Tower of London for the "sensitive"
 

Is it possible to visit the Tower of London and avoid the more frightening parts? A few of the children and an adult in our group are quite sensitive. The crown jewels they would love but definitely not the more bloodied and gruesome parts of the Tower's history. Is it possible to split up our group and have some get the full tour and others bypass this? Or are their signs and photos everywhere so this is an unrealistic idea? Thanks

Are these people who know the history? Will it be upsetting to them to see the place where Anne Boleyn was beheaded? There are no photos and the blood has been washed away centuries ago.

While the full tour does talk about queens being beheaded and royal prisoners in the Tower, I didn't find any of it gruesome. If someone cannot tolerate hearing the history, that can go to the Crown Jewels as soon as they enter and bypass the whole tour.

>>Is it possible to visit the Tower of London and avoid the more frightening parts? <<

Of course.

>>but definitely not the more bloodied and gruesome parts <<

Nothing is 'schlocked up' stressing any gorey bits.

And if you don't take a Yeoman Warders tour you won't even be aware of lopped off heads.

>>Or are their signs and photos everywhere so this is an unrealistic idea?<<

No, this ain't the London Dungeon(!) after all.. It is a very historic castle. (How could there be photos of things that happened 400 years ago anyway?)

I can't even imagine anyone being freaked out or offended

Some of the stories told by the Yeomen Warders can be quite gruesome, and there is a display or torture implements, but one can avoid both. It's possible to see the jewels, walk the walls, visit the White Tower, etc and not come in contact with some of the bloody history (much exaggerated).

Visit the official website for information on family visits and possible itineraries.

http://www.hrp.org.uk/tower-of-londo...visit-planner/

(Sorry Janis -- I was writing while you were posting!)

Agree that this is not the london dungeon or Mme Tussaud's with fake bodies and blood and gore all over the place. This is a government building with a thousand year history, some of which was unpleasant - but this is not a major focus.

Yes, this was a place where royal/aristocratic prisoners were held and in some cases beheaded. If just thinking abut that will upset people then suggest they bag the tour. But we found nothing gruesome - although some of the events there were sad.

Thank you for all the helpful replies. I think that knowing some beheadings took place here in the distant past would not be too upsetting. It sounds like it is easy to avoid the torture exhibit. And It appears I was confusing some of what I had heard about the dungeon tour/wax museum with the Tower. Thanks also for posting the link. There was an excellent section for families.

Tower is not actually scary, only the story about the place can be frightening. If you are afraid, that children could be terrified on a group tour, why not just read a lot or take a audio guide, visit Tower individually and tell the children only the part of the history which wouldn`t frighten them.

Sure, just slip away from the guided tour. That's what we did with our daughters. They liked the yeoman's talk at first but it quickly lapsed into who was executed how, when and where. They actually wanted to leave the Tower altogether at that point, but instead we just let them wander...and they ended up spending 2+ hours there and loving it!

I've taken the Yeoman's tours quite a few times, and it really varies based on the guide. We had one that very much stressed the gore (he also was a guide on some sort of Bloody London Tour), and we kept leaning over to listen in on a different tour that stressed the history and trivia more. It wouldn't hurt to ask at the front which guides are more gruesome than others - I bet someone would know which guides to steer you towards, instead of just hopping on the first one that's starting when you arrive.

I understand your predicament, one of my nieces will not go in the Natural History museum as there are all those bones....

It's going to be hard to go much of anywhere in Europe, or the USA or anywhere else for that matter, without encountering some gruesome history bits. But specific to the Tower, I've never had a guide who focused on the gruesome but you could certainly ask ahead of time.

For the love of....

How old are the kids? Makes a difference of course?

Er.. my kids found nothing gory or upsetting at the Tower.. my dd ( she was 11 at that time) in particular was aware of the history.. but its not presented in a gory way at all.. I mean there is no blood or figures being beheaded.
And although I have been there 4 times.. I do not recall any torture section??
I think you are correct that you may be confusing it because of things you have heard about some other commercial attractions like the Madame Tussauds et.c
There are lots of suits of amour and battle weapons..

>>How old are the kids? Makes a difference of course?<<

I don't see how age makes any difference at all. Now if one was talking about the Dungeon or the gory bits of Mme Tussaud's . . . than yes, age might matter.

But at the <i>Tower</i> -- uh uh. There is no torture chamber, nor blood/guts.

"But at the Tower -- uh uh. There is no torture chamber, nor blood/guts."

Not so. Look under, " top things to see and do" at the above link. "Torture and the Tower".

But that is very misleading. It isn't a 'Torture chamber' and there's no blood/guts. Plus it is in the Wakefield Tower which is pretty far down anyone's list of must see sites in the Tower. It displays a Rack (no bodies being stretched on it . . . >) ) and a couple of other things. It isn't like they are pushing gore down one's throat.

My guess is 90% of visitors don't even go inside the Wakefield. The musts - the White Tower, the Jewels, the Chapels, maybe a Yeoman Warder tour, the Ravens, the museum, Traitors' Gate, the Walls plus the gift shops/food would take 3 to 4 hours - one would have to make a conscious decision to fit in a visit to the Wakefield - which the OP certainly wouldn't.


I've been to the Tower probably 25+ times over the years with all sorts/ages of people -- not one has been traumatized by any part of it.

>>not one has been traumatized by any part of it.<< . . . except by the long lines a few times ;;)

This entire topic is torture.