Is it necessary to buy tickets ahead of time for Churchill War Rooms and Tower of London this time of year? (January) We arrive in London Friday morning 6 Jan, and I have not yet purchased tickets for these 2 attractions. When we visited 5 years ago in May we did buy them ahead of time, due to crowds. I'm just not sure what to expect in terms of crowds and busyness this time of year.
Thanks!
Posted by
Land of La
9263 posts
London is always busy.
Remember its not only us Yanks who visit London.
Good weather, bad weather there will always be tourists. Especially now after a year of Covid restrictions impacted everyone’s travel plans.
To answer you query I’d say yes, book in advance. Then again you may have far more patience than I.
Enjoy you trip. Its a great city to explore.
Posted by
Lynnwood, Washington
8913 posts
My question would be , why not? Are you concerned about keeping your schedule flexible and not being scheduled in advance?
Posted by
Lincolnshire, UK
2320 posts
You can buy both tickets on the day when you arrive. Check the websites a in advance to see if they are likely to sell out on the day you are wanting to visit. At the moment both seem to have loads of availabilty for January. It isn't prime tourist season!
Posted by
OP
Nashville TN
36 posts
Yes, I was wanting to keep our schedule a bit flexible, rather than be locked into particular times.
I think I'll buy for the War Rooms and play it by ear for the Tower.
Thanks for the feedback!
Posted by
Sacramento, California U.S.A.
10634 posts
In October we bought our Tower tickets online. For the Churchill War Rooms we bought them upon arrival. We got there about 15 minutes before they opened and were first in line for purchasing. By the time they opened the line was long for the people who had pre-purchased their tickets. We only had to wait a minute or two before they had us go in to buy our tickets and we got into the exhibits before most of the people who had been waiting in the long line. In January I would remain flexible.
Edited to add: If you arrive at the Tower early and get in quickly you can go straight to the Crown Jewels and avoid the very long line that forms almost immediately.
Posted by
Los Angeles
4871 posts
I was at the War Rooms a month ago and there were zero people in line, I waltzed right up and waltzed right in. And yes there were lots of people milling about but mostly for Westminster Abbey and seeing Big Ben.
I also walked straight into the V&A, St. Pauls and Westminster Abbey and waited in line about 30 seconds to get into the National Gallery.
I did have to wait about 5 minutes to get into the Roman baths in Bath.
Note that most attractions will ask to do a cursory search of your hand baggage.