ObsessiveTraveler

My husband and I will be traveling to London in a few months. We would really like to attend the Ceremony of the Key at the Tower of London. The website says that you must send a written request to their office and include a "self-addressed, stamped envelope" for the return of the tickets. Unfortunately, you must attached British postage. I can not find out how to obtain British postage or something called an "international reply coupon". Does anyone have any suggestions and/or know how to get the tickets to the ceremony without the need for British postage? HELP! Thanks.

cheryllj

Go to the Post Office. Ask for an international reply coupon. That's all there is to it. I think it's about $2.

mcnyc

Go to the post office and ask for the international reply coupons. They're about $2 each.

cheryllj

PS: You might want to call ahead to ask if you local P.O. has the coupons, but most big ones should have them, at least in urban areas.

mcnyc

Oops...we must have been posting at the same time, cheryllj.

Citylghts

International Reply Coupons are available at any US post office, even though the staff will tell you they've never heard of such a thing.

I had to make three trips to my PO and call their 800-number twice. When I finally got someone to pull out this dusty binder from under the counter, there was a whole envelope of them inside.

janisj

Citylights is correct - many branches will know nothing about IRCs. In my largish-city only about 1 in 10 branches have them in stock. But it is a normal PO product so if your branch doesn't have them - they can order one for you. Not sure if you can order them on-line but it would be worth a shot.

You don't stick the coupon on your self addressed envelope, but merely insert it w/ the SAE and your application letter.

ObsessiveTraveler

Thanks everyone. I looked online without success and will try the post office tomorrow. The 1800 number says that all of the PO's will have the reply coupons but let's see if they can find them under their "dusty" counters.

Virgogirl

I'm a Postal Supervisor. We call them "IRC's" for short. They aren't asked for very often, but every office should have a few in their stock. If they don't, they can refer you to another station that does, or order some. An order arrives in about three business days.They should be willing to call you when they get them!

KidsToLondon

I think you better get TWO international postal reply coupons. The Historic Royal Palaces website indicates that requirement:

http://hrp.org.uk/TowerOfLondon/What...ofthekeys.aspx

LynAK

We are hoping to get tickets for the Ceremony of the Keys next June. We have 3 nights that would work for us, Sat. Sun. and Mon.

Does it matter whether you visit the Tower during the day before or after the Ceremony? I think we might try to go to the Tower on Monday morning. Would it be best to request the Ceremony tickets for Monday night? Or would having been to the Ceremony first make the experience of the Tower more interesting? Or does it not really matter which you do first?

Is the Tower just as crowded on Mondays as it is on the weekend? I understand about getting there early, but just want to know if there is any advantage to going on a Monday over Sat. or Sun.

janisj

Don't link the Keys ceremony w/ your daytime tour of the Tower. You need to arrive for the Ceremony at 9:30 p.m. which is hours after the Tower closes for the day. So you'd either have to kill a lot of time or go elsewhere and then travel back. You might get more out of the Keys Ceremony if you have already visited the Tower and taken one of the Beefeater tours - but it certainly isn't a must.

Sunday is the busiest day at the Tower - Monday probably the least. But not that much difference if you go right at opening time, as one should to avoid the queues.

janisj

OH- my last post should have been addressed to LynAK . . .

suspire

I toured the Tower before seeing the Key Ceremony, and I don't know that it added anything, though it certainly didn't detract. It was a great ceremony and definitely something I'd recommend.

As for a daytime tour of the Tower - get there when it opens and go IMMEDIATELY to the Crown Jewels (skipping the tour led by the "beefeaters" - you can do that after). We did this and the Crown Jewel area was practically empty - but by the time we left that part of the Tower the line was out the door.