Hello all,
Do we have to "schedule" the Tower Bridge? I see that there is a tour at the Bridge at 10 am on the day we will be at the Tower. It looks interesting, but if we did that we would not see the actual Tower first thing in the morning, and it sounds like the best plan is to do the Tower itself early in the day. Do you just look at the Bridge and admire from below if you do not have a tour, or can you walk across it anyway...? Thank you!
I'm not much of a bridge person so I just look at this structure built in the 1890's from the parapet of the Tower of London which was started in 1078. I'm not sure when the parapet itself was built...maybe 1350's?
So....unless you're interested in bridge building, I'd spend time at the historic Tower.
Do you just look at the Bridge and admire from below if you do not have a tour, or can you walk across it anyway..
Yes you can walk, cycle, hop, run, or drive across.
What you get at the Tower Bridge Experience or whatever they are calling it now is access to the top walkways and the museum at the south end. Usual kind of features for high attractions - glass floor sections, guides to the views etc. Small lifts are available but the staircases are interesting; they are an original feature as it was thought pedestrians would want to cross by these when the deck was up. In reality it was no quicker waiting for it to be down.
Also check the schedule for when it is due to lift to allow marine traffic through- which on average is 3 times a day. Just sometimes this can even be for small cruise ships which can anchor off HMS Belfast in the 'Pool of London'.
Each lift is for quite a short period of time.
You can also sail under it on the Thames Clipper waterbus service.
A number of bus services also cross the bridge 24 hours a day.
Ok, thank you. The Bridge's website refers to "entry to the Bridge" and generic "tickets and prices" that made me think it might be the only way to get across it. So there are two walkways -- one for any and all pedestrians, and one paid that includes a glass walkway? Thanks!
You pay to access the upper walkways. The bridge deck is free, but the pathway is fairly narrow in parts.
Tower Bridge can (and is) walked over by anyone - it's rare for it not to be busy.
The Tower Bridge Experience involves buying a ticket and going inside, with displays, access to view the workings and then walk over the top
So you can do either
Ok, thank you all. I think we will skip the "Tower Experience" and just hopefully walk across or sail under the Bridge at some point!
You might want to head for London Bridge too. You can get some impressive pics of Tower Bridge from there and your minutes from Borough High Street/Market/Southwark Cathedral. There’s not much south of Tower Bridge beyond a hefty walk through a gentrified bit of Southwark.
We walked across the Tower Bridge at night. It was really a highlight for us. It's beautiful. I think we took pictures of it from the walkway along the Tower of London.
