Nearly 1,000 years of history on the bank of the Thames — fortress, royal palace, prison, mint and zoo, and now home to the Crown Jewels. Adult tickets start from £37 (children £18.50, under-5s free), and the price includes the free Yeoman Warder (Beefeater) tour that most visitors rate the highlight. The single thing worth getting right is the queue: pre-book a timed slot, arrive at the 9am opening, and head straight to the Crown Jewels before the coach groups do. It's a UNESCO World Heritage site you can comfortably give half a day.
Highlights
- The Crown Jewels — 23,500+ gemstones, the Imperial State Crown and St Edward's Crown
- The free Yeoman Warder (Beefeater) tour — an hour of executions, prisoners and ravens
- The White Tower (1078) — Norman keep with the Royal Armouries and Line of Kings
- Tower Green and the scaffold site where Anne Boleyn was beheaded
- Traitors' Gate, the Bloody Tower and the Medieval Palace
- The legendary ravens — the Tower's mythical protectors
What's included
- Entry to all open public areas
- The Crown Jewels & the White Tower
- Free Yeoman Warder (Beefeater) tour
- All exhibitions: Royal Mint, Torture at the Tower, Fusiliers Museum
- Audio guide (purchasable add-on)
- Tower Bridge (separate ticket)
- Food and drink
- VIP early-access / Opening Ceremony tours (upgrade)
Which ticket to buy
For most visitors the standard timed ticket is all you need — full-day access, the Crown Jewels, and the included Beefeater tour that departs every 30–45 minutes. If you want more structure, a guided Beefeater meet-and-greet tour adds a small-group walkthrough and priority Crown Jewels access; for the quietest possible visit, VIP early-access tickets get you in before the public and pair the Tower with a Royal Westminster walk.
Plenty of combo tickets pair the Tower with a Thames river cruise, Tower Bridge or the London Eye if you're stacking sights into one day. You can compare Tower of London tickets and combos here — useful for grabbing the same official entry with reserve-now-pay-later and free 24-hour cancellation, which the direct non-refundable booking doesn't offer.
Meeting point & access
Important information
Know before you go
- Photography is not allowed inside the Jewel House or the White Tower
- Beefeater tours depart every 30–45 min; check the schedule by the Bell Tower
- The Crown Jewels are busiest mid-morning — do them first
- A security and bag check applies to everyone on entry
- Conservation work means some rooms/routes may have reduced access
What to bring
- Comfortable shoes — cobbles, narrow stairs and a lot of ground to cover
- A waterproof layer — much of the visit is outdoors
- Your mobile ticket (and a backup screenshot)
- Note: strollers aren't allowed inside the White Tower (parking points marked)
The Beefeater tour is the most-praised element by a wide margin — visitors repeatedly describe the warders as knowledgeable and genuinely funny, and credit them with making the history land for teenagers and children alike. The Crown Jewels are the other universal highlight. Pre-booked ticket-holders consistently note skipping long on-the-day lines. The recurring practical advice: give it more time than you think (three hours-plus), see the jewels first, and go early on a weekday to beat the crowds.
Summarised from verified GetYourGuide customer reviews