The Tower of London

I am so excited that I have been keeping good on my promise to do more London things this year but The Tower of London is not one of them. The fact that I have never published a dedicated post about The Tower of London is similar to me never having written a post about Stuttgart, Germany even though I have been there 30+ times. In nearly every city I visit that has a monarchy I try to visit the Crown Jewels if they are on display in the capital and the British Crown Jewels are certainly something to write home about.

The Tower of London is so much more than the home of the royal jewels though, in fact it has been over the year it has served as a prison, a palace, an armoury and even a zoo. I think part of the reason I like it so much is that it is centuries and centuries older than America and it’s a castle – winning on every front!   From the top of the White Tower you have a gorgeous view overlooking Tower Bridge, the Thames River, and the buildings on the South Bank, including the Shard.  

There are many things to see when you are in the Tower of London and I would definitely recommend a Beefeater tour though I would check out the wait for the Crown Jewels when you arrive – the line is often 10 to 20 minutes but I have seen it snake around and extend more than an hour! The Tower of London is open nearly every day from 9 in the morning until 4:30 in the afternoon, though the hours change so that they close at 5:30pm in the summer but if you want more information, check out their site before you visit!