Tower of London and Westminster Abby in the same day

Sure -- that works. Early morning at the Tower might give you shorter lines to see the crown jewels. And the Abby could take more time. Both are close together. We always use live guides when available.

By all means do the Tower in the morning, when it first opens. See the Crown jewels first, then do the next Yeoman Warder tour (they are free). I'd try to do the Vergers tour later in the afternoon to allow time for lunch and getting across town.

If you absolutely must combine those two specific sites in the same day, then, yes, visit the Tower first thing in the morning when it opens and go directly to see the crown jewels then double back to the entrance and start the rest of your visit. But if you are also planning to see the Churchill war rooms during your visit to London, it would be easier to see CWR on the same day as Westminster Abbey because they are just a few minutes’ walk from each other instead of across town.

both the Tower of London and Westminster Abbey are very tiring. They both have loads of walking, and the Tower of London has lots and lots of stairs, especially in the White Tower and up and down in the Battlements.

I couldn't combine the two but if you are very young and fit and really want to, go for it.

You'll need to leave enough time to get between the two - they are quite far apart because the Tower of London is right at the far end of the City of London on the border with Tower Hamlets.

I do agree that at the Tower of London is best done by going to the Tower first thing, straight to the Crown Jewels so the line is short or not there and if you want to go around again on the moving sidewalk you can; then back to a Yeoman Warder (Beefeater) tour, then any of the rest of the property. The White Tower has several floors, no lift, an is full of really interesting things. I'd also allow a couple of hours to go around the Battlements and see the second chapel and all the interesting history.

It is worth spending time to really study the Tower of London website which show you much of what you'll see so you can be prepared.

You can also prepare for Westminster Abbey in a similar way..

It will depend on your level of interest. We spent 6 hours at the Tower. The Beefeater tour is great as an overview but there is so much more to explore. I especially loved the armour display in the White Tower. We only spent a couple of hours at Westminster Abbey (tour with London Walks) and I regret not researching it more prior to the trip. I'm armed with more info now and will likely need more time next time we go to London.

I’ll chime in with everyone else that you definitely need to go to the Tower of London first thing in the morning if you want to see the Crown Jewels and visit both attractions in one day. When I visited both sites, I spent the majority of my day there. I highly recommend the Verger tour at Westminster Abbey and the Yoeman Warders tour at the Tower of London. I really enjoyed both sites. My travel philosophy is quality over quantity.
Happy Travels!!

Do not absolutely count on getting a Verger tour at Westminster Abbey.
You cannot book the verger tour until you have entered the Abbey.

I had an mid morning entry time Oct 2023 and they were already "sold out' for the day when I asked about it just after entering.

That might have been an unusual circumstance. And you might very well get one.

Just be prepared to go without, as I did, especially if you plan to visit in the afternoon. I thought there would be plenty of tour times still available with my entry time.

I agree with riboholic60 that you cannot guarantee a Vergers tour. I arrived at Westminster Abbey at opening for my 9:30 time slot and went straight to the desk to book a Vergers tour. For some reason they weren’t offering tours at 10:30 that day, so I had to book on the 11:00 tour. I spent time touring on my own, and then went for a cream tea in the cafe until the tour began. It was very informative and we also go to see the shrine for Edward the Confessor. I hadn’t planned on spending so much time at Westminster Abbey, but I am certainly glad that I did.

Another tour you might consider at the Abbey is Hidden Highlights. I loved the Verger tour years ago. I took the Highlights tour in 2022 and really enjoyed it. We went behind closed doors and saw some things I wasn't even aware of. I also liked that it ended in the new Queen's Gallery which I had been looking forward to seeing.

Thank you all for your input! I am looking at our daily plans again to see if I can split this into two days. Sounds like arriving at Tower of London first thing in the morning is a must and arriving at Westminster Abby in the morning would give us the best chance of doing the Verger tour. Thank you!

Do try and save time to see the Queen’s Gallery! It was an unexpected part of the Abbey that we really enjoyed. We spent more time there than we would have thought- so much to take in that interested us. The large portrait of the Queen there was so beautiful and I just sat on one of the benches and reflected on her legacy for a bit. Have a wonderful time!