Family fun activities

We have a wide range of activities and tours available at the Tower of London to entertain families.

Cartoon illustration of kids visiting palace, by Tim Archbold

Tower top 10 for families

The White Tower

The biggest and the oldest of the towers, the White Tower is the original Tower of London with ten centuries of history. You can see armour and weapons and even find out how to use them in our 'Hands on history' displays on the top floor. Click here for more information about Hands on history.
Pick up an activity sheet at the desk by the door and look out for the medival toilets. Imagine using one!

The Crown Jewels - family trail

Packed with quizzes, activities and illustrations, our family trail on these priceless jewels is the perfect way to explore the Tower as a family. Pick up a trail at the Welcome Centre when you arrive or click below to download a sample trail.
Crowning glory: The Jewel House >
(PDF 343KB) Just how spectacular is the world's biggest cut diamond? Explore the Crown Jewels in the Tower's Jewel House and see for yourself.

Yeoman Warder tours

Join one of these famous tours where Yeoman Warders (popularly known at ‘Beefeaters’) will entertain you with tales of intrigue, imprisonment, execution, torture and much more. Tours start near the main entrance every 30 mins (last tour 15.30 in summer, 14.30 in winter) and last approximately 60 minutes. If this is too long or some of the stories are a bit too scary for younger members of your family, you can always leave the tour partway through. Click here for more information about Yeoman Warder tours.

The prisoners

Although there aren't any prisoners in the Tower today, there have been prisoners at the Tower almost since it was built. You can still find traces of them in the rooms where they were kept - especially the carvings on the walls; can you decipher them? Look out for the touchscreens about prisoners past down by the ravens' cages. Click here for more information about prisoners at the Tower.

What happened to the Princes?

In 1483, the young Princes Edward V and his brother Richard of York suddenly disappeared whilst being held in the Tower, never to be seen again. Nearly 200 years later, the skeletons of two young boys were found. Help us find the clues in the Bloody Tower to solve the mystery…

Spot the ravens

Kings and queens used to keep all sorts of wild animals at the Tower, even lions and elephants! Today, the only animals left are the famous ravens which are looked after by the Yeoman Ravenmaster. Legend says that the kingdom and the Tower will fall if the resident ravens ever leave the fortress. The ravens' lodgings are to be found next to the Wakefield Tower. Click here for more information and to download a ‘Guide to the Tower Ravens’ leaflet.

Medieval Palace - family trail

In the Middle Ages, kings and queens actually lived in the Tower. Take the Knights and Princesses trail through these rooms, with free badges and pencils available at the Welcome Centre. Pick up a Medieval Palace family trail at the Welcome Centre when you arrive or click below to download a sample trail.
Palace secrets: The Medieval Palace >
(PDF 447KB) There's more to the Tower than murder and mayhem. Discover the Medieval Palace within its walls.

Fortress

Pace the battlements, handle crossbows and explore the Tower’s history as a formidable royal fortress. Around the Tower, you can see replicas of the mighty siege weapons used to attack and defend castles in the Middle Ages. Displays on the East Wall Walk show what it was like to be a soldier here and what happened when attackers actually broke in. Click here to learn more about Fortress

Guardsmen

Real-life soldiers from various regiments still guard the priceless Crown Jewels. See them open the Tower at 09.00 with a special ceremony, and again at 14.50 collecting the secret password to get into the Tower after dark.

Audio guides

Discover the Tower with one of our audio guides and experience five different tours - choose stories about the Normans and before, and the Medieval Palace. Find out more about imprisonment and execution inside the Tower and be dazzled by the Crown Jewels. Finally, allow our Resident Governor and Chief Yeoman Warder to tell you what it's really like to live inside a Royal Fortress.

More entertaining activities

Enjoy yourselves! Visiting a Historic Royal Palace shouldn’t be boring. Try these entertaining activities with your family

Give us a clue - you’ll hear about all sorts of interesting people during your visit. Take it in turns to pretend to be one of them, or act our part of their story, and see if the others can guess who you are.

Kids rule! Since the White Tower was built, there have been 6 kings and 1 queen under sixteen. How about letting your children take the lead? You might be surprised where they want to go. Remember to call them “Your Majesty” and to bow and curtsey!

So many Towers! Look around, there isn’t just one Tower of London, there are loads. Some still have people living in them, some store valuable items and some are used by palace staff. See how many you can get to in a visit and how many you can see.

School holidays. During school holidays, we have costume guided events and craft activities that are mainly aimed at primary school aged children. Visit our ‘What’s on’ section for more information on current and upcoming events.

The Pool of London area

The Pool of London area stretches from London Bridge to just past Tower Bridge on both sides of the Thames and has a fantastic variety of top attractions for great family days out, including HMS Belfast and the Tower Bridge Exhibition.

Many of the attractions have specific programmes designed with children in mind. To help you and your family make the most of your visit to the Pool of London area, why not download a fun-packed Explore Kit, aimed at 5-11 year olds, including maps, playsheets and much more?

Download the Explore Kit (PDF) >>
Download the Explore Kit answer sheet (PDF) >>