Is the Tower of London worth the money?

[ptangyangkipperbang]

Thinking of taking DS1 and DS2 aged 9 and 7 when we visit London in November. We're doing Tussauds and the Lion King too so the budget is pretty much broken! Is the Tower of London a 'must see'?

I thought it was good
If you are coming by train or using the tube you may be able to get 2 for 1 on the tickets

offers

I'd say the London Eye is a definite must-see

Brilliant. Thanks v much. Seemed a bit silly not to go when we're making the big trip from 'up north' but in shock about price of Lion King tickets so was trying to save money elsewhere!

Fantastic link - thank you.

ds (9) enjoyed it , dd (then 5) loved the crown jewels but could have taken or left the rest tbh. We still only stayed about 3 hours including the entertaining free guided walk with a Beefeater. Not cheap but saw recently you can get a London Card for a day, two, a week etc which allows free/discounted admission to various places , might be worth looking into. We had a voucher from the rail network.

London Pass details

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Yes I absolutely love it. I used to live round the corner and have been about 6 times. The Beefeater Tours are fab, as is the Crown Jewels (walk past the queues watching the videos straight to the jewels though). London Eye is also very good, as is the Zoo, Kew, boat trip to Greewich. If you want to save money though the Natural History and Science Museums are free and are fab.

If you are travelling buy train you can get buy one entry get one free on many attractions. Not sure f it's on all train lines.

LOVE the Tower, but I wonder if your DS2 is a bit young. The more you know about the history and the people imprisoned their, the more you get out of it. And it's not cheap. You could always have a good nosey at it from the London Eye!

I would bin Tussauds and go for the Tower every time - but plan to spend the day there to get the maximum value for money. I think your kids are old enough.

Wow, I went to collect DS3 from nursery and came back to loads of useful repsonses. We did the Eye and zoo last year when we took DS3 with us too. He's staying at his aunties this year so we can do 'bigger boy' things.I'm using clubcard deals for Madame Tussauds so may have to spend even more time at Tesco to get deals for the Tower too.

Museums definitely worth a punt then. Science museum has loads of interactive stuff for kids.

Your 9-year-old has probably been learning about Tudors at school so might appreciate the history side of the Tower more than your younger child. I think it's a great half-day out and well worth the money. The Beefeater guided tour is great for all ages.

Avoid Madame Tussauds where you will queue for an hour and a half, pay an extortionate fee to get in and then be jostled around by the crowds once you are inside, to see some very poor and out of date figures. The new Aardman show at Tussauds is a creative use of the old planetarium but the show itself is rather pointless and presented in a very amateur way. We did it this year and couldn't get out quick enough.

Yes is good, but don't know if nec to do all those paying things. Tower of London is v good, but fairly quick though. If getting train, can do 2for1, or use clubcards. To be honest, mine enjoyed the boat trip to tower from westminster as much as the tower itself. And probably like the wagamama outside the tower even more! Something someone on here recommended which was def worth it was checking the times of Tower Bridge opening/raising.(?) We watched it just after coming out of the Tower, just going dark and the dcs loved it, made it really special.

For free things, would recommend Nat History museum, Science museum (bottom floor), Tate modern (and Borough food market, they loved that!), Princess Diana Playground. Mine like aquarium, pricey but good. (but kind of not very london if that's what you're after). If they've done about Fire of London, my two really loved going up the Monument. Green Park next to Buckingham Palace is nice, with a lovely little playground and very tame squirrels (my dcs would have spent all day feeding the squirrels)

Also, my dcs who are similar age did enjoy going to toy (and food) bit in harrods and to hamleys

Yes, IMO. Especially for boys of their age. As TheBlonde says, look out for the Bogof offers and as bk says, allocate a full day. There is masses to see and it is surprisingly beautiful and large place to explore. Stunning on a sunny November day
(I speak as a lifelong Londoner who was never taken as a child and spent a magical day there with ds aged 6)