---
node: spot_london_tower_of_london
type: spot
slug: tower_of_london
destination: dest_london
title: "Tower of London"
lead: "The Tower of London is the Norman fortress on the river that has served as palace, prison, mint, armoury and execution ground, and now holds the Crown Jewels. The White Tower at its centre was begun by William the Conqueror in the 1070s."
published: 2026-08-12
updated: 2026-08-12
image_file: spot_london_tower_of_london.jpg
image_source: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Elephant_sculpture_by_Kendra_Haste,_Tower_of_London.jpg"
image_author: "Rachelle Haun"
image_license: "CC BY 2.0"
---

## Overview

Its point is continuity: nearly a thousand years of the same walls used for whatever the crown needed at the time. Two princes disappeared here, Anne Boleyn and Lady Jane Grey were beheaded on the green, and the ravens are kept because of a superstition that the kingdom falls if they leave. The Crown Jewels are the working regalia, not replicas, and the moving walkway past them exists because the queue would otherwise never clear.

## Highlights

Go at opening and see the Jewels first, before the coach parties arrive — after eleven the wait is long. The Yeoman Warder tours are free, run every half hour and are much better than the audio guide. Allow three hours; the walls and towers take longer than people expect.