Before You Book the Tower of London: Every Cost, and What's Worth It
By the BeatTheCrowd team · Prices last checked 2 November · 3 min read
The Tower of London is one of London's priciest sights, but one ticket covers almost everything: the Crown Jewels, the Yeoman Warder tours, the White Tower and the wall walks. The choices are about timing and extras: online or at the gate, the optional donation, concessions, membership and guided tours from resellers. Most of them sound worth paying for. You don't need the most expensive one to have a great visit. In this guide we walk through what each option costs, what you really get, and how to choose the right one, whether that's a quiet opening slot or a packed summer afternoon.
At a glance
Adult
About £37-38
Child (5-15)
About £18.50-19. Under 5 free
Concession
About £29.50
Family ticket
None
Included
Crown Jewels, Yeoman Warder tours, White Tower, wall walks
Online vs gate
Same price; online gets a timed slot
Quietest
The first hour after opening
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The real total: entry price vs what a typical visit costs
An adult ticket costs about £37-38 and a child (5-15) about £18.50-19, depending on the date checked; under-5s are free. There's no family ticket. Quoted prices include an optional 10% donation, which you can decline at checkout. Prices are from Historic Royal Palaces' pages and Art Visit Guide.
Visitor
What they buy
Price
Adult
Standard ticket
About £37-38
Child 5-15
Child ticket
About £18.50-19
Concession
Concession ticket
About £29.50
Under 5
Free
£0
Tickets and entry: what each one gets you
Cost
Price (£)
Type
How to cut it
Adult
About £37-38
≈ US$49-51
Unavoidable
Decline the optional donation if you prefer.
Child (5-15)
About £18.50-19
≈ US$25-25
Unavoidable
Under-5s are free.
Concession
About £29.50
≈ US$39
Unavoidable
Including disabled visitors; carers go free.
Historic Royal Palaces membership
Varies
Optional
Free entry; worth it if you'll also visit Hampton Court or Kensington Palace.
What the ticket includes
One ticket covers the Crown Jewels, the free Yeoman Warder (Beefeater) tours, the White Tower and its armoury, the Medieval Palace and the wall walks. Our verdict: with the free Yeoman Warder tour, you don't need a paid guide.
Online or at the gate?
The price is the same, but online gets you a timed slot. From April to October, book at least a week ahead; July and August can sell out days in advance.
What visitors say
Visitors love the Crown Jewels and say the Yeoman Warder tour is the highlight, funny and full of stories. The most common complaints are the price and the queue for the Crown Jewels, so the advice is to arrive at opening and go straight to the Jewel House.
Prices last checked: 2 November. Prices vary with the season, peak and off-peak dates and promotions, and we recheck them every month. Visitor-reported costs are marked as estimates, and US$ figures are rough conversions.
The crowd tax: what busy hours really cost you
Our crowd data shows the Tower moderate in the first hour or so after opening, then busy from about 11 am to noon until closing, every day. The ticket price doesn't change; the crowd tax is the queue for the Crown Jewels, which builds fast once the morning groups arrive.
When
Crowds (our data)
What to do
Opening hour
Moderate
Crown Jewels first
About noon to closing
Busy
Join a Yeoman Warder tour, then the White Tower
Crowds by day and time
From the typical weekly visitor pattern for Tower of London, based on Google’s popular-times data.
Quietest time
Wednesday, 9-10 am
Busiest time
Sunday, 11 am-5 pm
When
Skip-the-line and tours: when they're worth it
There's no official fast-track: everyone queues for security and the Jewel House. Reseller tours add a guide and sometimes early entry, at a much higher price. Our verdict: the free Yeoman Warder tour makes paid tours unnecessary for most visitors.
Short on time? What you'd regret missing
The Crown Jewels.
A Yeoman Warder tour.
The White Tower and the royal armour.
The wall walks, with views of Tower Bridge.
In 90 minutes: Crown Jewels at opening, then the White Tower, then a short wall walk.
On-site costs
Cafés, guidebooks and the shops add up. There's plenty of food nearby on the riverside.
Getting there
Tower Hill station is a few minutes' walk. Tower Bridge is right next door.
Group costs: children, students and accessibility
Under-5s are free and children 5-15 pay the child rate. Disabled visitors pay the concession rate, and carers go free.
What can go wrong
Summer dates sell out: book ahead.
You go to the Crown Jewels at midday: the longest queue.
You pay for a guide: the Yeoman Warder tour is free.
How we research: every guide is written by the BeatTheCrowd team from official sources and recent traveller reports, cross-checked against each other. Crowd figures come from our own crowd data. Prices last checked 2 November. Prices and rules change, so always confirm on the official site before you book.
What to expect
Verdict
Weekdays, 9-11 am
A steady flow of visitors, short waits at the main spots. Before the main crowds arrive.
Best
Weekdays, 11 am-3 pm
Peak crowds, queues at the entrance and main sights. Peak sightseeing hours, when most visitors are on site.
Worst
Weekdays, 3-5 pm
Peak crowds, queues at the entrance and main sights. Stays busy into the afternoon.
Worst
Saturday and Sunday
Peak crowds, queues at the entrance and main sights. Busier than weekdays, as locals join the visitors.
Worst
📍 Live crowd check
See how busy Tower of London is right now, plus today’s hourly forecast.
