London in a Day Tour Review: Abbey, Guard, Tower + Cruise

If you have one day to see London’s icons, the question is whether to organise the day yourself or hand the logistics to someone else. We took the WalksDevour London in a Day tour to find out what the guided version actually gives you.

This review covers the whole day: Westminster Abbey, the Changing of the Guard, the Thames cruise and the Tower of London, plus the practical details of the walking, the lunch stop, and who this long day does and does not suit.

How the tour works

• Meeting point: beside Westminster Abbey, just before 9 am.
• Finishing point: the Tower of London, around 5 pm.
• Length: around eight hours.
• Group size: a maximum of 20, led by a Blue Badge guide, with headsets provided so you can hear clearly wherever you are in the group. Ours was about 14, and our guide was Kim.
• Start times: book the 9 am start if you want to go inside Westminster Abbey. The later departure does not include the Abbey interior.
• Price: from around US$204 per person, shown in your local currency on their site and varying by date, with free cancellation up to 24 hours before. Children aged 6 to 17 are priced a little lower, and under 5s go free. Lunch is at your own cost.
• What is included: your guide all day, skip-the-line entry to Westminster Abbey and the Tower of London including the Crown Jewels, the Thames river cruise between the two, and headsets.
• Worth knowing: there is no Changing of the Guard ceremony on Tuesdays, and it can be cancelled at short notice on any day, so if seeing it matters to you, plan your booking around that.

The morning: inside Westminster Abbey

We met Kim beside the Abbey just before 9 am, had a short talk outside, then went in with special entry just after opening, walking past the queue that was already forming.

You get close to two hours inside, which surprised me. Plenty of one-day tours wave at the Abbey from the pavement, and two hours is enough to take it in properly rather than march through. This early slot means you have the chance to see it before the day’s crowds build. You also get a look at the Coronation Chair, where kings and queens have been crowned for over 700 years (including the present King Charles III)

Westminster Abbey is one of those places I find amazing every single time, no matter how often I visit, and having Kim there to add the stories made it even better. I honestly learn new things every time.

The royal walk and the Changing of the Guard

From the Abbey you walk across St James’s Park to Buckingham Palace, and this is where the day’s timing earns its keep. We caught a good chunk of the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace and more of it at St James’s Palace, without the hours of kerbside waiting that the ceremony usually demands.

Be realistic about this part: you see a real portion of the ceremony from more than one spot, not the full parade from a prime position you have held since 9 am. For many, that is the better trade.

The walk continues past Horse Guards Parade and into Trafalgar Square, and this first half of the day is where most of the walking sits.

Lunch

You get about an hour in the Trafalgar Square area at your own cost, and the guide has recommendations. My tip, though, is to decide where you are eating before the day starts, so you spend the hour sitting rather than wandering.

We went to the Cafe in the Crypt under St Martin-in-the-Fields, which is close, quick, and gives you a proper sit-down. So that’s my top tip for this part!

The Thames cruise

From Trafalgar Square, it is only a few minutes’ walk down to Westminster Pier, where you board a river cruise boat to the Tower, with commentary on everything you pass along the way, such as St Paul’s and the London Eye, before sailing up to Tower Bridge Pier to arrive at the Tower.

The afternoon: the Tower of London

We arrived at the Tower mid-afternoon with special access tickets, so there was no waiting in line. Kim took us around the Tower itself, sparing none of the gory detail, and we spent time with the Crown Jewels, which the guide explains before you go in to see them at your own pace. The day finished there at about 5 pm.

My standout of the day is a hard pick, because Westminster Abbey and the Tower of London are both always amazing. But if I have to choose one thing, it is seeing the Crown Jewels. I love them every single time.

Why book this rather than doing it yourself?

Everything on this route can be visited on your own. What the tour gives you is the timing: into the Abbey at opening, the Guard without the wait, the Tower without the queue. Knowing exactly when to be where can be the difference between seeing London’s highlights in a day and spending that day in lines.

You are also paying for a Blue Badge guide all day, which means the highest guiding qualification in the country is walking beside you from the Abbey to the Tower, answering whatever comes up.

And there is the simple maths: Abbey entry, Tower entry with the Crown Jewels, and a river cruise bought separately add up quickly before you have paid for any guiding at all.

The walking, honestly

It is a long day, and you are seeing the highlights of London, so there is going to be a fair bit of walking. Most of it sits in the first half, from the Abbey to Buckingham Palace and back up through Horse Guards to Trafalgar Square.

The day is broken up well: you can sit inside the Abbey, you sit for lunch, the cruise is seated, and the pace between stops was comfortable.

Wear shoes you are happy to be in all day, dress in layers so you can adjust, check the forecast, and make sure your phone is charged or bring a spare battery, because you will take more photos than you expect.

Wheelchairs and mobility: WalksDevour say directly that this tour uses multiple areas that are not wheelchair accessible or mobility friendly, and they ask anyone affected to contact them before booking so they can arrange the visit. Their own advice is that guests should be able to walk at a moderate pace without difficulty, and that comfortable shoes are a must. Having done the day, I agree with them.

Who this tour suits, and why we recommend it

This tour is best for anyone with a limited amount of time in London who wants to fit in a lot. In one day, you go inside Westminster Abbey, catch the Changing of the Guard, travel the Thames by boat, and explore the Tower of London with the Crown Jewels, and all the way through, you are learning about London itself from your guide.

That is why we recommend it: it packs the highlights of the city into a single well-planned day, with the tickets, timings and transport already solved, so your limited time goes on seeing London rather than organising it.

It also suits anyone who wants to actually go inside the Abbey and the Tower rather than photograph them from outside.

And if you are building a full London trip around it, this day pairs well with a food morning: our review of the Ultimate London Food Tour covers the one we keep going back to.

Who might prefer something different?

If eight hours on the go is more than your legs want, the half-day Best of London tour runs from 10 am to around 2:45 pm: into the Tower of London the moment it opens with first access to the Crown Jewels, a Thames cruise to Westminster, then the royal walk past the Abbey, Big Ben and Buckingham Palace, finishing in St James’s Park with your afternoon free. Read our comparison of the Best of London Tour and the London in a Day Tour.

You see the Abbey from outside rather than going in, and after the Crown Jewels you explore the Tower at your own pace rather than with the guide.

If you would rather go deep on one site than cover four, a dedicated Tower or Abbey tour will suit you better than a highlights day. We have also reviewed WalksDevour’s VIP night tour of the Tower with the Ceremony of the Keys, which is one of our favourite London experiences of all.

And if the Changing of the Guard is the main event for you, check your dates, since there is no ceremony on Tuesdays.

Read more

• WalksDevour London tours: all our recommended tours
• Review: Ultimate London Food Tour [with WalksDevour]
• Review: Ceremony of the Keys at the Tower of London
• Review: Tastes, Tales and Traditional Ales Food Tour

We were hosted by WalksDevour on this tour. As always, our opinions and views are our own, and we only recommend companies we would book ourselves.