Item
Tower of London (×2)
inbox, search “Tower of London”
No suitcases or large bags, no left-luggage on site. No photos in the Jewel House or Martin Tower, so no photos of the Crown Jewels themselves.
Day 16 of 18 · London
Crown jewels by day, Uganda by night.
Tower of London at opening · Borough Market · Churchill War Rooms · The Book of Mormon
☼ 57°F / 46°FShowersWear: Warm coat, waterproof, umbrella. Dark by ~16:40.
Foot check before you leave: blister plasters + a spare pair of socks in the daypack. Tower, Borough Market, the War Rooms, then a show, this one's on your feet all day.
English school half-term · more families about
The Tower first thing, the river and Borough Market through the middle, the sealed war bunker in the afternoon, then the second must-see: The Book of Mormon.
Today’s shape, roughly
Optional, before the day starts. A 1-hour gym session or a run (nearest option is on the London page), and an afternoon nap block is built into the schedule below, take it on the long days.
01Morning
09:00
Tower of London at opening, Crown Jewels first, before the queue, then a Yeoman Warder (Beefeater) tour, the ravens, the White Tower, the execution site on Tower Green.
02Afternoon
12:00
Walk across Tower Bridge (north to south, on foot, not the tube), then west along the South Bank and through Borough Market for a grazing lunch. This is the London Bridge moment too: the market sits at the foot of London Bridge, so you pass it on the way. See Meals.
Do not skip this, it is the one thing on the day with no ticket to remind you. Route: leave the Tower, walk onto Tower Bridge and cross to the south side (stop mid-span for the photos), then follow the Thames Path west past Shad Thames and City Hall, about 25-30 minutes at a stroll. Stay on the river until you reach Borough Market (8 Southwark St, next to London Bridge station), eat, then walk 2 minutes to the river end of London Bridge for the photo. It is a plain 1973 concrete road bridge (the famous old one was sold to Arizona in 1968), so the photo is the point, not the bridge. Then London Bridge tube, Jubilee line, to Westminster for the 14:00 War Rooms window. Optional: the Tower Bridge Exhibition glass walkway, ~$26, ~20 min, only if you are running ahead.
13:30
Leave Borough Market and tube to Westminster (Jubilee line from London Bridge, about 10 minutes, then a short walk) for the Churchill War Rooms, the sealed underground bunker where the war was run, left exactly as it was in 1945. Gripping, one of the best things in London.
Booked, and the slot is an arrival window of 14:00 to 14:30. They will not guarantee entry before it, so leave the market by 13:30 and aim to be at the Clive Steps entrance on the hour. Barcode is in the confirmation email and loads into Apple or Google Wallet. No large bags, and there is no cloakroom on site.
16:00
Rainy-day backup, optional: SEA LIFE London Aquarium (County Hall, Westminster Bridge Rd, a 10-minute walk from the War Rooms). Sharks, rays, the Pacific and Atlantic tanks, penguins. About 1 to 1.5 hours. Skip it if the afternoon is dry or you are tired, and go back to change instead.
Optional, ~$75 for two (about £28 each at the peak half-term rate, £24 off-peak; online advance is cheaper than walk-up). Book a timed slot online that morning only if it is raining. It only fits one way: out of the War Rooms by ~15:45, entering at 16:00, out by ~17:15, then tube (Westminster or Waterloo) to Soho for the 17:45 dinner, about 25 minutes, so leave immediately. Closing is around 17:00 on weekdays (later in some holiday weeks), so check the closing and last-entry time for 28 Oct on visitsealife.com/london before you commit; if last entry is before 16:00 it does not fit. Prices and hours here are from a search, not confirmed on the official site.
16:00
Otherwise: back to change, then up to Covent Garden.
03Evening
17:45
Early pre-theatre dinner near the theatre. See Meals.
19:30
The Book of Mormon at the Prince of Wales Theatre (Coventry St, by Leicester Square), Circle Row G, seats 20 and 21. From the South Park creators, nine Tonys, still the sharpest thing on the West End. ~2h30 with an interval.
Both distinct mobile tickets are issued. Open the live mobile ticket link from the confirmation email on your phone before you leave the hotel; the Drive PDF is a backup copy.
The table
Lunch~$30
Borough Market, grazing
house pick Don't sit down, walk and eat. The oldest food market in London, 1,000 years on this spot. Keep it light; dinner is early.
Order: A Kappacasein raclette or grilled-cheese toastie, a Bread Ahead custard doughnut, a scotch egg, a cup of Monmouth coffee.
Dinner~$70
The Palomar (Soho), or a pre-theatre pub
house pick The Palomar is modern Israeli/Levantine, buzzy, good small plates, five minutes from the Prince of Wales, takes early tables. (Kricket, the other Soho option nearby, leans modern Indian, skipped on purpose.) Or a fast pie and a pint at a Soho pub if you'd rather keep it quick before the show.
Order: The Jerusalem Mixed Grill, their real signature, spiced minced meat, tahini, pita croutons. Kubaneh bread (Yemeni pot-baked, tahini and tomato dip) as the opener everyone talks about, an octopus dish (the octopus-hummus, or octopus with chorizo and butter beans) if you want seafood. A Bumblebee cocktail (gin, honey, ginger) is the fruity pick for John; ask what's pouring for Le Andra, their cocktail list is small but classic, more wine-forward than spirit-forward.
Tickets and bookings
inbox, search “Tower of London”
No suitcases or large bags, no left-luggage on site. No photos in the Jewel House or Martin Tower, so no photos of the Crown Jewels themselves.
Item
Churchill War Rooms (×2)
inbox, search “Churchill War Rooms”
Arrival window, not a fixed start. Entry is not guaranteed before it, so aim for 14:00. Barcode is in the confirmation email, loads into Apple or Google Wallet. No suitcases, wheeled luggage or large rucksacks, and no cloakroom at all, leave big bags at the hotel.
Item
The Book of Mormon, Prince of Wales Theatre (×2)
inbox, search “Book of Mormon”
Today's voucher: Tower of London tickets (PDF) (Google Drive). Other confirmations remain in the private trip Drive folder. Only travelers with access can open linked files; no ticket contents are embedded here.
Before you leave the door
Insider edge
Book the first Tower entry; go straight to the Jewels, by 10:30 the line is a 40-minute moving walkway. Book the War Rooms for early afternoon; it takes about 90 minutes and the last entry is ~17:00.
House pickAvoid this
The Tower Hill “tour touts,” and the chain restaurants on the South Bank by the Eye. Borough Market and Bermondsey Street behind it are far better.
House pickBackup move
Heavy rain, the Tower is mostly outdoors and grim in a downpour. Swap in the British Museum (free; Rosetta Stone, the Parthenon marbles) and do the Tower on the last morning. The Book of Mormon also plays a Friday and Saturday matinee if the evening has to move.
House pickIdeal window
The Book of Mormon is booked, Circle Row G, a clean central view. Get to the theatre 20 minutes early, the bars are slow at the interval and the show moves fast from the opening doorbell.
JulianIf time, or if a deal lands
| Option | Added | Note |
|---|---|---|
| British Museum (free) | +$0 | the rainy-day swap, or just add it; the strongest free thing in London |
| SEA LIFE London Aquarium, rainy-day backup | +$75 | ~1-1.5 hr, 16:00 entry after the War Rooms, 10-min walk; check last entry for 28 Oct first |
| Tower Bridge Exhibition, the glass walkway | +$26 | 20 min, right there |
What today runs
Estimates. Swap in the real figure as you go.
| Tower of London (×2) | $100 |
| Borough Market lunch, grazing | $30 |
| Churchill War Rooms (×2) | $92 |
| Pre-theatre dinner, The Palomar, Soho (×2) | $70 |
| The Book of Mormon, Prince of Wales, Circle Row G (×2) | $158 |
| Contactless, day taps (within cap) | $12 |
| Today, London | $462 |
Flights and the places to stay are on the costs page, not counted here.
How it went
Written after the day: what you did, what you loved, what you'd skip, the photographs, a voice note or two. It fills in here and in the album.