Four departures put you inside the walls an hour before the public, for the ceremony in which the gates are unlocked and a Jewel House with nobody in it. Here is what each one adds, and the months in which that is worth paying for.
An hour inside before opening, the unlocking ceremony, the Crown Jewels first, and guides in six languages.
You are through the gate before the public, in a small group, while the fortress is still empty. A Yeoman Warder unlocks the gates in a short daily ceremony, and then you walk to the Jewel House ahead of everyone who queued outside. The same ticket covers the rest of the day.
It is not the Ceremony of the Keys. That is the evening lock-up at 9.52pm and it is a different, older ritual with its own way in.
One corridor with a moving walkway, so it cannot absorb a crowd. Ten minutes at nine; up to an hour by noon in August. This is the one thing your money moves.
Four hundred people in these walls reads as a monument. Forty reads as somewhere people lived and died, which is what you came for.
The gates are unlocked before the public is admitted, so there is no way to watch it from outside.
Every one of these includes admission for the full day, so the early hour is a start rather than the whole visit.
| Option | From | Length | Inside the walls | Rating / reviews |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Early Access Tower of London: Crown Jewels and Beefeater Ceremony | $87 | 1 hour | About 1 hour inside the Tower before it opens, then all-day access on the same ticket | 4.6 / 1,014 |
| Tower of London: Opening Ceremony & Early Crown Jewels Access | $104 | 1 hour | About 1 hour inside the Tower before it opens, then all-day re-entry on the same ticket | 4.6 / 133 |
| VIP Early Access Opening Ceremony Tower of London & River Cruise | $148 | 3 hours | About 3 hours inside the Tower, including the Jewel House before the public | 4.7 / 396 |
| VIP Early Access: Opening Ceremony Tower of London & Bridge Entry | $206 | 3 hours 30 minutes | About 2 hours 45 minutes inside the Tower, plus 45 minutes at Tower Bridge | 4.8 / 756 |
| Tower of London and Crown Jewels Exhibition Day Ticket | $51 | 1 day | All day — the ticket is valid until closing, with no re-entry once you leave | 4.4 / 7,421 |
The four early departures against the day ticket. Prices per person, the operators’ own, 26 August 2026.
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The premium over a day ticket runs from $36 to $155 a head. In July and August that buys you an hour you cannot get any other way. In January it buys you a queue that has not formed.
You get: entry before the public, the unlocking ceremony, first access to the Crown Jewels, a guide who sets up the history outside the walls, and an all-day ticket.
You do not get: a guide inside the Jewel House or the keep. The venue does not permit guiding in either, so every departure hands you over at those two doors. One listing states it outright by excluding a guided interior tour from what you are buying, which is the more honest description of the same product.
The fortress before opening with the Chief Beefeater, then timed entry to the Tower Bridge Engine Rooms.
Book three to four weeks ahead in summer and a week ahead in winter; the operators’ own figures put average lead times on these at around 60 days. Start times are early and fixed, so read the meeting point the night before — they differ by operator and one is not at the gate at all. Every one refunds in full at 24 hours.
If you are visiting between November and February, buy the day ticket and arrive at opening. You will walk into the same empty Jewel House for a third of the price, and a Yeoman Warder tour is included with it.
If what you actually want is time with a Beefeater rather than a head start, this is the wrong product. The Beefeater tours book that time in advance. And if you are travelling with small children, an eight o’clock start usually costs more than it saves.
The cheapest way inside before the public, and the only listing here offered in six languages. An hour before opening, the unlocking ceremony, the Jewel House, then an all-day ticket and an audio app.
From $87 per personFree cancellation up to 24 hours before.
One hour, straightforwardly described: the ceremony, first access to the regalia, then the rest of the day on your own ticket. Its own terms rule out a guided tour of the interiors, which is honest rather than limiting.
From $104 per personFree cancellation up to 24 hours before.
Three hours inside the walls with a Blue Badge guide, headsets in the open air, and a flexible one-way river ticket you can spend whenever you decide to leave.
From $148 per personFree cancellation up to 24 hours before.
Two riverside landmarks on one booking: the fortress before opening with a welcome from the Chief Beefeater, then timed entry to the Tower Bridge Engine Rooms across the water.
From $206 per personFree cancellation up to 24 hours before.
Before the fortress opens to the public at 9am. Exact start times differ by operator and are on your confirmation; all four ask you to arrive 10 to 15 minutes early.
Between June and September, yes: it removes the only queue in the fortress. Between November and February the queue barely forms, and a day ticket at opening does the same job.
No, and no departure can offer that. The venue does not permit guiding inside the Jewel House or the keep.
No. This is the morning unlocking. The Ceremony of the Keys is the nightly lock-up at 9.52pm, and it has its own page.
Yes. All four include admission for the full day, so the early hour is the start of the visit rather than all of it.
The Crown Jewels and Beefeater ceremony departure, at $87 per person. It is also the most reviewed of the four and the only one offered in six languages. The next cheapest is $104 and the dearest $206.
None of the four describes itself that way, and the reason given is the cobbles and historic surfaces. The accessibility page sets out which listings do.
Every guided way through the gate, from $51 with entry included. Each one refunds in full up to 24 hours before it starts, and you pay the operator’s own price.
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