Included with Tower of London tickets
Timings
RECOMMENDED DURATION
3 hours
Traitors’ Gate is included with all Tower of London tickets. No separate ticket is needed. You’ll usually reach it midway through your visit on the river-facing side of the fortress, near St Thomas’s Tower and the Medieval Palace, and you view it from nearby paths rather than entering through it. Book a guided tour or early-entry option if you want the prisoner stories before the waterfront gets busier.
First entry on a weekday gives you the clearest view. Later morning traffic builds around the Crown Jewels and spills into the riverside paths, so the gate becomes a quick glance instead of a stop with context. Go early if you want space to take it in.
Plan 10–15 minutes self-guided, or 15–20 minutes if you’re with a guide or Beefeater talk. That gives you time to study the water entrance, the nearby tower, and the river position. If you only pause for a photo, you’ll miss the point.
See it as part of the south-side waterfront stretch, not as a final afterthought. Pair it with St Thomas’s Tower, the Medieval Palace, and Tower Wharf, and budget roughly 60–90 minutes around that section so you’re not rushing past it.
Crowds are heaviest from 11am–2pm, especially on weekends and school breaks. The gate itself does not queue, but the nearby lanes clog with people moving between highlights, which makes stopping or framing photos harder. Earlier and later slots give you cleaner sightlines.
Stand where you can see the water gate below St Thomas’s Tower, then step back enough to include the river-facing wall in the same view. That tells the whole story fast. If time is tight, cut café time, not this waterfront section.
Most visitors expect a dramatic walk-through entrance and feel underwhelmed. This is a historical arrival point viewed from outside, not a room you enter through today. Don’t stop at the first angle either — move along the path to understand how prisoners arrived by barge.
| Ticket type | Why choose it |
|---|---|
Standard admission | Best if you want to explore at your own pace and fold Traitors’ Gate naturally into a full Tower visit. |
Guided tour with skip-the-line | Best for understanding the prisoner stories and reaching the riverside section with context instead of just a photo stop. |
Early entry or Beefeater meet and greet | Best for quieter grounds, sharper storytelling, and a calmer look at the waterfront before general crowds spread out. |
Traitors’ Gate matters because it compresses the Tower’s two identities — royal fortress and state prison — into one riverside view. Most visitors expect a large ceremonial entrance, but what you actually see is a relatively narrow water gate set beneath St Thomas’s Tower, which makes the stories around it feel more human, not less. Focus on the architecture, the river position, and the sightlines that shaped a prisoner’s arrival.
Set low in the riverside wall, this opening is the feature that still lands emotionally. Boats could come straight off the Thames into the fortress, bypassing the city streets above. Stand slightly east of the gate so you can see how little daylight and how much stone an arrival would have faced.
Look up from the gate and you’re looking at apartments built for Edward I. That contrast matters. The same structure that formed part of a royal residence also controlled one of England’s most feared points of entry. Notice the layered windows and heavy masonry above the waterline.
Don’t only stare at the arch itself. Step back along Tower Wharf and align the gate with the open stretch of river in front of it. That wider angle explains the experience — arrival by water, enclosure by walls, and instant loss of freedom. It’s also the best photo position.
For centuries, Traitors’ Gate was the Tower’s most charged threshold: high-status prisoners came by barge from Westminster, entering directly from the Thames under guard. Built into St Thomas’s Tower in the 13th century, it began as a water entrance to a royal residence and later became a symbol of state imprisonment. Today, it serves as one of the Tower’s clearest reminders that this fortress was both palace and prison.
👉 Explore the full history of the Tower of London
Arrived as a prisoner in 1536 and left the Tower for execution on Tower Green.
Brought here in 1554 under suspicion, then later ruled England herself.
Imprisoned after refusing Henry VIII’s supremacy over the church.
Address: Tower of London, London EC3N 4AB, United Kingdom
Yes. Entry to Traitors’ Gate viewpoints is included with every valid Tower of London ticket. No separate ticket exists.
No. Any Tower ticket works. Guided and early-entry options simply give you more context and a quieter route.
No. It has no independent visitor entrance. Inside the paid visit, you view it from nearby paths and the waterfront.
Usually midway through your visit on the river-facing side. Allow about 20–40 minutes from entry, depending on your route.
Around 10–15 minutes self-guided, or 15–20 minutes with a guide. It works best if you stop and read the setting.
Yes. Guided tours include the wider fortress story, and many guides add useful context on prisoners and river arrivals.
Partly. You can glimpse the exterior from Tower Wharf, but the better context and interior route come with Tower admission.
Yes. It is a short stop, but it explains the Tower’s prison history faster than many larger exhibits.
Yes. Visually, it is an easy stop, but the stories around it can feel dark, so adjust the historical detail to suit them.
Partly. The gate can be viewed from ground-level outdoor areas, but overall Tower access remains partial because of historic surfaces and steps.
What to bring
What’s not allowed
Accessibility
Additional information
Inclusions #
Entry to the Tower of London
Access to the Crown Jewels
Entry to the White Tower, Battlements, Bloody Tower, Torture at the Tower exhibition, Fusiliers Museum, and Royal Mint exhibition
Additional paid upgrades:
Access to Headout’s exclusive AI-powered audioguide app (English only, iPhone required)
Early access entry to the Tower of London and the Crown Jewels Collection
Escorted entry to the Tower of London
Guided tour of the Tower of London
Entry to Bloody Tower
Expert English-speaking tour guide
An English-speaking City Wonders tour leader
A private audience with a Beefeater for your group
Flexible Thames River cruise
Small group of max. 20-30 guests
Exclusions #
Gratuities
Food and drink
Hotel transfers
What to bring
Tower Bridge
What’s not allowed
Tower of London
Tower Bridge
Accessibility
Tower of London
Tower Bridge
Additional information
Tower of London
Tower Bridge
Inclusions #
Tower of London
Entry to the Tower of London
Access to The Crown Jewels
Tower Bridge
Entry tickets to Tower Bridge
Access to the Engine Rooms
Exclusions #
Tower of London + Tower Bridge
Food and drink
Hotel transfers
What’s not allowed
Accessibility
Additional information
Inclusions #
Skip-the-line access to the Tower of London
Access to the Crown Jewels
Guided tour of the Tower of London
English-speaking guide
Additional paid upgrades:
Early access to the Tower of London
15-min private meet and greet with a Yeoman Warder (Beefeater)
Access to the Opening Ceremony
Flexible Thames River cruise
Small group of max. 20 guests
Exclusions #
Gratuities
Hotel transfers
What to bring Westminster Abbey + Tower of London
Westminster Abbey
What’s not allowed Westminster Abbey + Tower of London
Westminster Abbey
Tower of London
Accessibility Westminster Abbey + Tower of London
Westminster Abbey
Tower of London
Additional information Westminster Abbey
Tower of London
Inclusions #
Westminster Abbey
Entry to Westminster Abbey
Multimedia guide in Russian, Portuguese, Polish, Dutch, Japanese, Italian, Hungarian, Arabic, French, German, Spanish, and English
Tower of London
Entry to the Tower of London
Access to the Crown Jewels
Entry to the White Tower, Battlements, Bloody Tower, Torture at the Tower exhibition, Fusiliers Museum, Chapel of St Peter ad Vincula, Medieval Palace, Royal Mint exhibition
Access to the children's activity trails and live historical re-enactments
Exclusions #
Westminster Abbey + Tower of London
Gratuities
Food and drink
Hotel transfers
What’s not allowed
Tower of London
London Eye
Accessibility
Tower of London
London Eye
Additional information
Tower of London
London Eye
Inclusions #
Tower of London
Entry to the Tower of London
Access to the Crown Jewels
Entry to the White Tower, Battlements, Bloody Tower, Torture at the Tower exhibition, Fusiliers Museum, and Royal Mint exhibition
London Eye
Entry to the London Eye
30-min ride on the London Eye
Additional paid upgrades:
London Eye
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Tower of London + London Eye
Food and drink
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