Tower Bridge (walk across)
the bridge everyone photographs, free to cross
London's most famous bridge is free to walk across, with grandstand views of the Thames, the Tower and the City skyline.
Free to visit · Tower Hill · Tower Hill · SE1 2UP
Opening: Road and walkways always open
Tower Bridge is the one tourists mistake for London Bridge, the great Victorian bascule bridge with its two Gothic towers and sky-blue suspension chains. The glass-floored Exhibition high up in the walkways charges admission, but simply walking across the bridge at street level is completely free, and that is where the best views are anyway.
From the pavement you look straight down the river to the City towers on one side and HMS Belfast and the Tower of London on the other, with the brown Thames sliding underneath. If you time it right you might catch the bascules lifting to let a tall ship through, a free spectacle that still stops crowds in their tracks.
The bridge opened in 1894 and the lift times are published online, so you can plan to be there for a raising. Even without one, crossing on foot with the towers rising over you is one of the most quietly thrilling free things you can do in London.
Getting there: Spanning the Thames by the Tower of London, a short walk from Tower Hill or London Bridge.
Best time to go: Early morning for empty pavements, or dusk when it is lit up.
Insider tip: Check the bridge lift times online and time your crossing to watch the bascules raise, it is free and genuinely impressive. The view back at the bridge is best from the riverside path by the Tower or from Shad Thames.
Official site: https://www.towerbridge.org.uk
Free things to do in London · London Free Guide