday (10am Sunday and Monday), last entry is an hour before closing (5:30pm summer / 4:30pm winter). A 9am arrival on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday is the sweet spot — the coach crowds and the worst queues hit between about 11am and 3pm.
- Go to the Crown Jewels first, before anything else. This is the one rule that makes or breaks the day. Walk in and head straight there while everyone else is still dithering; a moving walkway carries you past the crowns, so the whole thing takes 20–40 minutes. Come back at 11am and you’ll queue for an hour.
- Do a Yeoman Warder tour — it’s free and it’s the best part. The Beefeaters lead included guided tours roughly every 30 minutes from just inside the entrance. Their storytelling (equal parts history and gallows humour) is genuinely the highlight; don’t treat it as optional.
- Budget at least three hours for the Jewels, a Warder tour, the White Tower armoury and Tower Green. Then walk straight onto Tower Bridge next door.
Where to Stay Near the Tower
The Tower is central, so almost anywhere works — but the City and South Bank keep it within walking distance. Compare hotels below.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much are Tower of London tickets?
Adult admission is around £37 (online costs the same as the gate but secures your date), with reduced rates for children, students and over-65s, and free entry for under-5s and Historic Royal Palaces members.
What’s the best way to skip the Crown Jewels queue?
Arrive at 9am opening mid-week and go straight to the Crown Jewels before anything else, or book an early-access tour that gets you in before the public. The worst queues form between 11am and 3pm.
Are the Yeoman Warder tours worth it?
Absolutely — they’re free with admission, leave about every 30 minutes, and the Beefeaters’ storytelling is the highlight of most visits.
How long do you need at the Tower of London?
At least three hours to do the Crown Jewels, a Yeoman Warder tour, the White Tower and Tower Green justice.
Details Most Visitors Walk Straight Past
- The Koh-i-Noor is not in the Imperial State Crown. This is the most common mix-up at the Tower. The famous contested diamond is set in the Crown of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother (1937). What’s in the Imperial State Crown is Cullinan II, at 317.4 carats.
- The biggest stone is in the sceptre, not a crown. Cullinan I, the “Great Star of Africa” at 530.2 carats — the largest clear-cut diamond in the world — sits in the head of the Sovereign’s Sceptre.
- The Imperial State Crown holds 2,868 diamonds, plus 17 sapphires, 11 emeralds, 4 rubies and 269 pearls. The “Black Prince’s Ruby” in it isn’t a ruby at all — it’s a spinel. The whole collection runs to more than 23,000 gemstones.
- There are eight ravens, and they have names (Harris, Jubilee, Poppy, Edgar, Georgie, Chaos, Henry and Poe). Policy is six plus a spare. One wing is trimmed to unbalance flight, and a Yeoman Warder serves as Ravenmaster. The “ancient” legend is probably Victorian.
- Becoming a Beefeater is hard. Yeoman Warders need at least 22 years’ military service, warrant-officer rank and the Long Service and Good Conduct Medal. The first woman, Moira Cameron, was appointed in 2007.
- The Line of Kings may be the world’s oldest visitor attraction — visitors were being shown the armour and carved wooden horses in the White Tower by 1652.
- Read the walls in the Beauchamp Tower. Prisoners carved elaborate graffiti there, including the Dudley brothers’ emblem-carving (roses, oak and honeysuckle for each brother) and an “IANE” inscription linked to Lady Jane Grey.
- Anne Boleyn was beheaded with a sword, not an axe — a specialist executioner was summoned from France. She, Catherine Howard and Lady Jane Grey are all buried in the Chapel Royal of St Peter ad Vincula; Anne’s presumed remains were identified and reburied under the altar during 1876 restoration.
- The last execution here was in 1941. German spy Josef Jakobs was shot by firing squad at the Tower’s miniature rifle range on 15 August 1941 — seated in a brown Windsor chair, because a broken ankle meant he could not stand.
- There was a zoo here for 600 years. The Royal Menagerie kept lions, an elephant, and a polar bear (a 1252 gift) that was let out on a chain to fish in the Thames. The animals left from 1831 to help found London Zoo.
- The moat was drained by the Duke of Wellington from 1843, after the stagnant water caused a disease outbreak in the garrison. It has never been reflooded.
- The Royal Mint struck coins inside these walls for about 500 years, until it moved out to Tower Hill in 1810.
The Free Thing Almost No One Books
The Ceremony of the Keys — the ritual nightly locking of the Tower — has been performed every single night for at least 700 years. It is free, but you must book ahead through the official Historic Royal Palaces website (a small admin fee applies, and it is never sold by third parties). Tickets are released a couple of months out and popular dates go within hours. Attendees are admitted under escort at 21:30 precisely; arrive by 21:25, because latecomers are turned away. If you plan one thing at the Tower, plan this.
Sources & Further Reading
- Historic Royal Palaces — Tower of London official site
- UNESCO World Heritage Centre — Tower of London
