What to do in London – the Tower of London

These ancient walls groan and creak with history – and maybe a ghost or two will be heard strolling the ramparts or along Raleigh’s Walk. And who knows what spirits linger near Traitor’s Gate, the watery entry from the mighty Thames river, through which prisoners floated and had their first glimpse inside these forbidding walls, before being led to their cells or maybe for a quick round of torture as a sort of welcome to the place.

It was ordered by William the Conqueror that the Tower of London be constructed. Just look around you, anywhere on the grounds: it’s astounding that a setting with such a gory and horrible history could be one of the most beautiful, if not the most beautiful, settings in London. So bring along your camera.

First things first. Join a Yeoman Warder tour (it’s included in your admission ticket, though a tip after would be a class act). These Tower guards know all the ins and outs of the place, and all the eerie tales. Many of them and their families have lived on the premises for years.

The White Tower, or “Keep,” dominates the other structures of the surroundings. It houses Henry VIII’s magnificent collection of armor, including that of his horse. The beautiful 11th-century Chapel of St John the Evangelist is where Lady Jane Grey, the nine-days queen, knelt to pray before she was led to her death at the chopping block, due to a battle over the succession of the throne in 1553. She was kept in the Beauchamp Tower.

Tower Green is where you will find the chopping block where many of the royals lost their lives. Among these unfortunates were: Anne Boleyn, second wife of Henry VIII, who was in her early thirties; Catherine Howard, Henry VIII’s fifth wife, barely in her twenties; and Lady Jane Grey, who was only sixteen. Anne Boleyn was executed with one nifty stroke by an expert swordsman brought in from France just for the occasion.

When you see the Jewel House housing the Crown jewels, you may be tempted to pick up a souvenir. Don’t do it! You will be locked up – maybe even in the Tower! So just keep moving. (The guards will keep you moving pretty well anyhow.)

In the Bloody Tower is where the little princes were murdered and where Sir Walter Raleigh was kept. Raleigh was allowed to pace out along the walls, where his friends would hail him from the Thames riverside below. That part of the Tower is now referred to familiarly as Raleigh’s Walk.

The Chapel Royal of St. Peter ad Vincula is Where Anne Boleyn is buried beneath the stone floor you walk upon, in the crypt. After visiting this chapel, I asked one of the Yeoman Warders if it would be possible for me to visit the crypt, and he replied, “Only the Queen goes down there, governor.” Oh, well, that’s life. I couldn’t have scripted a more English reply for him to give me.

I hope I have whet your appetite for visiting the Tower of London. There are many more things to recommend it than the few I talked about above.