Nearby Attractions

A nearly 1,000-year-old fortress on the Thames that has been a royal palace, prison and execution site, and now guards the Crown Jewels. Free 'Beefeater' tours run every 30 minutes from the Yeoman Warders who still live on site.

Closed: Open daily except a few dates around Christmas and New Year; check hrp.org.uk before visiting

£37.00 standard adult ticket, which includes a free Beefeater tour and covers everything on site (the White Tower, Crown Jewels, Medieval Palace). Booking online costs the same as the gate but skips the ticket-office queue. An optional 10% donation to Historic Royal Palaces is added at checkout and can be declined.

The Victorian bascule bridge everyone mistakes for London Bridge. Glass floor walkways 42 metres above the Thames let you look straight down at the traffic, and the old coal-fired engine rooms below still hold the machinery that used to raise the bascules.

Closed: Closed 24-26 December; open 10:00 from 1 January

Around £13 for adults online, slightly more at the door. A combined ticket with the Monument (the column commemorating the Great Fire of London) is also available. Check the bridge-lift schedule online — the bascules still open several times a week for tall ships.

Eight million objects spanning two million years of human history, housed under a vast glass-roofed Great Court. The Rosetta Stone and the Parthenon sculptures (still disputed by Greece) draw the biggest crowds.

Closed: Open daily except 1 January, 24-26 December

Free for the permanent collection; a free timed entry pass must still be booked online in advance for busy periods. Special exhibitions charge separately, typically £15-25.

The King's official London residence, but only 19 of its 775 rooms — the grand State Rooms used for banquets and ceremonies — open to visitors, and only during the Summer Opening, roughly mid-July to September, while the royal family is away.

Closed: Closed most of the year — open only during the Summer Opening, roughly mid-July to late September; exact dates change annually

Around £34 for adults, including an audio guide, for the roughly ten-week Summer Opening window. Cameras are banned inside the State Rooms and security screening is airport-style. Outside the summer window the Palace is not open for general admission.

The coronation church of English and British monarchs since 1066, and the burial place of everyone from Isaac Newton to Charles Darwin. Poets' Corner alone is worth the ticket, packed with memorials to Shakespeare, Dickens and Chaucer.

Closed: Closed to sightseers on Sundays and during services; check the website for occasional closures for state and royal events

Around £29 for adults online, including a multimedia guide; more at the door. Access to the Weston Tower and Queen's Diamond Jubilee Galleries costs extra. Free for those attending a service, though sightseeing is not permitted during worship.

A 135-metre observation wheel on the South Bank, still one of Europe's tallest, with 32 glass capsules that take about 30 minutes to complete a full rotation. On a clear day the view stretches to Windsor.

Closed: Closed for a few days of annual maintenance in January; check the website for exact dates

Prices swing with date and time of day, roughly £25-45 for a standard off-peak-to-peak adult ticket bought online; on-the-day and fast-track tickets cost more. Booking a specific time slot in advance is the only way to know the exact price.

Christopher Wren's Baroque masterpiece, rebuilt after the Great Fire of London and famously photographed still standing amid the smoke of the Blitz. Climb 528 steps to the Golden Gallery for the best rooftop view in the City, and stop at the Whispering Gallery on the way up.

Closed: Closed to sightseers on Sundays; special services can close the cathedral at short notice

Around £25 for adults, including the dome climb and multimedia guide; booking online is cheaper than paying at the door. Free for those attending a service.

A food market on this site for over 1,000 years, now a dense warren of stalls under Victorian ironwork beside London Bridge, selling everything from raw-milk cheese to Ethiopian stews. It gets shoulder-to-shoulder by lunchtime.

Closed: Closed Sundays and Mondays (the full market); a smaller Monday selection runs at reduced hours

Free to enter; you pay per item at each stall. Go before 11am or after 4pm to actually move around.