The Tower of London - Pictures of our Cruise Reviews

Tower of London - Our travel experiences as we make our way to the cruise ship Oosterdam

Tower of London - Our Baltic Cruise Experiences

Our visit to the Tower of London on a cruise aboard the Oosterdam

Tower of London, very impressive.

The Tower of London was one of the "must sees" on our list while we were in England. We were to spent three days there prior to our departure on the Oosterdam cruise ship for our much anticipated Baltic cruise.

On the first day we arrived at the hotel around 9:00 in the morning, and pretty much just scouted the area to determine the where what's and how's for the next several days sightseeing we would be doing while there.

We found a "hop on - hop off" tour bus lines and decided that would be the best way to do our sightseeing. That way if we saw something we wanted to stop and see in more detail, we could just "hop off", visit the item of interest, and "hop on" the next bus after we had finished. The busses came by about every 15 minutes. Harrods was one hop off point since we had to purchase something from Harrods for a grand child.

The bus tour included a ticket to get in, and as a bonus it was a faster line to get in with. We decided to make our visit the first thing the next day. There was a "hop on" spot near our hotel, so we had coffee first thing in the morning and then walked over to the bus stop to catch the first bus.

It turned out to be a great time to visit. We were almost the first people to arrive, there was hardly anyone else there. That made it very easy since the displays were so easy to see and to photograph.

To see the crown jewels, there is a moving walkway that you stand on and it takes you around the crown jewel display. At the crown jewels area they don't however, let you take any photos even without a flash.

After several hours, and after having seen all that we wanted, as we were leaving, there were people by the mobs pouring in. It had already became much more difficult to get good photographs inside, with lines of people crowding around each exhibit. So try to be there when they open for the most enjoyable experience.

More photographs on page two.

The great riverside fortress is usually remembered as a place of imprisonment. Originally a moated fort build for William the Conqueror around 1080.
The oak and iron water gate in the outer wall was used to bring prisoners in, and became known as Traitors Gate.
This is a good shot of the moat, now drained. I think they said that it was drained in the early 1900's. Apparently the stench was so bad the then King had it drained. They found numerous skeletons at the bottom.

This is the entrance that normal tourists use as opposed to the "traitors gate" entrance.
A view just after the entrance. Notice the tourists scarcity. .
The spiked iron gate drops down from above.

A royal fireplace. There were numerous fireplaces through out the building.

Typical staircase. There were numerous narrow little doorways leading to the tiny spiral stairways.
The royal throne. I guess I should have taken notes cause I can't remember who did what here.

I believe this is the "White Tower". The original fort.
Just a gate I guess.
I just liked the feel this photo gives.

Yep...it's a cannon.
Another view, the white tower.
The area was heavily guarded.

The ravens with clipped wings. Legend has it that when or if the ravens leave the tower will fall. The guide told us they clip the ravens wings, so I guess they won't leave.
The have a "Raven Master" who cares for them.

Lances or spears or something.

A model the whole thing.
Armor for knight and horse. Poor horse.
Jousting lance, it looked to me to be too big to lift and very difficult to move around.

Needless to say the armor collection is rather large.

Typical stair case.

Another cannon.
They actually had quite a few cannons. No, I didn't photograph the whole collection.

Typical long hallway.