Changing Of Guards, Big Ben, Tower Of London, Beefeaters & Cruise

We had a wonderful time on this London tour! Jeremy was a fantastic tour guide — very knowledgeable, informative, and great at explaining the history behind the sights. We enjoyed seeing the Changing of the Guard, taking the Uber Boat ride along the Thames to the Tower of London, and having a meet-and-greet with a Beefeater. It was a great way to experience some of London’s most famous landmarks. Jeremy really made the tour enjoyable, and I would highly recommend this experience to anyone visiting London! I did have trouble finding the person to check us in in the beginning . She didn’t have a flag and I was expecting a Trip advisor sign . Also, when we got a new tour guide at the Tower of London, she never explained that the tour was over after the meet and greet with the beefeater and everyone would then continue the tour on their own . Everyone kinda just disappeared .

This half day guided tour was the highlight of our trip to London! Our family of four (two teenagers) all enjoyed the day. Flora was our guide and kept a perfect pace - the day was full but not rushed. She was a wealth of interesting information as we walked to the changing of the guard site and waited for the parade. You don’t see them change places on this tour, so if that is important to you, plan to do that a different day - you would have to wait for 3+ hours at the front of Buckingham to see that up close. We enjoyed the pomp of the parade and seeing the new guard marching in. We also got to see the old guard trot out on horses. Then we walked through a gorgeous part of St James park and through the historic center. Big Ben is visible from a distance - you aren’t getting up close or going into it on this tour. We took a public boat up the river - we had priority boarding and Flora to offer commentary. Then she turned us over to Joe for a tour of torture. Our final stop was a meet and greet with a “Beefeater,” one of only 35. Behind the scenes stories and q&a were fascinating. We had the rest of the day to explore the Tower. I would recommend this tour for adults and mature teens.

Best guides very knowledgeable and kind. The beefeater was awesome

Natalie was amazing. She took us to the best places to stand to get amazing pictures. She was our guide for the 1st part of our tour. She handed us off to maybe Allen?? He had alot of knowledge also, but he walked to fast . So he had to wait for the 6 of us to catch up.

We had an excellent tour with Michael! We were able to see the changing of the guard and horse guard along with the military band as they made their way to/from Buckingham Palace. The rest of the walking tour was full of interesting information and stories from Michael as we saw highlights including Buckingham Palace, Westminister Abbey, Big Ben, Parliament, and Tower Bridge. The boat ride was a nice chance to sit down and have a snack. We had time on our own at the end to explore Tower of London for as long as we wanted after our tour's private discussion with Beefeater Emma (which as very interesting). This was our only full day in London before departing on a cruise and it was a great way to see the highlights. Excellent use of headsets so the whole group was engaged.

We had an excellent tour with Michael! We were able to see the changing of the guard and horse guard along with the military band as they made their way to/from Buckingham Palace. The rest of the walking tour was full of interesting information and stories from Michael as we saw highlights including Buckingham Palace, Westminister Abbey, Big Ben, Parliament, and Tower Bridge. The boat ride was a nice chance to sit down and have a snack. We had time on our own at the end to explore Tower of London for as long as we wanted after our tour's private discussion with Beefeater Emma (which as very interesting). This was our only full day in London before departing on a cruise and it was a great way to see the highlights. Excellent use of headsets so the whole group was engaged.

We had a small group of 3 so the tour felt like a private tour just for us. Cecilia did a great job walking us around and getting us to all the locations!

Our tour guide, Cecily, was great. She knew r exactly where to take us and get the best views. The Tower of London was a lot more than I realized. Only bad thing was the heat and no one can control that.

Our tour was led by Joseph, a young London local with a hugely engaging style. Joseph was an excellent guide - extremely well informed and with a talent for delivering history in an interesting way. We really enjoyed him, he was a fantastic guide. The tour starts on the Mall and we saw the Changing of the Guard with Joseph providing background. From there we had a tour through the Royal Mews and then with tickets provided by Joseph we visited the special Queen Elizabeth exhibition in the Kings Gallery. To be honest, I only booked the tour as we hadn’t been able to get our own tickets for the Kings Gallery (sold-out too far in advance), however it was well worth it and I highly recommend it. Despite having lived in London for several years myself in the past I still learned quite a lot!

Jay was a wonderful guide! He was knowledgeable, friendly, and professional. We learned so much about the sites and related history from Jay and from the lady tour guide who continued with us at the Tower. The beefeater talk at the Tower was also an enjoyable and interesting experience! This was a highlight of our vacation!

Louise was an excellent tour guide, answering all of our questions and providing entertaining and relevant facts about the monarchy and British culture. She also gave us premium viewing for the guards in two different locations. She made it interesting for my kids, which is a challenge! Highly recommend

Nathalie our guide was fabulous. She was a great historian, polite &friendly, and she timed everything just right! Great way to see some much in a morning.

So enjoyed Ellen’s commentary throughout our tour, she was very knowledgeable! She knew exactly where to go for the best viewing and the time to be there. We had great spots along the route.

It was more than we expected! Saw Big Ben, Tower Bridge, Westminster Abby in addition to what was promised. Worth the money for sure!

When you book a Wednesday tour you might be lucky to view a glimpse of King Charles as he leaves Clarence House to meet with the Prime Minister at Buckingham Palace.

Aaron our guide made the Changing of the Guard experience fantastic! He was not only extremely knowledgeable but also shared a lot of history relating to the experience. He got our family’s first trip to London off to a great start!

David was very knowledgeable and an excellent tour guide. He kept us very entertained. I would book another tour just to have him as a guide. Thank you

Tour guide misled at meet up site caused confusion on our tour, did not us che ked in after asking us to wait in an area amd we ended up with the wrong tour guide. While we did experience the changing of the guard, we did not get the rest of the tour. Per them it was our fault even though we were there on time and showed our tickets to them well ahead of leave time. When it was all over and done, we would been better off on ourownfor the rest of the tour anyway. Lesson learned. Never had an experience like this with any other company. Will not use this company again.

Fantastic tour! Louise, our tour guide was funny and engaging. We learned a lot about The history in a way that was easy to understand and entertaining. I really loved how she protected our group to make sure we got a good spot for the changing of the guard and she would t allow anyone to block our view. Also, it was great not having to wait in line for the river cruise as we got priority entry onto the boat as well as we got right into the Tower of London. I was very happy with our tour. I did realize that we never saw Big Ben on our tour. I’m sure we will I’ll find it. Thank you Louise!

Joseph did a fantastic job with his knowledge of Buckingham Palace and the Changing of the Guard. I guess the day we went they were practicing for Trooping of the Colors so we spent more time watching that and didn’t really watch the actual changing of the guard in front of Buckingham Palace, but that’s OK because we got a little bit more watching the practice.

Great tour, saw troops practicing for Trooping the Colors. Joseph, our guide, did a great job explaining things and keeping us entertained.

The Tower of London and Beefeater were fabulous. Great history there. There was no changing of the guard and we only saw Big Ben from about a 2-3 block distance. It was a bit disappointing to be honest.

Did not complete tour. It was not clear that this was a walking tour. It should be emphasized since this is a 3.5 hour tour!

Do this if you want to see a whole lot in a short time. This is a fairly fast-paced tour. Most of it is walking, and you get the boat on the Thames River too. We saw Buckingham, the Changing of the Guards, Westminster, Big Ben, the London Eye, the Tower Bridge, and then we met a "Beefeater" for a talk in the Tower of London (they really live there), all in about 3 and a half hours. Michael the guide was "brilliant", as the Brits say! Very funny (British humor), knowledgeable, well organized, answered our questions, and kept us moving at "at London speed" (as he said). If you are in London for a long time you could do the sites separately but if you only have a few days then this is the best tour! Also, we stayed in the Tower of London afterwards, there is a ton of stuff to see. We saw the Crown Jewels! Wow! You have to see them! We also went when Big Ben showed two different times on the clock faces! Thank you Michael for a great tour - we loved it!

Our experience was a four but not because of Ian, our guide. He was knowledgeable and interesting. He had no control over the crowds, which were overwhelmingly. Also, our tour did not include Big Ben… etc., it was strictly changing of the guard.

Our tour guide, Michael, was awesome, absolutely wonderful!! We couldn’t have asked for better. He was very informative & yet made it a lot of fun, too - the best ever experience!! He was careful to make sure that we were all as comfortable as possible with the walking pace for us all, even including several of us senior citizens! Michael was one of the best guides ever, and we would highly recommend him to absolutely anyone!! Job very well done!!

Cecily was amazing. Friendly and provided detailed historical facts about London. Matt was an excellant guide. Well worth the money.

Over marketed tour. In an attempt to show every the tour barely does anything. We did not get to see even the Buckingham Palace up and close. What is mentioned as cruise is like a regular transport ferry and nothing cruise about. Its a regular ferry. The best part of the tour actually started after the tour guide left us in the Tower of London where we were on our own for the Beefeater experience. The guide Michael was somewhat knowledgeable but did not look like was interested in giving the best experience and kept cracking lame irrelevant sarcasms. We asked him a question and he said he would answer it later and then did not give a clear answer. We did chat GPT and found he was partially correct.

What a great tour. We saw the changing of the guards, Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, Tower Bridge, Tower of London, and had a cruise down the Thames River.

It’s a great fast-paced tour to get highlights of the area especially if you’re only visiting for a quick trip Michael was our guide and he had so much knowledge of the history and various stories. It was a great tour

We did a 4-hour London tour and unfortunately it wasn’t a great experience. The tour started off disorganized—tickets and audio earpieces weren’t ready, which caused delays and meant we had to rush through most of the major landmarks. Despite being told we’d have 10–15 minutes at key stops, we often only had seconds to take photos. A major issue was the repeated commentary about our stroller. While I understand now that strollers aren’t ideal (and that’s on me for not catching it), the guide brought it up constantly, which felt unnecessary and uncomfortable—especially since we were able to manage just fine. The included “cruise” was also disappointing—it’s essentially an Uber Boat by Thames Clippers ride, not an open-air sightseeing experience. It was crowded, hot, and not enjoyable. We were eventually merged with another group for the Tower of London portion, where the Beefeater tour was actually the highlight. Overall, the tour felt rushed, stressful, and not family-friendly—especially with young children. I would strongly recommend doing the Changing of the Guard and the Tower of London/Crown Jewels as separate experiences so you can actually enjoy them. If you just want a very quick overview of London, this might work—but it wasn’t worth it for us, and I’m surprised by the high ratings.

It was a well organize experience. Louise was the best tour guide. Louise was easy to understand. Very well, organized, and knowledgeable.. we were lucky to see the crown jewels after someone threw Apple crumpet at the exhibit.

If you are wanting to see and learn a lot in a short period of time or can only spare a few hours to see the sights of London, this is the one for you! This tour was truly made by our amazing Guide Michael! His energy, knowledge and sense of humour kept me engaged the whole time and must shout out his photography skills! As a solo traveller it’s nice to have a photo that is not an awkward selfie and Michael had me covered! He also went above and beyond to show me to my next location. Would definitely love to come back and do some more of his tours!

Our tour guide, Cicely, was absolutely phenomenal. Her knowledge of the history of London was remarkable. This easy walking tour was beautiful from seeing where King Charles lives, the Westminster Walk, the stories of Buckingham Palace, walk through Hyde Park, Big Ben, River Cruise, the terrible stories of King Henry VIII, the Leprosy Hospital, the tragedies of The Tower of London. getting to know the Beefeaters lives, and seeing the beautiful Crown Jewels was a perfect way to spend four hours and see the key sites in London!

Loved changing of Guards, guide had us stand in great place to view. Good understanding of history. Great guide for this activity

A+++ Walking tour Get Your Steps in, and Learn so much History along with Many great laughs with Sophie! What a super Tour We Picked with Viator & They assigned us Sophie as a guide, what a plus for us! She was very Caring and careful with us on a hot - humid day! She made sure we were safe from The Voomie bikers, and kept her eye on our group at all times as she enthralled us with interesting tales of British history! All To Best for Sophie, and her future! She will go far! She is welcome to Iowa and Nebraska anytime and we will give her tours of our area!

Our guide was good (Secily ?sp), but our tour got side tracked & set back by the running marathon that was going through London on our day. I feel like the tour company should be researching & aware of special events like that, so they can adjust scheduling accordingly. The marathon traffic got us off track, made us miss our scheduled boat (but we did make the next one), stressed out our guide, & made the rest of the tour too rushed. Also, when we scheduled the tour ahead of time for a Sunday, we researched that there would be Changing of the Guard at Buckingham that day, but in between booking & the tour day, they stopped doing the changing ceremony on Sundays. I feel the tour company should have made us aware of this change ahead of time (yes, even though it says it is subject to change). Unfortunately, we planned to see it that day, so we didn't take time out to see it prior to our tour, & then had no time to see it after the tour, before leaving town. Overall a little disappointed.

Tour was fantastic and very informative. I don’t remember the guides name, but he was a retired police officer. We did the tour of the Royal jewels, a river ride then a walk to the Palace. It was on the morning of July 10, 25.

Our tour guide, Mr. David, was excellent. He provided us with very informative yet fun history of the sites we saw. We had an amazing experience

Great way to see it all and learn some history with a friendly and knowledgeable guide! Smaller group allowed us to really learn a lot.

We booked the private tour with Cecily (apologies, probably mis-spelled the name). It was a walking tour to see the changing of the guards first. Would not have known where to go without her! Whole everyone was running around thinking something was going to happen, she took us right around the tourists to where there actually WAS something happening. Continued walking through St. James park down to the Thames and onto the boat. Tour was continued sightseeing down to the Tower of London. Got a 30 minute lunch break and then joined a larger group into the Tower for the Beefeater meet and great. Was able to get pictures, but that is where our guide left us (so sad). Got the rest of the afternoon to explore the tower on our own. Overall, a great tour and would recommend the private tour highly. Guide was great and personable!

Our guide, Louise, was AMAZING! SO nice, friendly, and KNOWLEDGEABLE !!! I would HIGHLY recommend booking this tour with her!

While we had a Beefeater talk to our group, we DID NOT get individual overview at the Tower. Due to the crowds we did not get in to the Crown Jewels. But Louise was a pleasure and gave a good walking tour.

We had a great tour. Saw lots of sights and learned lots of history. Dave was wonderful, very friendly and great stories!

David was great. Despite the weather and busy boat, David made it work! Very informative and would definitely recommend.

This was a great small group tour. Jeremy was a wonderful and funny tour guide. He expertly navigated all of us through a very crowded day in London

The tour starts out at the Duke of York’s column and our guide Jo explained his role in history and why he got a nursery rhyme about him. Then we walked the “mall” to Buckingham palace and was told interesting facts about the royals and their dwellings around there from King George to King Charles and all the Queens in-between. We loved the walk through St. Jame’s Park and was lucky to see the amazing birds and their babies-goslings, cygnets, and ducklings. Then we boarded a boat and saw a bit of the river with good commentary and information about the old and new buildings along the route to the Tower of London. Our wonderful guide “Jo” then introduced us to a ‘beefeater’ who told us a bit about his role and life as a kings guard and guarding the Crown Jewels. We then explored the Tower of London ourselves, seeing the Crown Jewels, the armory, torture chambers, dragons and live performers. Definitely worth doing, great tour guide, it was fun and we learned a lot!

The experience of a lifetime! I would highly recommend doing this tour. Our guide Lee was very friendly & extremely informative, it was an excellent tour.

Perfect. Very good guide, David, lots of knowledge and funfacts. The Tower, River Thames, Whitehall, Buckingham Palace