Complete Tower of London Tour: Opening Ceremony, Early Access Crown Jewels & River Cruise

Our tour guide Linda was very knowledgeable and enjoyable!!! The getting in the Crown Jewels early was great!!! The opening cry was perfect and the Yeoman was funny and great!!!!

Loved the opening ceremonies and had a closeup view. Unfortunately the guide skipped the torture sections of the Tower.

Excellent experience. Our tour guide was the best tour guide I’ve ever had anywhere. Very knowledgeable, entertaining, and kind.

We signed up to get early access to the Tower and see an opening ceremony. We gathered across from the Starbucks near the tower, which by the way is a very large and nice shop with bathrooms. There were numerous groups meeting in the plaza and finding ours was a bit tricky because the sign the organizer held was not Tripadvisor but City Walks. Our group was about 18 people. Our guide was a British man named Nigel and he was very informative. The main thing I appreciated from the jump was we were provided with single ear headsets and Nigel was mic'ed up. This assured we heard him regardless of our proximity. Most of the other groups were larger and I saw most were without this tech and had to crowd close to hear. Huge difference. Make sure you get headsets. I did not see it mentioned. We were NOT the first group in and there was no 'opening ceremony' that we saw. We did learn a lot about the Towers history and saw some Beefeaters and guard changings. We saw the Crown Jewels and it made me a bit angry at how entitled 'royalty' is compared to the average person. The "CRUISE" on the Thames is just a boat ride from the Tower Bridge to the Eye. The top deck was packed and we had to sit on the main level which is enclosed and was very warm. If I had it to do over I would pass on the boat. One note of caution for travelers with mobility issues. There is a good amount of walking and standing and the Tower requires a significant amount of stair climbing up and down. Also, it gets very busy by 10AM.

Tour was wonderful! However, it was difficult to find our guide at the meeting location. A larger sign would have been helpful.

Steven is the best blue badge certified guide I ever encountered! Enjoyed the tour because of his stories!

Great tour. I didnt realise the Tower of London was so big. Jane was our excellent guide very knowledgeable and full of info. The Beefeaters opening ceremony was also excellent

I would HIGHLY RECOMMEND this tour!! Just do it! The experience of being at the tower early without the crowds is something to experience.

Good tour but there was no “opening ceremony”. Many groups went in before us but I did not want to be there earlier than 9am. We moved around easily. Be aware that many groups meet in the same area so finding your guide can take some looking. Our guide was Nigel, a cordial English gentleman who seemed knowledgeable and was humorous. One noticeable difference in our group and others was that we were provided with little radio ear pieces so we could hear above the din of hundreds of people. That made a big difference for us. Also be alert that there are MANY STAIRS and most are of the circular type and narrow and sometimes steep. Limited places to sit so if you have mobility challenges you should think about this 2.5-3 hour tour. It is tiring if a senior.