Exploring the Tower of London FOR THE FIRST TIME

I paid £35 to visit the Tower of London when I filmed this trip, which made it the most expensive outing in my solo-trip experiment so far. Free museums had spoiled me. Suddenly having to buy a ticket was a bit of a shock, but by the end I thought it was worth it.

What I hadn’t understood was how much there was to see. I picked the place, booked my ticket and arrived without planning what I’d do inside. It felt like several museums crammed into one location, except the buildings, doorways and paths were part of the history too.

A sunny start and an early lunch

I was nervous before leaving because I hate doing things by myself, which is exactly why I started this experiment. I also thought much of the visit would be outside and had no idea what the English weather would do. Winter coat, tall hat, train successfully caught. Then there was blue sky. After such a long winter, I could barely stop talking about it.

My first attempt at walking around the moat went the wrong way, but I figured it out and made it inside. I usually try to avoid half term for these outings, and it was still busy. Once through the entrance, I was already finding plaques and things to look at before I’d worked out where I wanted to go.

Lunch helps. Travelling into London takes a while, so I like eating fairly soon after arriving rather than interrupting the exploring when I get hungry. The cafe had plenty of options, but I impatiently grabbed a chicken Caesar wrap near the door and a drink with a resealable lid. Together they were about £10 on my visit, which I thought was reasonable for a tourist attraction in central London. The wrap was delicious and filling.

Armour was the winner

After eating, I went into the White Tower, and I’m glad I started there because it became my favourite section. Inside were weapons and armour, including armour for horses. I thought of it as a military museum within the larger visit, with enough to see that I couldn’t possibly show everything.

The rooms were crowded, and filming without catching other visitors was difficult. An old building doesn’t give you the same room to spread out as a big modern museum. Reflections from the windows also made some displays tricky to film, but I loved comparing the armour designs rather than looking at one standard shape repeated over and over.

Prince Henry’s armour had gold detail that made me think of it as an art piece. A spooky art piece, admittedly. Charles I’s set had much more gold across it, and I kept looking at the decoration and wondering what walking around in all of this would be like. Even the horse’s head armour was extraordinary.

Smaller things grabbed me too, including a huge ledger listing items in the armoury. It was 914 pages long and covered only about four years, according to the display. Then there was a wooden horseman whose surviving paint and detail fascinated me. I kept thinking about how long it had lasted and how many people must have seen it.

The Crown Jewels didn’t hold me for long

The Crown Jewels were across from the White Tower. I’d paid £35 to get in, and I think it’s worth at least seeing them. They weren’t my favourite. I moved through quickly, although the room with recognisable royal crowns was cool, and standing on a moving conveyor belt to pass the display amused me. No hanging around there.

That’s my taste rather than a verdict for everyone. If you’re more interested in the royals and royal history, you might get much more out of it. I was glad I could walk through without a long queue, see the crowns and move on.

Going alone meant I could stop

Walking around the walls gave me views of very modern buildings just across the road, which is something I love about London. Inside the imprisonment section, preserved graffiti made the people held there feel real. Some prisoners had scratched simple names into stone; others had made elaborate carvings tied to their families or coats of arms.

I also walked through the medieval palace, though by then I was getting tired of reading plaques. The rooms, fireplaces, arches and river views still gave me something to enjoy. I skipped the mint and another museum rather than forcing myself through everything. With a group, I think I’d have felt more pressure to do it all.

After more than two hours, I hadn’t seen the whole place and I was tired. Being alone let me choose what interested me and leave the rest. There was enough history in the exhibits and the buildings themselves to justify the £35 I’d paid, even without completing every stop.

Watch why the White Tower was my favourite part of the Tower of London in the original video.