I am in London for the first time ever. Have tours in morning but Tower of London not included. So I will need to visit in afternoon . I have read that Yeoman tours end at 3:30 and I will be able top get there for last tour or second to last. Please give advice on getting tickets when/where and how long is a decent time to allot - 2 hours?
Posted by
Truro, NS, Canada
3941 posts
It really depends on how much you want to make of it. Our first visit in 2008 we only had an hour before closing so saw pretty much the jewels and a bit more.
Our second visit last year, we went early. Did the yeoman tour (an hour and so much fun) and then we spent almost ANOTHER 4 hours there (5 hrs approx.)! We explored everything. Not too long a wait for the jewels (about 20 min slow shuffle, this was probably around noon on a weekday in early Sept). I thought maybe we'd be three hours max, and we did sit a few times for snacks...but when we stumbled out midafternoon after entering around 10:30am, I couldn't believe how much time went by! I guess it depends how indepth you want to do it. Without a huge line, you could certainly see the jewels and take a spin around the wall with an extra hour after the yeoman tour.
Posted by
Land of La
9261 posts
Are you there now? When exactly will you be traveling? If it is this summer expect long lines. Are you asking about buying tickets in advance or at the ticket booth at the Tower. As far as how much time to allot that would be based on your interests. For some 2 hours is sufficient or noted by the previous poster much more time.
Posted by
Kansas City
132 posts
I want to say our Yeoman tour lasted about 45 minutes. It is a great tour and you get the highlights of the whole place, but there is so much to see that it only scratches the surface, really. We spent almost all day at the Tower, then decided to go again another day when plans we had did not take as long as we thought they would. I am pretty sure we saw everything by that point. If you are very interested in history and getting as much as you can from the place, I would say 2 hours is not enough, I would plan a minimum of 4. If you want to get a general feel for it and say you have been, 2 hours might be enough. Take the Yeoman Warder tour, then explore a little on your own.
I want to say that by the afternoon, there were not terribly long lines to buy tickets. I think most people go early to make the most of seeing as much as they can. It will depend on what time of year you are there though. You can get tickets at the souvenir stand between the tube exit and the entrance to the Tower. You could check to see if there is a line, then backtrack some if there is, get tickets at the souvenir stand, then go to the entrance of the Tower and skip the ticket buying line.