This past weekend we had an American colleague of ours come to London for the first time so my husband and I (we work at the same company) decided to take her around sightseeing and show her some of London. As we work quite near the Tower of London and both hadn't been here since we were kids we decided to make it our first port of call.
The Tower of London is situated right on the River Thames in the borough district of Tower Hamlets with the closest tube station being Tower Hill on the Circle and District Line. It was built by William the Conqueror in 1078 originally intended as a Royal Palace. It was then used as a prison with a great number of very famous prisoners, mostly kings and queens of England and the various wives of Henry the 8th. This is where the phrase "sent to the tower" comes from in terms of being sent to prison.
Our first stop was the ticket booth which is situated outside the tower and near the entrance. Each adult ticket was £16.50, not bad I guess but once you take a family it can get quite expensive although children's tickets are less. Children under five get to go in free, children under sixteen are £9.50 and for a family ticket (two adults and up to three children it is £46.00)
The opening times are as follows:
Tuesday - Saturday 9am to 5:30pm
Sunday - Monday 10am to 5:30pm
Just by the ticket office there are lots of fish and chips booths (for the foreign tourists) and a Subway, EAT and a Wagamama's so there are plenty of choices for lunch although there is food available inside the tower.
Once inside a Yeoman of the Guard or Beefeater as they are more commonly known met us and told us to gather right by the entrance as a tour was just starting. I believe this takes place every hour on the hour. Our American friend asked if she could have her photograph taken with him but he said it was not allowed at the entrance but would be allowed further on. Not too sure why this was but we didn't argue, he could have us locked up in the tower!!
The tour was brilliant and I definitely recommend this as your first stop because after it is over you can wander around yourself. It really is the way you will learn the most history and stories about the tower. The tour lasts for approximately forty minutes. The beefeater giving our tour was exceptional and really knew the history as I guess he really should. He himself lives in the tower with his family. (Apparently if you live in the tower there are no keys, you are given a secret password that you have to whisper to the Beefeater who is guarding the door at the time) There were probably over 100 of us in the tour so the Beefeater had to have a very loud voice which he did so it was quite easy to hear him. We walked through the tower stopping at various points for him to tell us some of the history.
After that our fist stop was the Crown Jewels. The jewels have been kept at the tower since 1303. They include the Monarchy's ceremonial robes and artefacts and some amazing crowns. Ladies, if you love diamonds then this is a must for you, the jewels include the enormous Cullinan I and the famous Koh-i-noor diamonds. The jewel house has moving walkways that you step on which take you past the crowns in glass cases. You can go back again and again and see them as many times as you like from any angle which we did!
Unfortunately by the time we had done these two things are American friend was "all castled out"!! Amazing really as the Tower of London is probably the greatest example of British monarchy in this country and an amazingly site to rival anything in America, but oh well.
We did manage to squeeze in some time to see the gift shop. They had a really good selection of books about the castle. I recommend the book on the Crown Jewels and at only £4 had lots of information in. If you are after more history about the tower itself look for the official Tower of London guide book.
The nice thing is that even though we were at the Tower for about 1 and a half hours we still saw a lot. On their website they do give you suggestions for planning your visit if you only have an hour or two to spare.
If you do have more time I definitely recommend the following:
A visit to the Chapel where Anne Boleyn is buried. Apparently she was executed on the orders of Henry the 8th because she was accused of witchcraft because she had 6 fingers on her left hand, I never knew that.
The Royal amouries' collection in the White Tower (there are 20 towers in the tower of London in total)
Take a look at the Ravens at the Tower. During the tour we were told all about the Ravens. Now I must admit that I wasn't listening completely but according to legend the tower must always house at least 4 (or 6, this is the part I can't remember) ravens. If the ravens all disappear from the tower then the monarchy will fall. TO this day they keep 7 ravens just in case. They also tell you to not feed the ravens as they only eat red meat and are quite partial to little children's fingers!!
All in all a fantastic day out for all the family. You can visit the website for more detail: http://www.hrp.org.uk/TowerOfLondon
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Is it worth visiting?
Excellent
Family Friendly
Good
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