Frequently asked questions about our 12th September home educator event
Use this link to book. Places must be pre-booked in advance.
Due to the demand for this event we have introduced entry time slots to ensure that everyone can enter quickly and avoid large queues. Please do keep to your time slot or let us know in advance if you will need to arrive later so that we can ensure we have enough staff to support you. Before the day you can email us on [email protected] On the day itself, please call us on 07815 721540
Please arrive at our schools' desk on Tower Hill. From here you will collect wristbands which will give you access to the Tower. These are your tickets so please take care of them. You will also be able to pick up printed maps and trail guides to enhance your visit. Please use our schools map to identify key locations for your day.
Your ticket will give you access to the Tower of London site and its attractions on Tuesday 12th September 2023. To support your visit, we will have a range of self-led resources, an object handling activity and scheduled Q&As with our costumed presenters who will give an insight into key periods in the Tower’s history.
We have a range of self-led activity trails that focus on the learning opportunities across the site. You can find links to these below to help you plan your visit. Please note that these are primarily used by schools and the language reflects this. You can print your own or pick up a copy of these trails on arrival.
Gory Story trail for Key Stage 3 | Tower of London | Historic Royal Palaces (hrp.org.uk)
Normans trail for key stage 4 | Tower of London | Historic Royal Palaces (hrp.org.uk)
Accessibility | Tower of London | Historic Royal Palaces (hrp.org.uk)
Mobility needs
The Tower of London welcomes all visitors and tries to make everyone’s day out successful and enjoyable, however, the Tower of London is an historic building with difficult stairs and passageways and wheelchair access is limited. There are many steps throughout the Tower with cobbles laid in some of the surfaces and pathways. There are some low doorways.
Here is a more detailed guide to physical accessibility at the Tower.
tower-access-guide-2018.pdf (hrp.org.uk)
Sensory needs
There are sights and sounds around the site which might trigger those in your group who have sensory issues. This includes:
- sound and music throughout the site. This includes people shouting, talking,
- the sound of cameras clicking and dogs barking.
- dramatic lighting, with darkness and spotlights.
- projections and films
We will have two rooms available for families to drop in throughout the day for a sensory break or to have lunch. These are the Cradle Tower and Fusiliers lunch room, however, please be aware that these rooms are available to all our home educated visitors throughout the day. We regret that the nature of the site prevents us from being able to guarantee a quiet space.
Here is a more detailed guide designed for visitors with autism. Please disregard the ticketing information.
Microsoft Word - Tower of London autism spectrum guide 2011 version.doc (hrp.org.uk)
The day is free but must be booked in advance. Although this day is free there are a limited number of places so, please let us know if you find you can no longer attend so that we can allocate your place to another family.
We will be gathering feedback from visitors to improve our offer for future years. As part of this we will ask you about cost so that we can ensure the offer is accessible but also sustainable to run in future years.
Parts of the Tower are not pushchair friendly and many of the surfaces are cobbled. We have three buggy parks available (£1/€1 returnable deposit to use). Items are left at owner’s risk. We would recommend bringing a baby carrier or sling with you if possible.
- Under the White Tower entrance stairs
- By the Middle Drawbridge
The Tower of London does not have any cloakroom/left luggage facilities
You are welcome to feed anywhere on site. However, if you prefer a quiet location you may want to use the breakout space or the Raven Arches picnic area.
There are unisex baby changing facilities in the New Armouries café. Please ask a member of staff for details. There are also facilities in the accessible toilets at the Jewel House exit and at the Salt Tower.
There are accessible toilets
- At the rear of the Jewel House
- Near the Salt Tower
Access to these is over cobbled surfaces. Non-accessible toilets are also available at the Cradle Tower and the rear of the Jewel House.
A Changing Places facility is available in the New Armouries building, it can be unlocked using a Radar key.
Our standard audio guides incur an additional cost advertised on site. Audio guides are free for visually impaired visitors with a tour specifically for our blind and partially sighted visitors (English language only). The guides have a neck strap making them easy to carry. Sound can easily be controlled, and they have an induction loop facility.
The guided Yeoman Warder tours will be running and start near the main entrance of the Tower, they last for around 45 minutes. These tours can get very crowded at peak times. The content is aimed at adults and may not be suitable for younger visitors. The tour is accessible for most visitors. A route is detailed on pages 14/15 of the Tower access guide for those not able to use the steps. You will be able to re-join the Yeoman Warder tour before it enters the Chapel of St Peter. The Chapel has some steps to enter.
There are picnic areas throughout the site, the largest being by the Raven Arches. We have a range of options if you wish to buy lunch on site including our New Armouries café which has lots of indoor seating or our Raven takeaway café which has outdoor picnic seating. There will be two drop in spaces available on the day; The Cradle Tower and The Fusiliers lunchroom. However, these will be in high demand, so we advise varying your lunch timings to ensure you have space.
The Fusiliers is accessed by a ramp, but the Cradle Tower requires steps to access. These spaces will be roped off to the general public, please do not be put off by that but do replace the rope behind you.
Due to the demand for this event we have introduced entry time slots to ensure that everyone can enter quickly and avoid large queues. You will find your time slot on your confirmation email.
Please do keep to your time slot or let us know in advance if you will need to arrive later so that we can ensure we have enough staff to support you. Before the day you can email us on [email protected] On the day itself, please call us on 07815 721540
We suggest arriving before 2pm to ensure that you have time to explore the site and can join in planned activities such as the activity trail and object handling. The schools desk will close at 3pm and there will be no admission after this time.
We will be hosting similar events at Hampton Court Palace in February and Kensington Palace in April. We are just finalising details and will share on the Home Educators web page and on social media in the autumn.
If you have booked but found that you can no longer attend, please email us on [email protected] This allows us to offer your place to another family.
If you find you cannot attend on the day itself, please call us on 07815 721540
We appreciate your support.