Sometimes it can take me a little while to write up a review, particularly during the summer holidays when we can be quite busy. I had to write up this review of the Tower of London straight aware because there has never been a better time to visit! Seriously if you have wanted to visit the Tower of London without the crowds this is probably the quietest it will ever be! In 2019 nearly 3,000,000 people visited – it’s the most popular tourist attraction in the UK. That’s the equivalent of 250,000 people per month. Currently it’s only 25,000 per month!!! That’s about 800 people were day. It is slowly increasing, but it’s unlikely to be anywhere near pre-pandemic levels for the foreseeable future!
If you are a follower of the blog you’ll know that I’m a massive history geek. I’ve really wanted to visit, and review, the Tower of London for a long time but the crowds have put me off a bit whilst Smallest Child was small. Realistically it was a long old day for her today (made worse by the transport issues I’ll get to later) so I’m not sure we would have enjoyed it as much if she’d been smaller. We were on site for four hours and didn’t get to see everything (despite there being no queues for anything at all), but we decided to leave as the kids were getting tired and crabby.
From the outside the Tower of London actually looks deceptively small but once you get inside it’s like a little village. Except it’s all thousands of years old, built from beautiful stone and steeped in history! Can you tell I was in history geek heaven at all? I genuinely think Lucy Worsley has the best job in the world!!
The White Tower
The famous Norman icon that is the White Tower, and gives the entire complex its name. This must have been truly formidable in its hey day. Heck, it’s formidable now!! This is currently home to the armouries collection including the Line of Kings exhibition which is 350 years old apparently. It’s actually one of the earliest museum exhibits. In here you’ll find a horse with boobs!!
…Henry VIII massively over compensating in the manhood department (actually it was fascinating see his armour. To be so close to something that a larger than life character I know so much about was pretty cool)…
…The childhood armour of both Charles I and II, lots of horses armour and tons of other weaponry. You’ll notice there’s no Queens on that list. Apparently, when they set up the exhibition they left out all of the women and boring Kings because no-one was interested in them! That’s just rude!
There’s also some really cool stuff (albeit a little macabre) on the other floors. There’s an actual axe block and axe that was used for executions. The chair that was used for the last execution in the tower (by gunshot, that blew a massive hole in the chair) is there as well. Plus there’s loads of stuff about the origins of the Ordnance Survey (never thought about the whole Ordnance part of it before!!) In my normal, non-blogger, day job I actually do all of the accounts for our company. Never have I been so glad to have Xero than I was when looking at this ledger!! There’s also the dragon sculpture.
Near the exit there’s a room that has loads of interactive stuff for the kids, all about the different craftsmen (again, no women) that would have worked in and around the Tower. This is a really popular room, one of the busiest parts of the whole place actually, but the kids loved it. Smallest Child got to fire a cannon so she was loving life!
On your way out of the White Tower at the Tower of London you have to exit through the gift shop, a common theme in this review!
The Crown Jewels
Nope, not a euphemism. It’s the actual crown jewels. That the actual monarchs have actually worn, on their actual heads. There are over 23,000 jewels as part of the collection. That’s a hell of a lot of bling!! Smallest Child was very excited about Elsa’s stick and ball! (I kid you not, she actually called them that in front of a member of staff!). The boys were more taken with one of the MASSIVE diamonds and also the huge sapphire on Queen Liz’s crown.
Personally, my favourite was the little crown that Queen Victoria had made after Albert died. You know, nothing too big and ostentatious. Small enough to fit in your handbag. We even brought a replica! You can now all call me Queen Victoria II!!!
I can’t show you any photos, because you’re not allowed to take any, but the pieces in here are amazing. And they’re still in use. If you visited the Tower of London during the state opening of parliament you’d see a little sign that says “in use”. It’s the monarchy equivalent of BRB! As you’re going in and out (where you have to exit through the gift shop again!) check out the security doors. I swear they’re as thick as my hallway is wide!
The crowds at the Tower of London
I really couldn’t write a review of the Tower of London without talking about the length of the queues for the crown jewels. During normal times these are typically about an hour long. I can honestly say that I have never queued for an hour to visit anywhere, EVER. Not when we’ve been to theme parks, not when we’ve been on day trips, not even when we visited Coral Reef! We’ve been incredibly lucky. It doesn’t sound like a huge amount of fun, particularly with my kids. They’re not great at queuing.
I was talking to one of the guards and he said that the longest queue he’s ever seen was snaking all around the grounds and took three hours! Sorry, but there’s no way I’d get into that line. The crown jewels are amazing. I’m really glad I got to see them, but I wouldn’t wait that long. There’s much more to do here! As I mentioned, this review of the Tower of London has been written just after most of the covid restrictions have been lifted (for now!) so I got to walk straight in to see the crown jewels. TWICE. A friend of mine went round seven times in one day!
The Yeoman Wardens, the ravens and Tower Green
If you get the chance to talk to, or listen to the tours by, one of the 37 Yeoman Wardens you absolutely must. We listened to three different Yeomen and they were all really funny, and really informative. You have to have served in the military for 22 years before you can apply. Many of them live on site and it’s quite funny to spot things like washing lines, rabbit hutches and kids’ bikes behind the scenes. Could you imagine being a kid living here? Once the gates close at 17:30 you’d have a right laugh!!
During one of the talks the Yeoman Warden was discussing his uniform and duties. Apparently the jacket of the ceremonial robes they have to wear (you know the traditional beefeater outfit with the tights) costs £10,000 each. They only get given one!!
The ravens at The Tower of London are world famous. Legend has it that if the ravens leave the tower the kingdom and the tower will fall! There must always be at least six living here – so they have seven, just in case. I had no idea how massive these things are. Or how noisy! Other than raiding the bins they were quite well behaved though.
In Tower Green there is a memorial to those people who were executed inside the grounds of the Tower of London. There’s a glass pillow with a circular plinth around it which lists the ten people who were executed in the grounds (less important people were hung over on Tower Hill)
Everything else
The Tower of London used to be home to a menagerie of animals, right up until the mid-1800’s. In the end they realised that it probably wasn’t the best place for animals and so 150 of them were moved to Regents Park and London Zoo was born! To commemorate the unusual inhabitants there are mesh versions dotted around the grounds.
Obviously, there is a lot more stuff to see and do here. We didn’t get to see it all so it’s absolutely going to be worth going back. The website says that you should plan to be here for 3 hours. I genuinely think that wouldn’t be anywhere near enough time! Particularly when it gets busy again.
There’s plenty to do inside and outside so don’t let poor weather put you off. I would take rain jackets if there’s a chance of a shower. Mainly because of the queuing and the walks between towers etc.
Our Tower of London review
OMG. We loved it here. Yes, I think if it had been at its normal level of busy we might have enjoyed it less, but today was great. We have still got lots to see and I would go back again. There’s fascinating history and something that you wouldn’t hope to see anywhere else in the Crown Jewels. There’s just so much history here and the staff were really engaging. Highly recommended.
I’ve been trying to think how it compares to somewhere like Hampton Court Palace, Warwick Castle or Windsor Castle. HCP? No comparison – both full of amazing history but about 50 times the size! HCP is possibly my favourite place to visit so I might be biased. Warwick Castle? The indoor stuff is much better at The Tower of London, and there’s more to do. Warwick is a bit more about the shows etc than the actual history. Windsor? Tough call. There’s less to do at Windsor but, despite being home to the crown jewels, I think the Tower of London is less dazzling and spectacular.
Admission cost
Family (2A + 3C) = £82.10 peak/£79.40 off peak.
The ticket prices for The Tower of London definitely push it into my treat day out category. BUT there are ways of paying less for your visit. If the kids are a Blue Peter Badge holder then they can get in for FREE. Two children with BP badges can get in free with one full paying adult. More than any other annual membership (other than National Trust membership) it absolutely makes sense to become a member of Historic Royal Palaces. For just £34 more than peak admission you can get 12 months free admission to all of the Historic Royal Palaces – including Hampton Court Palace and Kensington Palace! Bargain! Plus you can use your BP badges with membership. A family of four with two BP badge kids would pay just £89 for an entire year!
Parking / How to get there
Parking / Public Transport – Tower Hill station is just around the corner and it’s just a few minute’s walk from several different train stations. We decided that getting the train was going to be too expensive, and that it actually made more sense for us to drive and park because there’s a car park just around the corner. Tower Hill coach and car park is just £4 per visit on Sundays and Bank Holidays. It is within the congestion charging zone though. Despite that it was still cheaper than the £60 in train tickets we were quoted.
Little tip – make sure you check out any planned road closures before you visit. On the day of our visit there was a flipping half marathon going on in central London which closed most of the city. Including ALL the roads we were trying to drive down! 5.2 mile round trip and £27 in parking charges later we have learnt our lesson.
Toilets
Plenty on-site, including baby change
Food
Picnics are allowed and there’s plenty of benches to sit on. There are cafes and take-aways on stie but they are quite expensive.
For all of my reviews check out the Free Time with the Kids Map
Hi, I’m Vicky. My husband and I live in Aylesbury with our three children; a 14 year old son, an 12 year old son and a 6 year old daughter. I (mostly) love spending time together as a family. We visit all kinds of places and we’re quite happy to drive a fair distance for a decent day out. A few years ago I decided to set up Free Time with the Kids as a way to share our experiences of these family days out.
You’ll find the essential information you need to know before your visit that can be surprisingly hard to find out. Where do I park? How much will it cost me to get in? Are there any discounts available? Are there loos? Can I take a picnic or get food? My aim is to be your go-to guide for all your free and cheap family days out across Bucks, Beds, Oxon, Herts & slightly beyond. I really hope you find the reviews helpful. If there’s anywhere that you’d recommend please get in touch contact@freetimewiththekids.com or get in touch via Facebook
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