The Tower of London is open 9 am to 4:30 pm from Tuesday to Saturday and from 10 am on Sunday and Monday, per Google Maps, so a normal visit fits a late morning or an early afternoon. This guide covers the Tower of London opening hours, the best time to go, how long to allow and how to get there. For prices and options, my comparison of Tower of London tickets covers all 10 products with their cancellation terms.
Tower of London Opening Hours
Today, Saturday 7 November 2026, the Tower of London opening hours per Google Maps are 9 am to 4:30 pm. The week looks like this:
| Day |
Hours per Google Maps |
| Monday |
10 am to 4:30 pm |
| Tuesday |
9 am to 4:30 pm |
| Wednesday |
9 am to 4:30 pm |
| Thursday |
9 am to 4:30 pm |
| Friday |
9 am to 4:30 pm |
| Saturday |
9 am to 4:30 pm |
| Sunday |
10 am to 4:30 pm |
I could not open the official Historic Royal Palaces page when I wrote this, so I cannot give you the official seasonal hours, the last-entry rule or the closing days. The official site is the one to trust where the two differ, and it is the page to check for holiday closures around Christmas and New Year.
Tower of London Opening Times
The Tower of London opening times that matter most are the earliest ones, and the Tower of London opening hours are the same all week apart from the later start on Sunday and Monday. On a Tuesday to Saturday the gates open at 9 am, and Google Maps shows the same 4:30 pm close on every day. The products that open earlier than the public are the early-access tours: the Tour Guy pre-opening entry at $99 lets a group of up to 20 in before the public, and City Wonders sells a similar early-access visit at $88 and a $79 version with a Beefeater audience.
the tour guy
Tower of London: Pre-Opening Entry, Ceremony & Crown Jewels
- ★ 4.6 (394 reviews)
- 1 hour
- Free cancellation
My pick: If you want to be inside before the public: ceremony viewing and first access to the Jewel House, 4.6 from 394 reviews, $99.
What you get, where you meet, what reviewers say
Included
- ✓ Expert English-speaking tour leader
- ✓ Pre-opening access to the Tower of London with a Yeoman Warder
- ✓ Beefeater Opening Ceremony viewing
- ✓ First-of-the-day access to the Crown Jewels and Jewel House
- ✓ Guided walking tour of the Tower of London external grounds
- ✓ All-day Tower of London entry ticket
Not included / not suitable
- ✕ Guide tips
- ✕ Guided tour inside the Tower of London
Meeting point: Please arrive 10-15 minutes before your scheduled departure time to allow enough time for check-in. The tour will depart promptly at the stated time. You will find the guide in front of the Tower of London shop directly across from the Tower of London entrance. A representative will be there holding a sign with ''The Tour Guy'' on it. 5BT, Tower Place West, 50 Lower Thames St, London EC3R 6DT, UK
Languages: English
Duration: 1 hour
Cancellation: Cancel up to 24 hours in advance for a full refund
“Sophie was an excellent tour guide. Extremely knowledgeable about the history and a great story teller.” – GetYourGuide review
Early access matters because the Crown Jewels draw the longest line in the Tower. One reviewer of an early-access tour said being among the first to see the Crown Jewels meant they could get a good look or just shuffle past.
Tower of London Last Entry
The Tower of London opening hours say when the gates close, but last entry is the number that decides your day. I could not confirm the Tower of London last entry time from the official site. What I have is two partial figures. Google results for the official site show the Yeoman Warder tour running every 45 minutes from 10:00 with the last tour at 15:15, and Google Maps shows a 4:30 pm close. My advice is to plan for a last entry well before closing: the Crown Jewels and the White Tower need time, and the early afternoon is when you want to be inside. Check hrp.org.uk for the exact figure on your date.
Tower of London Operating Hours and Hours of Operation
The Tower of London operating hours (the same thing as the Tower of London opening hours) are one set of numbers for the whole site in the Google listing, but the tours add a second layer. The Yeoman Warder tour is included in the ticket price, per the official page as it shows in Google results, and runs on a fixed rhythm every 45 minutes. The after-hours tour is a separate product that starts after closing: the Tour Guy $177 tour with the Ceremony of the Keys lasts 105 minutes and meets in front of the Tower of London Shop. It does not include the Crown Jewels, so it is an addition to a daytime ticket, not a replacement.
Tower Bridge Opening Times Next Door
Tower Bridge is a separate attraction, and it keeps its own hours: Google Maps lists it open 9:30 am to 6 pm every day, so it stays open about an hour and a half after the Tower closes. It is about a 5-minute walk from the Tower by my estimate. If you want both in one day, the LetzGo tour at $199 includes the Tower of London and the Tower Bridge Experience in 3.5 hours.
LetzGo City Tours Britain
Tower of London Opening Ceremony & Tower Bridge Tour
- ★ 4.8 (948 reviews)
- 3.5 hours
- Free cancellation
My pick: Both landmarks on one booking: Tower of London opening ceremony plus the Tower Bridge Experience, 4.8 from 948 reviews.
What you get, where you meet, what reviewers say
Included
- ✓ Skip-the-line access to the Tower of London
- ✓ Royal Beefeaters Opening Ceremony
- ✓ Skip-the-line tickets to the Tower Bridge Experience
- ✓ Entry to the Victorian Engine Rooms
- ✓ English-speaking guide
Not included / not suitable
- ✕ Hotel pickup and drop-off
- ✕ Food and drinks
- ✕ Transportation
- ✕ Tips
Meeting point: Meeting time: 15 minutes before departure. Meeting place: Tower Hill Tube Station, Citizen M Hotel, 40 Trinity Square, London EC3N 4DJ
Meeting point: Take main exit and meet your guide outside between Citizen M Hotel and Trinity Square Gardens, adjacent to the “Tower Hill Tram” refreshment stand. Meet your guide outside the main exit of Tower Hill Underground Station (underground lines: Circle or District), between Citizen M Hotel and Trinity Square Gardens, adjacent to the red Tower Hill Tram refreshment stand.
Late arrivals cannot be accommodated and missed tours or tickets cannot be refunded or rescheduled. You must first check-in with the guide, as you can only access the venues as part of your organised group tour. London EC3N 4DJ, UK
Languages: English
Duration: 3.5 hours
Cancellation: Cancel up to 24 hours in advance for a full refund
“Our guide, Leon, was very friendly, and considerate of all grou participants, with endless patience, information and sense of humour....higly recommend” – GetYourGuide review
How Long to Visit the Tower of London
The Tower of London opening hours leave about six and a half hours on a Tuesday to Saturday, which is more than most visits need. How long to visit the Tower of London depends on the ticket. From the products I compared, an early-access ceremony visit is about 1 hour of guiding, a short guided tour is 1.5 hours, and the longer guided tours run 3 to 4 hours. For a self-guided visit I would allow about 3 hours, and that is my estimate, not an official figure. The Historic Royal Palaces ticket at $51 shows a 24-hour validity window, which is longer than you can use in a single day because of the opening hours.
Best Time to Visit the Tower of London
The best time to visit the Tower of London is the opening slot of the Tower of London opening hours, and I can only say that from the product data. The early-access tours exist because the Crown Jewels queue builds later in the morning, and the reviewers describe it as a way to see them before the crowds arrive. I did not find official crowd data, so I will not name quiet days.
Weather matters because much of the Tower is outdoors. Open-Meteo’s 2025 weather record for the site gives sunset times from 3:51 pm in December to 9:19 pm in June, with rainy days per month between 4 and 13.
| Month |
Sunrise |
Sunset |
Sunshine hours |
Rainy days |
| January |
7:58 |
4:20 pm |
3.5 |
13 |
| April |
6:03 |
7:57 pm |
11.4 |
4 |
| June |
4:42 |
9:19 pm |
12.8 |
8 |
| September |
6:35 |
7:14 pm |
9.2 |
9 |
| November |
7:18 |
4:10 pm |
4.4 |
12 |
| December |
7:59 |
3:51 pm |
3.5 |
10 |
Source: Open-Meteo historical weather, 2025 data for the Tower of London.
In winter the sun sets before the 4:30 pm closing of the Tower of London opening hours, so the after-hours tour is a dark visit year-round, but in June the evening stays light until 9:19 pm. For comfort, I’d pick April or September: roughly 9 to 11 sunshine hours a day and fewer rainy days than the winter months.
How to Get to the Tower of London
The nearest Underground station is Tower Hill, about 230 m from the Tower in a straight line, roughly a 4-minute walk by my estimate (straight-line distance multiplied by 1.3 at 4.8 km/h). Tower Hill is served by the District and Circle lines, per Transport for London. Aldgate is about 11 minutes on foot and Monument about 13. London Bridge station is about 12 minutes away and Liverpool Street about 19.
Several tours meet near the station. The LetzGo two-landmark tour meets outside the Tower Hill main exit, between the Citizen M hotel and Trinity Square Gardens. The Tour Guy products meet in front of the Tower of London Shop on Tower Place West, 50 Lower Thames St, and the LetzGo Beefeater tour meets at the Starbucks at 3 Tower Place West. The City Wonders tours meet at the ticket office opposite the main entrance. Read the confirmation, because the meeting point changes between options. Add 15 minutes for the walk from Tower Hill and the meeting-point check-in to your plan around the Tower of London opening hours, and do not assume a late arrival will be waited for.
Is the Tower of London Worth It?
The plain ticket at $51 is rated 4.6 from 33,523 reviews, and reviewers use phrases such as “the day in London was well worth it”. Wikidata says the fortress dates from 1066, and the listing includes the Crown Jewels, public Beefeater tours, children’s trails and printed maps. The pricier tours are where opinions split by taste: a reviewer of the Beefeater meet and greet called it very worthwhile, and one early-start reviewer recommends going before the crowds and the heat. If you only have a few hours in London, I’d go for the Crown Jewels and the White Tower first, and plan the day around the Tower of London opening hours for your date.
Tower of London Audio Guide
Check the Tower of London opening hours for your slot, because the plain $51 ticket lists an audio guide tour as not included, so the self-guided visit has no commentary unless you add one. Two early-access listings include a self-guided audio app instead: the $99 pre-opening entry with the ceremony and the $88 early access with the Beefeater ceremony. The $79 early access listing says a City Wonders audio app is offered from 2027, which is after your visit this year. For a human voice, see my Tower of London tours.
Tower of London Dress Code
The Tower of London opening hours are on the same page as the rules, and I found no dress code for the Tower of London in my data and could not read the official page, hrp.org.uk. Nothing in the listings asks for covered shoulders or knees. The visit is a long walk over uneven historic ground with queues in the open air, so I’d choose comfortable shoes and a layer for the weather.
Tower of London Free Entry
I found no free-entry day for the Tower of London, and the listings I compared are all paid. The cheapest is the $51 ticket with the Crown Jewels, and the official site, hrp.org.uk, is where to check the Tower of London opening hours and any concession or child rates, which my data does not hold. You can look at the fortress from the outside for nothing, and Tower Hill station is 0.23 kilometres away.
Things to Do Near the Tower of London
Whatever time the Tower of London opening hours put you out of the gate, Tower Bridge is 0.30 kilometres away on Google Maps, rated 4.8 from 187,621 reviews, and one listing combines the Opening Ceremony with the Tower Bridge Experience for $199. London Bridge is 0.82 kilometres away and The Shard 0.83, rated 4.6 from 47,998 reviews. See my Tower of London map for how these sit around the walls.
What to Know Before You Go
The Tower of London is a working royal palace and fortress, according to Wikipedia, and the Crown Jewels are held in the Waterloo Block. I could not read the official page, so I do not have the bag, security or dress-code rules; check hrp.org.uk before you travel.
From the listings, here is what I can say. The plain ticket includes the public Beefeater tours, children’s trails and printed maps, and it excludes an audio guide, food and drinks, and skip-the-line access. Late arrivals cannot be accommodated on the LetzGo Beefeater tour, and missed tours are not refunded, so aim to be at the meeting point 10 to 15 minutes early. Most products can be cancelled free up to 24 hours before.
Once you know the Tower of London opening hours and the visitor basics, the next choice is the ticket. Every Tower of London ticket I compared is explained with who it suits, and the home page lists the other attractions I cover.
