crown jewels in London

[Dznypal]

we are taking the british isles cruise in sept and spending a few days in London before
just wondering has anyone here done either the crown jewels or seen changing of the guard

we were in London in 2015 before a cruise and did a tour that included changing of the guard but since it was raining it was cancelled

although because it was canceled the tour still went to buckingham palace there really werent a lot of people so we got right up to the gates
of buckingham palace which was awesome

so this time Id like to try seeing the guards
any other advice or tips for London we be much appreciated
thanks

 

[fla4fun]

I have seen the Crown Jewels. They are at the Tower of London, and very popular. If you go, go early in the day for the shortest lines. They had a moving belt that went by the cases, so you couldn’t really dawdle up close. We stayed once at a Hilton right across the Thames from the Tower, and we bought annual passes to the Tower (which were very reasonably priced and covered some other places as well) and we spent a lot of mornings and evenings there.

I saw part of the Changing of the Guard while walking to another destination. Unless you are at the front, you don’t get the full effect. If it is important to you, allow enough time to get to the front so you can see well.

 

[princesscinderella]

We too saw the Crown Jewels. It’s crazy how big some of those stones are, unfortunately some of them have a bad history behind their origins and how they came to be part of the collection. The Tower of London is a very large complex with lots of areas and mini museums within its walls to explore. Like fla4fun said try to get there early as it does get crowded. They have a nice cafe inside so you can have lunch and keep exploring. Buy your tickets ahead of time to save some time getting in. It was my favorite thing we did in London.

 

[lorimay]

The Crown Jewels and the entire London tower area is a must see.
It's crazy the age of those building.

 

[Jangles]

https://changing-guard.com/where-to-watch.htmlhttps:/

https://www.hrp.org.uk/tower-of-london/#gs.vq6rpp

After visiting the Tower, visit Monument (the great fire of London). On that side of the river, visit the Inns of Courts, many barristers chambers are there but you will recognise the area from many film sets.
Also, if you attend Evensong at St Paul’s Cathedral you can enter free of charge.

Cross the river, perhaps over Tower Bridge and see Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre and have lunch at Borough Market, continue walking up the river to the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben.

Or have lunch at one of the stalls in Seven Dials market near Covent Garden or dimsum in China Town. Maybe prebook to have cocktails in the bar at the top of the Shard.

What are your interests?

 

[oufpat]

When we did the British Isles Cruise in 2019, which we absolutely loved, we purchase tickets for the Tower of London before going. We also purchased tickets to see the staterooms at Buckingham Palace. It was all pretty amazing!

 

[dcassetta]

I would assume that most of the crown jewel elements will be back at the Tower by September, but if your goal is to see all of them, you might want to check ahead of time. Currently a number of items are actually out of the Tower being prepared for the coronation.

The process for taking them in and out of the Tower is very secretive, so they may be gone one day and back the next.

I concur with the other posters that if you’re visiting the Tower and want to see the Crown jewels, go early and get in line for that first thing. The lines sometimes build to more than an hour and a half.

 

[Skippyboo]

I would assume that most of the crown jewel elements will be back at the Tower by September, but if your goal is to see all of them, you might want to check ahead of time. Currently a number of items are actually out of the Tower being prepared for the coronation.

The process for taking them in and out of the Tower is very secretive, so they may be gone one day and back the next.

I concur with the other posters that if you’re visiting the Tower and want to see the Crown jewels, go early and get in line for that first thing. The lines sometimes build to more than an hour and a half.

Coronation is May 6, jewels with be back in the Tower shortly afterwards. In September, Buckingham Palace should be open for tours since King will be in Scotland. It’s a very interesting tour, you can also tour the Royal Mews next to BP where you can see Gold State Coach used in coronation. St Paul’s and Westminster Abbey are interesting, museums such as Victoria and Albert, British, National Gallery. You can take a train from London to Windsor and tour Windsor Castle, the town is interesting too. They do a changing of the guards at Windsor too.

 

[ldo]

You can tour Buckingham palace staterooms from mid-July to sept 24. Highly recommend it. We went twice. Book in advance.

 

[sandiedvc]

In London- Churchill War Rooms Museum. Located below Downing St.
Also- the theater. Excellent musicals, but we saw two fantastic plays. Some of the theaters that the plays are in are very old and relatively small. The knee space is not what we Americans are used to. We did choose the cheapest seats (£15) in the last row but we still had an excellent experience and great view of the stage.

Just a little out of London-
On the east side-Greenwich. The Royal Observatory is there with The Prime Meridia. There is also a Martime Musum as well. For dining there we enjoyed the Goddard Pie shop. They starting selling eel pies in 1890. Cant rate the eel pies but the two more run of the mill types were excellent.
On the west side- Kew Gardens. Windsor is excellent.
We have also done day trips from London to Bath. Hampton Court Palace is also a good day trip by train.

 

[Dznypal]

Thanks for all the great advice. It all looks so great we decided to to come in a day earlier then we had originally planned. Can’t wait to go

 

[MnkyGirl]

Another few suggestions here! We did this cruise last year. We took a red eye into London and intentionally bought our tickets to The Tower for the last time slot of the day to keep us going long enough to fight the jet lag. LOL It turned out to be a fantastic time to go, most people had left for the day so we got to wander. We walked in to see the crown jewels with no wait and actually came out of the display as they were lowering the flag. We had NO idea what was going on until we got to the hotel that night and found out that the Queen had died.

I'm sad that Disney isn't sailing out of Dover this year, everyone is going to miss seeing Dover Castle which ranks as probably my favorite castle of all time (and I've seen a LOT). But it IS relatively easy to get there from London if y'all are interested. We took a train there and could have easily made it a day trip.

 

[msmama]

London is very easy to get around so I would say you don't need "official" tours from a tour company. But the Beefeaters do tours at the Tower of London which are fun, but you have to go at their pace.

While public transport is quite easy (assuming no strikes) we also like the hop on/hop off bus tours for the extra stories you get through the headphones.

 

[Jangles]

London is very easy to get around so I would say you don't need "official" tours from a tour company. But the Beefeaters do tours at the Tower of London which are fun, but you have to go at their pace.

While public transport is quite easy (assuming no strikes) we also like the hop on/hop off bus tours for the extra stories you get through the headphones.

I lived and worked in London for over 30 years, and when I visit in tourist mode, I still use the hop on hop off buses.

 

[kiford]

In London- Churchill War Rooms Museum.

We did this with a tour guide. Well worth the time.

We saw the Crown Jewels. Meh. The Tower itself was way more interesting to me.

As part of that tour (where we went to the Tower) we also saw St. Paul's Cathedral which I recommend, the London Eye - also well worth doing - and Westminster Abbey & Cathedral (just outside, not inside) and walking around that area. We were supposed to see the changing of the guards but there was a tube strike which made the traffic insane and there wasn't time so we had to divert and go to St. Paul's which was something I was much more interested in seeing over the changing of the guard.

We went on our own to the British Museum because there were a few things I definitely wanted to see and we also pre-purchased tickets for a special exhibit at the Museum. I will definitely be doing this again. I did see the things I absolutely wanted to see but there's so much more to see.

 

[Suzabella]

Allow an entire day for Tower of London. There's a lot of history packed in there.

Also, in case it hasn't been mentioned before, buy your tickets to as many things as possible before hand. That includes the London Eye iif that's on your list. The Tower also.

 

[magsnwonderland]

We did the Tower and saw the crown jewels on our first visit to London, which was essentially a long layover - our flight from the US landed in the morning and I had dinner plans with a friend before hopping on a train to Wales. So we wanted to do something that would take most of the day and be skippable on a London-focused trip. It was very interesting, but like others said, the tour of the grounds with the Yeoman warders and the self guided tour of the white tower were much more interesting than the crown jewels part, you just glide past them on the moving walkway.

 

[auntlynne]

(Half of my thoughts have probably been stated by others, if so, it might be a pretty common feeling about something).

I had a great visit to the Tower - because of my Beefeater tour guide, Alan (only tour guide in my life whose name I remember). I’m pretty sure we saw the jewels, but it was a move-it along experience. Seeing the jewels is probably more impressive when being worn - even just in a magazine photo. (We also stayed at the Tower Hilton and visited the Borough Market in Bermondsey; that was some pretty good looking food they were selling).

I’ve been in or through London a few times. As with much travel, I say go for the big picture and concentrate on a few things. You cannot see it all in the small allotment of mere days.

I love the HOHO bus. You can use it as both a tour and transportation. Seeing a town from the road - and especially the upper deck of an open-air one, lets you see the architecture and layout and feel the vibe of an area. And using the Tube, if only for one ride, remembering to “Mind the Gap” is something those of us who live in a car-focused region can find fascinating. How they managed to build subways so long ago amazes me.

So much really can be a walk by, not necessarily going in to everything. Trafalgar Square, with the lion statues (got a great photo of my niece on one). Walking across the Thames on the Millenium Bridge, with the Houses of Parliament, Big Ben, cathedrals, museums lining the river.

I really enjoyed the British Museum. Stolen antiquities from Egypt, Greece. The Rosetta Stone, Gutenburg Bible…

Went to the Globe Theater for Shakespeare, a play on the West End (check out prices for shows in the US and be amazed at the London prices).

If you land In the morning after an overnight flight, you may be surprised how that first day may be really hard. We had an evening activity after an afternoon nap and could barely stay awake.

So much to do - and so much to see. Hope you have a great time - this first time.

 

[o&smom]

Thanks for all the great advice. It all looks so great we decided to to come in a day earlier then we had originally planned. Can’t wait to go

Glad to hear you added an extra day! Highly recommend booking tickets for the ceremony of the keys. It was the highlight of our last trip...along with LEGOLAND overlooking Windsor castle. We saw the Crown Jewels on our first visit. We also snuck in at the end of the day with no line. Enjoy your time there!

 

[o&smom]

Another few suggestions here! We did this cruise last year. We took a red eye into London and intentionally bought our tickets to The Tower for the last time slot of the day to keep us going long enough to fight the jet lag. LOL It turned out to be a fantastic time to go, most people had left for the day so we got to wander. We walked in to see the crown jewels with no wait and actually came out of the display as they were lowering the flag. We had NO idea what was going on until we got to the hotel that night and found out that the Queen had died.

I'm sad that Disney isn't sailing out of Dover this year, everyone is going to miss seeing Dover Castle which ranks as probably my favorite castle of all time (and I've seen a LOT). But it IS relatively easy to get there from London if y'all are interested. We took a train there and could have easily made it a day trip.

Agree about Dover and the castle. One of our favorites. Hang out there for hours. Amazing fish and chips place on the walk up through town.