Best way to book Tower of London and Lords Tour

fanatabulous87

I am going to London this weekend with my boyfriend and am booking a Lords Tour as a surprise. Can anyone tell me if it would be better for me to book tickets now or pay when we get there? And also, which is the best thing to do with Tower of London and would Saturday or Sunday be better?
I didn't think there would be queues for Lords - am I right?
Also, with the Tower of London, if the best option was for me to book them now, do we pick them up when we get there and does that mean we will have to queue anyway??
Thanks for any help!
xx

Stompa

Are you travelling by train?

http://www.daysoutguide.co.uk/tower-of-london

http://www.daysoutguide.co.uk/lords-tour

susancs

If you are travelling in by train then you can use your train ticket with a voucher from the site below to get 2for 1 Tower entry. Even if you are not coming in by train it might be either a good idea if purchasing a Travelcard to do so from a London train (not tube station) as it will have the BR logo on it that you need for the 2 for 1 offers. If you buy from a tube station it will only have the LT logo on it and you cannot use Oyster for the offers. if you are not using TC it may be an idea to pop into a train station and buy a ticket for 1 stop to get the savings.
http://www.daysoutguide.co.uk/tower-of-london
http://www.daysoutguide.co.uk/lords-tour

susancs

Lol Stompa you were quicker than me with the info.

fanatabulous87

Thank you for your replies, I have printed out the vouchers for them as we are travelling from Manchester but I was thinking more about the queues. If I use them vouchers then I have to queue, is that right? As it will be a Saturday we are going to TOL and Sunday to Lords, I am worried half our day will be spent queueing.
Thank you!

zenmaster

We went to TOL last Saturday. We arrived at about 10.00am.

We bought tickets at the top (with vouchers). Queuing time < 5 mins.

Down the hill to the visitor centre to get a map. Another, longer queue. We realised that they were buying tickets as well so we just walked up to the front and got a map.

Down to the entrance. An even longer queue as they check bags. If you don't have any bags (including handbags) then you could probably skip to the front of this one too and just walk straight in. We had bags though so queued < 10 minutes.

So, about 15 mins from arrival to entry.

We immediately waited for a guided tour which was due to start in about 10 minutes. My advice, in hindsight, is DON'T.

Go straight in. Find the big building with a soldier outside. This is where the crown jewels are. This is by far the longest queue and the longer you leave it the longer the queue gets. If you get there promptly it shouldn't be too bad but that is for you to judge. Once you have done that, head back to the gate and get the guided tour. It's well worth while.

Be warned - there are a LOT of steps. We were pretty well done in by the end.

susancs

fanatabulous87 wrote: »

I was thinking more about the queues. If I use them vouchers then I have to queue, is that right? As it will be a Saturday we are going to TOL and Sunday to Lords, I am worried half our day will be spent queueing.
Thank you!

Like about poster says, the best time to visit any London attraction this time of year is to get there for opening time (9am on a Saturday). For example we have Merlin passes and I took my daughter again to The London Dungeons at the end of July, got there for opening time and few mins in queue, came out an hour later and huge queue way down the Road.

BLT_2

zenmaster wrote: »

We went to TOL last Saturday. We arrived at about 10.00am.

We bought tickets at the top (with vouchers). Queuing time < 5 mins.

Down the hill to the visitor centre to get a map. Another, longer queue. We realised that they were buying tickets as well so we just walked up to the front and got a map.

Down to the entrance. An even longer queue as they check bags. If you don't have any bags (including handbags) then you could probably skip to the front of this one too and just walk straight in. We had bags though so queued < 10 minutes.

So, about 15 mins from arrival to entry.

We immediately waited for a guided tour which was due to start in about 10 minutes. My advice, in hindsight, is DON'T.

Go straight in. Find the big building with a soldier outside. This is where the crown jewels are. This is by far the longest queue and the longer you leave it the longer the queue gets. If you get there promptly it shouldn't be too bad but that is for you to judge. Once you have done that, head back to the gate and get the guided tour. It's well worth while.

Be warned - there are a LOT of steps. We were pretty well done in by the end.

Exactly as Zenmaster states, there are ample booths outside the TOL that queuing is rarely a problem. The guided tours are highly amusing, but the crown jewels are without a doubt the highlight of the tour for many.

Half a day is ample for the TOL in any case, they are only so many attractions in there, the Jewels and the Armoury to my mind being two of the best.

sophiamily

we are going to next week london in holidays..i really excited to go for it.

susancs

sophiamily wrote: »

we are going to next week london in holidays..i really excited to go for it.

Hope that you have a lovely time.

zenmaster

By the way - at the top of the hill there is a restaurant selling fish & chips for £3.99. You can't miss it - there's a big yellow sign outside. These are take away only but they have a seating area on the roof. If you go into the restaurant the same thing will cost you £8.

Rick Stein quality they are not and you don't get a lot of chips but I have had a lot worse in my time.