5 tips for visiting Tower of London with children

1. Buy tickets in advance
When we turned up at Tower of London on a weekday after half term I was expecting the historic palace to be fairly quiet, but I couldn’t have been more wrong. The queues for tickets were frighteningly long, and I decided to take up a family membership and head straight to the members’ desk. Whether you’re planning on going as a one-off or taking the membership–which also includes other palaces like Kensington Palace and Hampton Court Palace–I would strongly recommend booking online, so you can ensure a faster entry to Tower of London.

2. Consider pre-booking the audio tour
The queue I couldn’t avoid was for the audio guide, and there was a queue out the door when we arrived. Other visitors had pre-booked online and I could see many collecting head sets out in the street without queuing when we visited. There’s a family audio guide tour, which we followed, and on this tour, the guide was a character named Rocky the Raven.

3. Plan when to visit the Crown Jewels
Despite having an audio guide, we decided not to see everything in the same order as the guide, as I wanted to prioritise the Crown Jewels in the morning since this is a popular attraction at the Tower of London. I was thrilled we went to see the impressive royal regalia first as we could almost go straight through, and I later noticed a huge line outside the Jewel House.

4. Visit the White Tower and the Armoury in Action experience
At the end of our visit to the White Tower, we were thrilled to discover the Armoury in Action experience. This hands-on gallery can be exciting for families, and we learnt about how to fire a cannon and tried our sword skills in a virtual experience.

5. See the Ravens
With Rocky the Raven taking us around the historic palace on the audio guide, we knew we wouldn’t miss a visit to the all-important ravens. For us, the ravens were a must-see as well, and the story about the guardians of the tower was exciting to hear for both young and old.

I was very interested in going on one of the Yeoman Warder tours at Tower of London, but I felt it would be better suited for older children, and the family-friendly audio guide tour was a good option for us

Tags: Attractions, Family day out, London, Tower of London