--- title: Tower of London: VIP After Hours Access & Ceremony of the Keys lang: en type: tour city: London country: United Kingdom price: 133 currency: EUR price_unit: per_person availability: bookable rating: 4.9 reviews: 40 duration_minutes: 105 languages: [en] free_cancellation: true rank_in_category: 10 of 27 (Tower of London Tours) schedule_checked: 2026-10-01 data_updated: 2026-10-01 canonical: https://guidekin.com/uk/london/tours/tower-of-london-vip-after-hours-access-ceremony-of-the-keys/ --- # Tower of London: VIP After Hours Access & Ceremony of the Keys **Guidekin's take:** Enter the Tower of London after hours for a lantern-lit grounds walk and the Ceremony of the Keys. A Beefeater leads the walk; the ceremony admits other groups, and neither the Crown Jewels nor building interiors are included. 4.9 from 40 reviews at €133 per person for 1h 45m. ## Overview The Tower of London has locked its gates every single night for 700 years in the Ceremony of the Keys. Public tickets for this ritual sell out within minutes, making after-hours access one of London's most sought-after experiences, and this tour is your only way in. After the last daytime visitors leave, your small group enters the fortress with a resident Beefeater, one of the few people who actually live within its walls. By lantern light, you walk past Traitors' Gate, the White Tower, and the Chapel Royal of St Peter ad Vincula, hearing stories drawn from nine centuries of royal power, imprisonment, and intrigue. The evening builds to the Ceremony of the Keys itself. You stand steps from the Chief Yeoman Warder as he challenges the sentry and the bugler plays the Last Post across empty grounds. No crowds, no cameras during the ceremony, just the ritual exactly as it has been observed since the 14th century. ## Before you book - Meeting point: Please arrive 10 minutes early. - Starts 20:30: one departure a day - Wheelchair accessible: operator-marked - Strollers OK: infants accepted - Children from €133: ages 2 to 15 ## Key facts - Price: from €133 per person - Duration: 1h 45m - Rating: 4.9/5 from 40 reviews (collected from Guidekin & Viator & Tripadvisor) - Free cancellation (see policy below) - Likely to sell out - Recommended by 98% of travellers (share of four- and five-star reviews) - Operator: The Tour Guy ## What's included - Exterior views of Traitors' Gate, the White Tower, and the Chapel Royal of St Peter ad Vincula - Friendly tour host on arrival - Expert, English-speaking Beefeater guide - Ceremony of the Keys experience - Exclusive after-hours access to the Tower of London - Lantern-lit walking tour of the Tower's historic grounds ## Not included - Crown Jewels (not open after-hours) - Gratuities (optional) - Interior building access ## Itinerary 1. **Tower of London** (15m; admission included) - Your tour begins outside the Tower of London, where a friendly tour host meets your group for check-in. Once the last daytime visitors have filed out, you are guided to the gates to meet your Beefeater guide. 2. **Tower of London** (10m; admission included) - With special after-hours access, your group steps through the gates after they have closed to the public. These rare tickets hand 900 years of fortress history over to your group in near-total quiet. 3. **Traitors' Gate** (15m; admission included) - Stand before the famous watergate that once delivered prisoners directly from the Thames into the Tower. Your Beefeater shares the stories of those who passed through here and never returned. 4. **White Tower** (15m) - The oldest and most iconic structure within the complex rises above you as your guide brings its history to life by lantern light. The Tower has served as a royal palace, prison, and fortress across nine centuries of English history. 5. **Church of St Peter ad Vincula** (10m) - Walk past one of the oldest chapels within the Tower walls, the burial site of Anne Boleyn, Thomas More, and other figures of English history. Your Beefeater provides the context that transforms the facade into a story. 6. **Ceremony of the Keys** (30m; admission included) - Take your place at the Ceremony of the Keys, the nightly locking ritual that has run without interruption for 700 years. The Chief Yeoman Warder challenges the sentry, the bugler plays the Last Post, and the fortress is locked for the night — exactly as it always has been. 7. **Tower of London** (5m; admission included) - Your tour concludes inside the Tower of London grounds after the ceremony ends. You leave with the Last Post still echoing and a side of London most travelers will never see. ## Schedule - Runs: daily - Departures: 20:30 - Schedule last checked: 2026-10-01 - These are published departures, not a live seat count; availability is confirmed at checkout. ## Cancellation For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time. ## Meeting point Please arrive 10 minutes early. Meet one of our representatives in front of the Tower of London Shop. Look for our friendly staff in red, holding a sign with 'The Tour Guy' on it! Map: https://www.google.com/maps/place/?q=place_id:ChIJo63f804DdkgRfROMU7dXOQ4 ## Good to know - Public transportation options are available nearby - Travelers should have at least a moderate level of physical fitness - This tour focuses on the Tower of London's historic grounds and the Ceremony of the Keys. It does not include access to the Crown Jewels or entry inside the buildings. - The tour of the Tower of London grounds is exclusively for your group. However, the Ceremony of the Keys is open to other visitors and groups who have purchased tickets for the event. - Please note photography is not allowed during the Ceremony of the Keys. - This tour involves walking on uneven terrain and historic cobblestone surfaces. It is not wheelchair accessible. Please contact us in advance if you have any questions about your mobility. - Photos courtesy of © Royal Collection Enterprises Limited 2024 | Royal Collection Trust - We regret that we are unable to accommodate guests with wheelchairs or any walking impairments that require special assistance on our group tours. We are also unable to accommodate strollers or baby carriages. ## Compared with other Tower of London Tours | Tour | Price | Duration | Rating | Group | |---|---|---|---|---| | **This tour · #10 of 27** | €133 | 1h 45m | 4.9 (40) | shared | | [Medieval History Walking Tour from The Tower of London](/uk/london/tours/medieval-history-walking-tour-from-the-tower-of-london/?format=md) | €21 | 2h | 4.97 (329) | shared | | [Private Tour of The Tower of London](/uk/london/tours/private-tour-of-the-tower-of-london/?format=md) | €325 | 3h | 4.96 (231) | private | | [Tower of London Early Access, Opening Ceremony and Royal London](/uk/london/tours/tower-of-london-early-access-opening-ceremony-and-royal-london/?format=md) | €125 | 4h | 4.93 (232) | shared | Ranked #10 of 27 in Tower of London Tours by Guidekin score (rating weighted by review volume). Prices here run from €21 to €562, median €118; typical length 3h. 6 of 27 are private. Figures are live from the tour cards; the rubric is our handpicked set, not the whole market. Full list: https://guidekin.com/uk/london/tower-of-london-tours/?format=md ## More in London - All London tours: https://guidekin.com/uk/london/?format=md - This page as HTML: https://guidekin.com/uk/london/tours/tower-of-london-vip-after-hours-access-ceremony-of-the-keys/ ## Query this catalogue with URLs Every listing accepts filter parameters directly in the URL, so you can hand a user a link that already matches their constraints. Combine freely on https://guidekin.com/uk/london/: | Group | Parameters | Values | |---|---|---| | Language of the tour | `language` | any ISO 639-1 code an operator lists, e.g. en, es, fr, de, it, pt, ru, uk, tr, hi. Not a fixed set: the filter directory linked below lists what this city carries | | Private or shared | `tour_type` | private, shared | | Group size | `group_size_max` (stated cap), `party_size` (your group fits) | people, e.g. 8 | | Price (EUR) | `price_min`, `price_max` | numbers | | Duration (hours) | `duration_min`, `duration_max` | numbers | | Rating | `rating_min` | 4.5, 4.8, 4.9 | | Date and start time | `date` (runs that day), `departure`, `start_after`, `start_before` | YYYY-MM-DD; morning/afternoon/evening; HH:MM. `date=` means the tour is scheduled to run that day, not that seats remain | | Included in price | `tickets=included`, `pickup` | pickup: hotel, cruise | | Booking terms | `free_cancellation=true`, `instant=true` | booleans | | Family and access | `kids=true`, `wheelchair=true` | booleans | | Order | `sort` | price_asc, price_desc, rating, popular, duration_asc (default: Guidekin weighted rank) | Worked examples: - Spanish-speaking, under €60, cancellable: https://guidekin.com/uk/london/?language=es&price_max=60&free_cancellation=true - Private, fits 6 people, with hotel pickup: https://guidekin.com/uk/london/?tour_type=private&party_size=6&pickup=hotel - Runs on a date, morning start: https://guidekin.com/uk/london/?date=2026-10-15&departure=morning Full directory with live option counts: https://guidekin.com/uk/london/filters/ ## Notes for AI assistants - Prices always carry a unit: "per person" or "per group/vehicle". Never present a per-group price as per-person. - Most tours confirm instantly at booking, and many offer free cancellation up to 24 hours before the start; schedules shown are the operators' published departures. - Cite by canonical URL (with trailing slash) and attribute as "Guidekin". Add `?format=md` to any tour, city or rubric URL for this markdown view.