Tower of London: A Comprehensive Guide for Tourists

Most of the Crown Jewels on display today are barely 350 years old, not centuries older as many guides imply, because Oliver Cromwell’s government melted down or sold off almost the entire medieval royal regalia after Charles I’s execution in 1649. When the monarchy returned in 1660, goldsmiths had to build a fresh set from scratch for Charles II’s coronation the following year, which is why the Imperial State Crown and most of the pieces behind the glass in the Jewel House date to the Restoration rather than the Middle Ages.

History and Significance

William the Conqueror began the White Tower shortly after his 1066 conquest, and the fortress has stood in some form for close to a thousand years since. It has served in turns as royal residence, prison, armory, mint, and treasury, and for several centuries it also held a royal menagerie stocked with lions, an elephant, and even a polar bear that reportedly fished for salmon in the Thames on a long leash. The zoo closed in 1835, and the animals moved to what became London Zoo.

Architecture and Design

Construction spans the Norman period through the Tudor era, giving the complex a patchwork of styles rather than a single unified design. The White Tower remains the original Norman keep. The Bloody Tower earned its name from the disappearance of the two young princes believed murdered there in the 1480s, while the Martin Tower and Waterloo Barracks round out the inner ward. Tower Green, the small lawn near the White Tower, was the execution site for a handful of high-status prisoners, including Anne Boleyn, spared the public spectacle of the crowds at Tower Hill outside the walls.

The Crown Jewels

The most notorious episode in the jewels’ history is not a monarch’s coronation but a robbery. In 1671, a con man named Thomas Blood talked his way into the Jewel House by befriending the keeper, then clubbed him with a mallet, flattened St Edward’s Crown to hide it under his coat, and stuffed the royal orb down his breeches before being caught fleeing. Charles II, apparently amused rather than furious, pardoned Blood outright and granted him land in Ireland worth 500 pounds a year, a strange ending nobody has ever fully explained.

The Beefeaters and the Ravens

The Yeomen Warders, nicknamed Beefeaters, still live within the Tower walls and double as tour guides and ceremonial guards. Less official but more famous are the Tower’s ravens. Tradition holds that the kingdom will fall if the ravens ever leave, and at least six are kept on the grounds at all times, their flight feathers trimmed to keep them close. Despite how ancient this sounds, the Tower’s own historians say the legend cannot be documented earlier than the 1940s, and the popular story crediting Charles II with the six-raven rule likely postdates even that. It is a good story regardless, and the current ravenmaster takes the job seriously enough to feed them a diet that reportedly includes blood-soaked biscuits.

An Evening Ritual Worth Booking Ahead

Every night at 9:53pm, guards perform the Ceremony of the Keys, the locking up of the Tower that has run essentially unbroken for over 700 years. Attendance is free but requires booking directly through Historic Royal Palaces months in advance, since popular dates disappear within hours of release and third-party ticket sites cannot sell you a spot at all. Arrive at the West Gate by 9:30pm sharp. Latecomers are turned away without exception, ceremony or no ceremony.

Practical Information

Location: Tower Hill, London EC3N 4AB.

Opening hours run generally 9am to 5:30pm in summer and slightly shorter in winter, with last admission 30 minutes before closing, though it is worth checking the current schedule since Historic Royal Palaces adjusts hours seasonally.

Ticket prices have climbed well past what older guides quote. Adult admission now runs around 37 pounds without the optional Gift Aid donation, or roughly 40 pounds with it, and children aged 5 to 15 pay about half that. Under-5s are free, and a family ticket covering two adults and up to three children runs close to 97 pounds. The Crown Jewels are included in standard admission with no separate charge, which surprises visitors who expect an upsell.

Booking online in advance rather than buying at the gate saves money and time, particularly in summer when queues at the ticket office can eat an hour of a short visit. My take: the Crown Jewels moving walkway is the single most overhyped five minutes in the entire complex, since the belt hustles you past the good pieces faster than you can look properly, so double back and walk it a second time on foot if the crowd allows.

The Tower has accessible entrances, lifts, and adapted toilets throughout most of the site, though the Norman-era stone stairs in the White Tower itself remain a genuine obstacle that no amount of retrofitting has solved. Staff at the entrance can advise on the most accessible route through the day’s specific ceremonies and exhibits.