Tower Bridge Lifts 800 Times a Year and Publishes Every One

The best thing Tower Bridge does is free, and it is published weeks in advance. The bridge lifts around 800 times a year, and its own site lists every one: the date, the time, the direction of travel and the name of the ship going through.

Almost nobody checks. People queue for the exhibition, walk the high level walkways, look at the view and leave, having stood on a bridge whose whole point is that it opens. Watching it open costs nothing at all.

Here is how to time it, plus what the paid visit involves and the rules that catch people out.

The lifts

The schedule names the vessels, and they are not container ships. This autumn the regulars are the Paddle Steamer Waverley, the Paddle Steamer Dixie Queen, the Passenger Ship Edwardian, the motor vessel Dutch Master and two Thames sailing barges called Gladys and Will.

The lifts cluster hard in the sailing season, and autumn thins out fast. Late September and early October carry lifts almost every day, with six or seven on the busiest. After the middle of October the list collapses to four dates across the rest of the month, one in mid November, then a scattering across late November and early December.

So a summer visitor can almost stumble onto a lift. A winter visitor has to plan around a handful of published dates or will not see one at all.

Some are worth choosing for the hour. The paddle steamers run late: the Waverley has passages published at nine and ten at night, and the Dixie Queen as late as a quarter to midnight and half past midnight, and a paddle steamer coming through a lit Victorian bascule bridge in the dark is a better photograph than anything available at noon.

You can also request one. The bridge takes lift requests from vessels, which is how an 800 a year total is reached, and why additional lifts get added at short notice during maintenance periods.

The paid visit

Tower Bridge Exhibition

The towers, the high level walkways with the glass floor, and the Victorian engine rooms.

Tower Bridge Exhibition

Address

Tower Bridge, London. The ticket office and entrance are on the west side of the North Tower

Nearest

Tower Hill, seven minutes. London Bridge, twelve. Bermondsey and Tower Gateway both close

Hours

Open daily 09.30 to 18.00, with last entry at 17.00. Closed on 24, 25 and 26 December every year, and opens at 10.00 on New Year’s Day

Booking

Pre booking advised. Every visitor queues on arrival and the queue is outside, so check the weather before you go

Standing

The Victorian bascule bridge, with high level walkways, a glass floor and the original engine rooms

How to get in

Two published details make the difference. Last entry is a full hour before closing, so a six o’clock close means five o’clock admission. And the queue is outdoors, which they say plainly, so a wet afternoon means a wet wait however early you booked. They recommend walking up the towers rather than taking the lift, and lifts are there if you would rather not. There is a monthly Relaxed Opening designed for neurodivergent visitors, a low capacity session on the second Saturday of each month between 9.30am and 11.30am with last entry at 11.10. The glass floor in the walkway is the part people come for and it is dog friendly, which is unusual at a London attraction.

What to know

Check the lift schedule before you pick a date. It is free to watch from the road or the riverbank, it is published well ahead, and it is the only thing Tower Bridge does that the photographs cannot prepare you for.

Winter has almost no lifts. The Waverley’s last published passage is on 11 October, and after that the list thins to a handful of dates across November and December. In July you might catch one by accident. In December you will not.

An evening lift beats a midday one. The Dixie Queen’s published passages run as late as half past midnight, and the bridge is lit.

Last entry to the exhibition is 17.00. A full hour before the doors shut at six, which is longer than most London attractions and catches people who arrive at half five.

The queue is outside. Their own warning, not ours. Pre booking gets you a slot, not shelter.

Three days closed a year. Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day, every year without exception, and a 10am start on New Year’s Day.

Everything here was taken from Tower Bridge’s own published information and rechecked on 28 September 2026, including the lift schedule, which is updated continuously and to which additional lifts are added at short notice. Check the date you want rather than relying on this page.

The two free viewing platforms are a short ride west: Sky Garden, whose bars run to midnight on weeknights and 1am on Friday and Saturday, and Horizon 22, the highest free one, which shuts by four on a Sunday. The restaurants with a view are the version where you get a table rather than a ticket.

St Paul’s Cathedral, Wren’s landmark further west, is free to enter if you come for a service rather than to sightsee.

The London Eye is upriver at Westminster and is the other moving view in London, though it charges for it.

Where to go next

The Tower of London is next door, and its page has the ticket prices, the one pound routes and why after midday is the plan.

The Shard is ten minutes west along the river and is one of the five landmarks its own View Guarantee is measured against, Tower Bridge being another. The best views in London ranks the platforms by what you have to arrange.

Borough Market is fifteen minutes upriver and closed on Mondays, and the restaurants around it cover lunch.

Free things to do in London covers the rest of what costs nothing, and a bridge lift belongs on that list more than most things do.

Questions we get asked

When does Tower Bridge open for ships?

Around 800 times a year, and every lift is published in advance on the bridge’s own schedule with the date, time, direction of travel and the name of the vessel. The lifts cluster heavily in the summer sailing season. By November the published list thins to a handful of dates, so a winter visit needs planning around them rather than luck.

Is it free to watch Tower Bridge open?

Yes. Watching a bridge lift from the road or the riverbank costs nothing, and the times are published weeks ahead. The ticketed Tower Bridge Exhibition, which covers the towers, the high level walkways with the glass floor and the Victorian engine rooms, is an entirely separate thing from watching the bascules go up.

What time is last entry at Tower Bridge?

Five in the afternoon, a full hour before the exhibition closes at six. The attraction opens at 9.30am daily. It closes completely on 24, 25 and 26 December every year and opens at 10am on New Year’s Day. Occasional dates open later than 9.30, which the site publishes individually.

Do you have to queue at Tower Bridge?

Yes, everyone queues on arrival even with a pre booked ticket, and the bridge says outright that the queue is outside. So check the weather before you go and allow time. They suggest arriving early and using the wait to photograph the surroundings, which is a polite way of saying the queue is a feature rather than a fault.

Can you take a dog on Tower Bridge glass floor?

Yes, Tower Bridge is among the London attractions that allow dogs, including on the high level walkways where the glass floor is. That is unusual for a paid attraction in central London, and it makes the bridge a genuine option on a day out with a dog rather than something to walk past.

Which ships go through Tower Bridge?

The published schedule names them individually. This autumn the regular vessels are the Paddle Steamer Waverley, the Paddle Steamer Dixie Queen, the Passenger Ship Edwardian, the motor vessel Dutch Master and two Thames sailing barges called Gladys and Will. The Dixie Queen has the latest passages, published as late as half past midnight.