Tower of London

Head for the excellent Welcome Centre, where you’ll get free badges and pencils together with trail sheets and information on what to see and do around the Tower.

Take the Crown Jewels family trail with its quizzes, activities and illustrations about the priceless treasures displayed at the Tower. Watch the Crown Jewels’ Guardsmen – real-life soldiers from various regiments – open the tower with a special ceremony at 9am, and at 2.50pm collect the secret password to get into the Tower after dark.

Follow the Medieval Palace and Knights & Princesses family trails helping you to learn about the kings and queens who actually lived in the Tower.

Sign up to the Digital Missions - interactive adventures around the Tower, meet characters and take challenges. The three missions available are The Lady's Royal Arrivals (help prepare the Palace for King Edward's return), The Prisoner's Perilous Plot (help Arbella Stuart free her husband from prison) and The Saxon's Tower Attack (go undercover to examine the White Tower and make a plan of attack).

Join one of the famous Yeoman Warder (‘Beefeater’) tours, beginning near the main entrance every 30mins and taking about 1hr. The warders regale visitors with tales of intrigue, imprisonment, execution and torture – you’re free to bow out part-way through if it’s too scary or long for younger kids.

Spot the ravens – the only animals left at the Tower (kings and queens used to keep much larger creatures here, including lions and elephants). According to legend, the Tower and indeed the whole kingdom will fall if the resident ravens ever leave the fortress. Their lodgings are next to the Wakefield Tower.

Look out for the touchscreens about the prisoners who have been kept at the Tower, down by the ravens’ cages, and seek out traces of them in the rooms where they were kept, especially the carvings on the walls.

Help find the clues in the Bloody Tower to solve the mystery of who killed young Princes Edward V and his brother Richard of York, who disappeared suddenly while being held in the Tower in 1483.

Look out for the replicas of the mighty siege weapons that were used to attack and defend castles in the Middle Ages. Displays on the East Wall Walk show what it was like to be a soldier here and what happened when attackers actually broke in.

Check out the 'whats on' guide to discover special activities and events throughout the year.

For some good ideas on helping your children to get the best of their visit, see the Tower’s special family page.