We are 2 weeks away from traveling to Europe. After reading about the worse-than-normal crowds and lines, I am trying to build a strategy for any of our major cities and sites. Would you recommend buying tickets in advance (online) for Tower of London? I was planning on going later in the day as opposed to first thing in the morning - any wisdom on that?
Any tips would be great!
Thank you,
Jesse
Just got back from there. We didn't have advanced tickets...except what we purchased online before going. We had to get them from the ticket office anyway (I didn't have a printer). And we ended up getting right in anyway. I would just make sure you're there when it opens to avoid the crowds that form later. At 18 pounds, I didn't find the site to be "cost effective", but to each their own. But you're right next to the Tower Bridge as well :)
I just want to mention about going later in the day - it is what you make of it...but...when we went last year, we arrived around 10-10:30 am, and we did the yeoman warder tour - which was an hour and great fun. They are free.
http://www.hrp.org.uk/TowerOfLondon/stories/yeomanwarder
Now...I thought we may spend another hour or two looking around - we spent about 5 hours total! That includes the tour. Our very first visit, we got there an hour before closing, got into the crown jewels really quick and only had about 30 min to see a few more things. Again, you can choose to spend as much or as little time, but you may be surprised how much there is to see. We had maybe a 10-15 min constantly shuffling walk to the jewels, and the armoury was really crowded.
Is there an advantage to buying tickets in advance online? Do you get to skip any lines?
Jesse - We were just there last week and bought our tickets at the souvenir shop right after you get off the tube. We arrived about 9:30 and walked right in. It was very crowded with lots of school kids on field trips but it was still great fun. We took the tour which is free. We went back the next night for the Ceremony of the Keys. Very enjoyable. You have to get those tickets well in advance.
