What trip to London would be complete without a visit to the spectacular Tower Bridge?
It offers fabulous views of London from its high-level walkways and the Tower Bridge Exhibition explains the workings and history of one of the most famous bridges in the world.
Don't miss the popular, This is London, exhibition currently on view in the West Walkway - a display of over 60 iconic illustrations from Miroslav Sasek's classic children's book. The theme continues in the atmospheric Engine Rooms with Art at the Bridge, where visitors can admire local London art from five rising stars.
Tower Bridge Exhibition
Here, you can learn about how and why the bridge was built via interactive displays and films, then visit the Engine Rooms, which house the Victorian steam engines that used to power the bridge lifts.
Pumping engines, boilers and accumulators still gleam magnificently in their original settings, and working models allow you to explore some of the engineering principles applied in the bridge. Visitors can also experience a virtual bridge lift, providing a unique view of the bridge raising.
Tower Bridge is lifted over 1,000 times a year to let tall ships, cruise liners and other large craft pass through. You can watch the event happen if you time your visit right (visit the website to find out when the next lift takes place) – although you certainly won't see anything as dramatic as when, in 1952, bus driver Albert Gunton gave his passengers a scare by jumping the semi-opened bridge on the number 78.
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