I feel like we've cheated the Tower of London as we didn't actually go inside. We were on a schedule involving Thai food and Matilda the musical (which is fantastic and everyone should see).
Chloe and her husband came to see us in January 2012, and I thought it would be nice to walk to the Tower along the river.... from Victoria. This was a mistaaaaaake of grave proportions. It was a LOT further than I realised. The walk seemed to go on for miles, but they certainly got a decent tour of London as we passed the London eye, the Oxo Tower and all the bridges.
Although it's called a Tower, it is in fact a castle and was built by William the Conqueror in 1066.
In it's lifetime it's been used as both a prison and royal residence... which seems a little contradictory but hey ho. I think if we had ended up going inside Chloe might have made a smash and grab for the Queen's jewels and ended up in prison herself, so it's probably for the best that we didn't.
You could tell from the outside the castle is huge and sprawling. Lots of towers, walkways and turrets. And it also looked like it had been built at different times, with more modern sections being added on.
I'm sure we'll end up back at this one in the future to do the interior.
Following our brief viewing we went for a cupcake at the marvellous Beas of Bloomsbury which certainly warmed our hearts, as it was a bit nippy.
Cost: £22
Hints and tips: It can get extremely busy so if you can maybe avoid weekends or school holidays. It's huge, so make sure you give yourself enough time to get around it. I would personally get the train/tube as driving in London is like a nightmare from hell, and the tube is quicker all round.
