London Walks - Tower of London Tour and Day Trip to Windsor & Eton

Our family has taken both tours with London Walks and enjoyed them both. The Windsor and Eton Trip is a full day. We went to Windsor in the morning and then toured Eton during the early afternoon. It was great having someone guide us in both places who knew not only the history, but the town and the school really well. It was a really fun day.
For the Tower tour we enjoyed jumping the queue to get in and getting a tour of the grounds from a great London Walks guide. It is also cheaper to go through London Walks than it is to buy a ticket at the booth. We did have to queue for the jewels inside after the tour was over, but were glad we had the experienced guide and we were also glad that we didn’t have to join the hordes of people on the beefeaters tour. Also note that the tour starts at 10 and the tour lasted past 12. After the tour you are left inside to spend more time. We were really hungry and zipped through the rest so we could get something to eat. I wish I had eaten something right before the tour so I could have enjoyed more.
Both tours I would highly recommend!

Thanks for that great info. One question - at the Tower of London did you not do the beefeater tour because you had your own guide to cover the same material?

I've taken the Tower of London London Walk and highly recommend it. The price for the tour, which includes a group discount, isn't much more than regular admission to the Tower. The guide was a blue badge guide and she was extremely knowledgeable about the history of England. The two hours absolutely flew by and I'd do it again in a heartbeat. The Beefeater tour is separate, you can do that after the London Walk. They're different, the London Walk goes into more detail and it is easy to ask questions. The London Walk guide can help adjust the tour to the interests of the group, for example, my interests were the first building of the Tower and the reign of William the Conqueror.

I've never done one of London Walks' day trips, but I"m sure they're excellent. I've never had a bad experience with London Walks and I've done at least 30 different walks.

We did them both independently and enjoyed our visits. I do not not see the need for a guided tour.

We did the Tower of London tour and I highly recommend it. Extremely knowledgeable guide. We didn't do a Beefeater tour, but we did tag along with one of their groups as they went in the Chapel of St. Peter ad Vincula, where Anne Boleyn, Lady Jane Grey and others are buried. You can't go in the chapel by yourself, you have to be with a beefeater tour.

If you take the Rick Steves tour, you will not need to take the Beefeaters tour. I agree with the previous post that with Rick Steves you get a more focused tour. Tell the guide what you are interested in and they will include that. With the Beefeaters tour its pretty standard. You can follow one of the tours after if you are interested in doing so. We listened to a few moments of one but felt we had gotten more from our blue badge guide.
The London Walks day trips are really fun! We have taken probably all of them over the past 10years. We enjoy them because all the details (especially transportation) are taken care of and you also get a top notch tour guide. The day is usually split up into two sections. You travel to the destination by train (group rate travel!) then at the stop you either walk to the destination or there is a bus waiting for you. After touring during the morning, there is usually an hour for lunch and then the second half of the tour starts. You also have the option of staying at that location even after the tour ends in the afternoon since you have a return train ticket. Again, let the tour guide know during introductions what your interested in and they will make sure to cover it.

Of course you can do these independently, but you will always (in my humble opinion) learn more by going with a knowledgeable guide. London Walks are top notch and I would do both of these tours with them. Their guides (and their organization) will enhance your experience immeasurably.

We have done both of these tours with London Walks. I would use London Walks for both. London Walks will provide more information than the Beefeater tour does.
And at Windsor Castle, you are given an audio guide to listen to as you walk around. Plenty boring. If you are on a London Walks tour there you can ask them questions about the different buildings and parts of the castle.

Correction....in my posting I kept saying Rick Steve’s when I meant to type London Walks. Must have been a Senior Moment! We took both of these tours through London Walks, not Rick Steve’s.

Thank you all for your input - I really appreciate your advice.

Those who have taken these tours, would you recommend either of them for children? I'm planning a family trip to London for next summer, and my daughters will be 6 and 10. I'm thinking it may be worth doing the tour for the Tower of London just to skip the entry queue.

avab80, I did the Tower of London tour with my two daughters, ages 13 and 9. My older daughter and I loved all the history that we got from the guides, but my younger daughter was not as pleased. She is not into history the way were are. But she did enjoy the Tower, more after the tour was over and we could go independently. The tour is about two hours, but then you are turned loose to explore as you'd like.

Kids under 15 go free on most London Walks, they do have to pay for Tower admission. Here's what London Walks says:
N.B. The normal adult entry charge to the Tower is £28. With London Walks adults get in for £20. The normal students/concs. entry charge to the Tower is £18.70. With London Walks students/concs. get in for £15. The normal child (5-15 incl.) entry charge to the Tower is £11. With London Walks children get in for £9.

So, you'll save money. Two adults will pay £30 each (Tower admission plus London Walk charge) The kids will just pay the £9 each for the Tower admission and no charge for the London walk.

Yes, I think that kids would enjoy the London Walk tour of the Tower. They might get bored with some of the history, but I think they'd like the stories of the exotic animals that used to be kept at the Tower as well as seeing the ravens. Plus, the view of all the towers and the historical reenactments will keep them entertained even during a few minutes of history talk.