Tower Bridge London

Working Bridge and World Famous Icon of London

Tower Bridge

Tower Bridge is one of the most famous and photographed bridges in the world.

Tower Bridge is still very much a working bridge. Tower Bridge is one of London's main thoroughfares for crossing the river and is despite its medieval appearance, comparatively not that old. (Tower Bridge was actually built in 1894.)

Tower Bridge is in the old City of London, now the financial area of London. On the northern side of Tower Bridge lies the Tower of London, the original fortification built to defend marauders coming up the river from the sea with ideas of attacking London. On the city side of Tower Bridge is the Pool Of London, the original port for London and still in use commercially well into the 20th Century.

You can walk across Tower Bridge at any time, its a public road after all. When the bridge is lifted traffic chaos in the immediate vicinity prevails.


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Tower of London
At North End Of Tower Bridge

Raising of Tower Bridge Times

The bridge doesn't raise itself at set times for visitors, only when the commercial need arises. Count yourself fortunate if you do witness the bridge raising without prior planning. (Local radio stations sometimes broadcast if the bridge is due to rise within their traffic reports).

Best of all if you click through on the link at the top of the page to the official Tower Bridge web site there is a link to future scheduled opening times.

Tower Bridge Experience Attraction

In 1993 Tower Bridge was "opened" to the public. As a public highway you could always walk across the bridge, the Tower Bridge Experience allows you to go inside the bridge, walk the high level walkways and be entertained and educated with various exhibits ranging from old steam engines to modern video, interactive displays.

The entrance is on the bridge at the North Tower on the Tower of London side of the bridge. From this position you have a classic position for a photograph of the Tower below. You are led up the North Tower to the higher level walkways.

These walkways were originally built to allow pedestrians to cross the bridge when the main bridge was raised.

The walkways are 140 feet above the River Thames and give good views up the river including landmarks like St Paul's Cathedral. You cross the bridge using the walkways and then descend using the South Tower.

On descending the South Tower you come to the Victorian Engine Rooms, the original source of steam power which lifted the famous bridge. Displays explain how everything worked.

The final phase of a visit is the exhibition. Here displays and models illustrate the history of Tower Bridge and demonstrate some of the technical achievements. Much of the original machinery is there to see and touch.

For current opening times and admission prices click through on the link at the top of the page to the official Tower Bridge Experience web site.

Getting to Tower Bridge

The easiest way by public transport is the London Underground to Tower Hill on the Circle and District Lines. This is opposite the Tower of London. You just walk down the eastern side of the Tower of London onto the bridge.

A more scenic option is to arrive by boat on the scheduled river services that stop in front of the Tower of London.

The very popular hop on, hop off London tour buses of course also stop at, and cross Tower Bridge. The hop on, hop off ticket also includes a river cruise.

So why not arrive by boat and depart by the hop on, hop off bus on the same ticket.

If you are not so tight with time, you can follow the Thames path from the southern end of Tower Bridge right down to Westminster and Big Ben on a pedestrianised walkway by the River Thames.

What To Do Around Tower Bridge - A Self Guided Walk Perhaps?

A visit to Tower Bridge for most people is an add on to a visit to the Tower of London.

Tower Bridge is on the edge of the City of London, the original part of London that once had a city wall. This area is the main commercial area of London but is very interesting for visitors.

We have made available a free self guided walk, (outline map below) that makes a circuit of the best of the City of London including Tower Bridge and the Tower of London.

See: City of London Self Guided Walk Pages