Thames River Cruise, Tower of London and City of London Tour

London, United Kingdom

First stop is a guided tour of Sir Christopher Wren's masterpiece, St. Paul's Cathedral. Crowned by the magnificent dome that continues to dominate the London skyline, the cathedral was rebuilt after the Great Fire of London in 1666. In recent years it has seen the wedding of Charles, Prince of Wales, to Lady Diana Spencer and, most recently, the thanksgiving services for both the Golden Jubilee and 80th Birthday of Her Majesty the Queen.

Then it's on to the Tower of London, the ancient fortress steeped in centuries of murder and treason, guarded by jet-black ravens. The splendidly dressed Beefeaters will tell you about the Tower's history, including tragic tales of royals and nobles who met their end within its walls. You'll also see the fabulous Crown Jewels, including the 6,000-year-old Koh-I-Noor diamond and impressive coronation regalia.

You'll then continue by coach to the City of London, that famous square mile where brash new architecture towers above buildings dating back to medieval times. The Romans founded Londinium here 2,000 years ago, and the city's square mile of narrow streets follows the cramped medieval street plan.
You'll see the glorious dome of St. Paul's Cathedral, the elegant Mansion House, home to the Lord Mayor of London, and the nearby Bank of England, known as the Old Lady of Threadneedle Street, at the heart of the City.

London was built along the shores of the Thames 2,000 years ago, so taking a river cruise is one of the best ways to experience the city. You'll have stunning views of the Houses of Parliament, the London Eye, the South Bank Arts Complex and, of course, London's famous bridges.

St Paul's Cathedral will be closed to the public on February 1, 22 (Ash Wednesday), March 6, and April 6 (Good Friday), 2012. On these dates, there will be a photo stop outside the Cathedral and the tour spends longer at the Tower of London.

USD $74.26

Review by: Janine1216	April 2012
Great tour with an exceptional guide. Trevor, was very knowledgeable and we loved the British Accent.

Review by: merlinrnr	January 2012
Nice tour of Tower of London. River cruise was kind of a waste as it didn't go very far on the river. NOTE! When they say "City of London" they are talking about the older eastern part of London. It does not cover any of the major sights like Buckingham Palace or Big Ben. That, we were told, was a separate tour that was in the morning.

Review by: Norma W	November 2011
Tower great, Cruise also but the city tour only went to St Pauls and nowhere else. It was disappointing

Review by: jk.jimmy	September 2011
Coach tour of London landmarks followed by a guided tour of St Paul's Cathedral. Didn't have time to walk up the steps to the whispering wall, but would love to do next time. Tower of London was great and saw the crown jewels. The jewels are mostly crowns and swords and very beautiful. River cruise was good except it rained and forced everyone downstairs and inside. Overall, quite enjoyed it all.

Review by: John H	September 2011
A very informative guide, the tower experience was something else, a must do. The cruise was average. Our only comment is that the guides could slow down a little to allow for the older people in the groups to keep up a little easier.St. Pauls on a sunday, well done.

Review by: Gayle B	July 2011
Great day - guide was very knowledgeable and extremely funny. Very good tour.

Review by: bittoo	July 2011
Good ...Enjoyed it!

Review by: Virginia P	July 2011
Very good - tour guide was very personable.

Review by: Richard Lasar	June 2011
wonderful

Review by: Richard Lasar	June 2011
fabulous, loved it, great guide

Review by: Heleena C	March 2011
The tour was great, we got to see a lot og london on the bus, and were able to explore the st, paul's cathedral and the towers. the thames river cruise was also an awesome experience

Review by: Kathryn P	October 2010
Unfortunately our tour was cancelled because of the Pope's visit to London so I can't comment on this tour. But the tour operator - did everything they could to try to track us down that day and immediately processed our refund because of the cancellation.

Review by: PAULINE S	October 2010
Very interesting but tedious as we awaited for the canal gates to open at each point. Also, the English translator was very hard to understand due to his thick French accent and pronunciation and rapid speech. So, although I'm glad I took the cruise I missed 90% of the information about the cruise.

Review by: Anonymous, Australia	May 2010
Great introduction to London.

Review by: Beth W, United States of America	November 2009
The tour guides are very educated as to the history of London. You can not benefit by going to these sites without a tour guide. I would recommend going to Greenwich on the thames river cruise. Well worth the time.

Review by: BETH W	November 2009
The tour guides are very educated as to the history of London. You can not benefit by going to these sites without a tour guide. I would recommend going to Greenwich on the thames river cruise. Well worth the time.

Review by: Tsvetana G, Ireland	July 2009
The tour was not what I expected. There was no London city tour as listed in the programme. Thames River cruise was not organised as part of the programme; we were only given tickets and time schedules for it. There was no guide accompanying us during the river cruise. The only advantage of the organised tour for us was the priority entry to St. Paul's Cathedral and the Tower of London.

Review by: Anonymous, United States of America	June 2009
If you are staying in London then just take the Tube and see the sites for yourself. The river cruise was a waste of time. Other than the Tower all we saw on the "City of London Tour" was from the bus windows. We only stopped at St. Paul's Cathedral and was rushed through. These sites can be better seen on your own, no tour group needed, especially when you get a horrible guide like we did. Couldn't hear her when she spoke, she would start talking before the whole group caught up to her and upon meeting her she immediately insulted us by asking if our children will be quiet and behaved on the trip. We went on our own upon arriving at the Tower and took the Tube back to the Hotel.

Review by: Hilda D, Canada	October 2007
Far too rushed and unorganized and way too many in the group. Would not recommend this trip to anyone. You can do the same thing on your own and see more and spend more time at each highlight.

Review by: Michele H, United States of America	April 2007
The tour guide wasn't very good! She couldn't remember how many were in her group. We lost the group because of her bad description of a meeting place. She couldn't recommend a good pub to eat.

Review by: Peter L, United States of America	August 2006
The group was way too large on this tour.

Review by: Anonymous	August 2006
The group was way too large on this tour.

Review by: Stephen R, Australia	July 2006
The river cruise and Tower of London visit was really good with a lively narration by one of the crew. London really does sparkle, and the ancient buildings and monuments are constantly being maintained. The Tower was fascinating, quite busy, but not too crowded.