My wife and I will be in London for five days beginning 3 September. I've made transportation reservations but have not purchased tickets for Westminster Abbey, Windsor Castle, Tower of London and a few others important sites. We will be meeting someone in London so it's difficult to know when and where to go in advance of actually being there. Do we gain anything by purchasing advance reservations online, or should we wait until we're in the city?
Posted by
Ontario, Canada
6429 posts
For those sites requiring, or even recommending advance timed tickets, you will be much more likely to get a time that meets your needs, vs late in the day, or waiting in a long line to purchase - or finding out all the tickets are already booked. Can you communicate with this person to do some advance itinerary planning?
Posted by
OP
U.S.
13 posts
Thank you, CJean. Yes, I agree. Unfortunately the person we're meeting is currently touring and temporarily out of touch. C'est la vie, right? Appreciate your reply!
Posted by
Seattle, WA & Bordeaux, France
441 posts
We were just in London (July) and bought both Windsor Castle and Tower Bridge tickets the day before we wanted to go. We also bought tickets to a West End show the day of, to the show we wanted. Our friends, who we met up with, did have problems getting tickets to Westminster a few days in advance so you may want to plan ahead for this venue. I can't speak to Tower of London as we did not go this visit. Enjoy London!
Posted by
Preston UK
1581 posts
None of those three sites require booking in advance. You won’t find long queues on the day and in any event buying in advance won’t avoid the queues for security anyway.
There are very few places where you need to book in advance. For the Harry Potter Studio Tour you need to do that at least a couple of months in advance. For tours of the Elizabeth Tower and the Ceremony of the Keys at the Tower of London you need to do that as soon as they come out, within minutes in the former case. There are often special exhibitions at the museums and galleries that are chargeable and some of them need advance booking as well.It’s wise to book the Churchill War Rooms at least a day or two in advance as well. Otherwise it’s not really worth booking ahead of time.
Disclaimer: There may be somewhere else I’ve missed out!
Posted by
OP
U.S.
13 posts
Thanks to all for your kind replies!
Posted by
Land of La
9777 posts
OP
Always check each site’s website to be certain they are open to the public on the day you wish visit.
Posted by
Los Angeles
5211 posts
A few years ago we just walked up to Westminster Abbey and the war rooms and walked right on in. YMMV.