Tower Bridge London From The River Thames And On Land

Visiting Tower Bridge

Tower Bridge in London, England, was number two on my must-see London tourist attractions on my 2024 vacation.  This day was cold, rainy, and windy. We are always early to everything, and this was no exception. So we had to stand on the bridge, cold and wet for 15 minutes. Once it was our turn, my wife and child took the elevator to the top while I took the stairs.

Once upstairs, we got to walk across the enclosed upper deck of the bridge. The floor is thick plexiglass, so you can see down to the lower car deck below. We saw cars, pedestrians, and even an iconic double-decker bus, all from above. We spent 15 minutes looking at the cars below us before heading down to the engine room that runs the drawbridge mechanisms. I didn’t care able seeing the bridge in the up position, so we just saw the rest and left. It was a quick, well-run tourist attraction.

Seeing The Bridge From The Water

Several London river cruises go under or near Tower Bridge. The hard part, having never been there, was deciding which one. Ultimately we chose one that left Westminster Pier and turned around at Greenwich. While this boat had no frills, had huge glass windows and ceilings as well as protection from the rain. It was a long boat ride and about 30 minutes was fairly boring.

When the boat was in central London, within 30 minutes of the bridge, it was great. As we approached Tower Bridge, I ran up to the upper deck. I had less than 30 seconds to compose the perfect Tower Bridge photo with my iPhone 15 Pro Max. The boat was about to dock next to the bridge, so it was heading to shore. I was able to capture a couple of great shots. My favorite is from the center of the Thames with the bridge centered and St. Paul’s Cathedral off to the right. My second favorite is. the first photo below. It is at a slight angle with The Shard centered under the bridge.

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