The Tower of London is not actually a tower. It is a palace located on the banks of the Thames River in downtown London. This palace has also served as a fortress and an infamous prison where brutal executions took place - including that of the Anne Boleyn, one of the wives of Henry VIII. Two of the more popular structures within the fortress walls of this historic site are the Crown Jewels building which houses the British Crown Jewels collection dating back to the 14th century and the White Tower that was constructed around 1078 under the reign of William the Conqueror.

We arrived at the Tower Of London two hours before closing time. We were hoping to get an overview by doing one of the organized tours but we had already missed the last one for the day. Audio tours are available but we decided to skip it and see as much as we could on our own in the limited time we had. We were able to explore the Medieval Palace, the White Tower, and The Crown Jewels building.

The Medieval Palace has been restored to look as it might have during the reign of Edward I in the late 1200's. I was most impressed by the medieval throne. Looking at it, along with the surrounding candles and arched doorways, made me feel like I had stepped back in history to a time of knights, armor, and castles.

British royalty lived securely behind the thick walls of the White Tower until the 1200s. Today this building houses an impressive collection of armor and medieval weapons. You can even see the armor worn by Henry VIII. This exhibit was quite crowded so we spent more time looking at the fascinating displays than we did reading the posted information.

Perhaps the main draw of the Tower Of London is the Crown Jewels. In the Crown Jewels building, we saw the crown and scepters of people like Queen Victoria and Queen Mary. I was impressed with the artistry of these items which were full of gold and precious gems. Photography is not allowed in this exhibit. This collection is definitely worth a visit when exploring the Tower Of London.

"Are you ready for the daaaaark side of London? Well, you bloody paid for it!" And with that introduction by my group’s Yeoman Warder, my tour of the infamous Tower of London began.

Besides the now-ceremonial Yeomans, one of the first things people come to the Tower of London to see are the British Crown Jewels, which have been held here since the start of the 14th century. Yes, the same jewels that Shaun Cassidy and Parker Stevenson, a.k.a Frank and Joe Hardy, once saved in the Hardy Boys episode "Assault on the Tower" back in the late ‘70s. Before you get to the jewels, however, visitors are led through a series of rooms with big projection screens showing various coronation ceremonies over the years. These clips are all well and good—but let’s see them jewels. They are quite impressive. Mmmm-hmm... those are diamonds, all right. Yep, that’s one heckuva 12th-century coronation spoon.

Perhaps I’m getting ahead of myself. The Tower of London’s history dates back to the turn of the 11th century, when William the Conqueror built the White Tower, which is the biggest of the 20 towers located here, and was once home for the king and queen. Over the years, it was used not only as a royal residence, but also a fortress, dungeon, and execution site—that’s where the "daaaaaark side of London" bit comes into play. It was here that two of Henry VIII’s wives were beheaded—you can actually see the staircase these two ill-fated women ascended on their way to their beheadings—though they were hardly the only ones to meet their maker within these walls. I highly recommend visiting the Tower of London website for more information about its history.

I didn’t stick with the Yeoman tour for its entirety, but I do recommend that those interested make time for the 60-minute history lesson on the tower. Our guide really hammed it up and made it enjoyable as he led us on a walk that hit all the highlights.

One of the other things that the tower is famous for are the omnipresent ravens. The legend is that Charles II once warned that if the ravens were ever to leave the tower, the British monarchy would collapse, and to ensure that would never happen, he ordered that a small population be kept inside. Nowadays, their wings are clipped so that they can only fly so far. I’d call that cheating, but hey—if at adds to the lure of the tower, then why not, right?

There’s much more to see at the Tower of London, including the Wall Walk, the Fusiliers’ Museum, and the museum within the White Tower. Discounted admission with the Great British Heritage Pass is £13.50 for adults, and the tower is open daily. To experience the nightly "Ceremony of the Keys," send a self-addressed stamped envelope to The Ceremony of the Keys, Waterloo Block, HM Tower of London, EC3N 4AB.

How did such a barbaric tribe manage to conquer so much of the world? The stories of beheadings told here make one wonder how anyone survived!

Still, it’s worth a visit, not just for the history lessons, but also to see the crown jewels. My wife went all glassy-eyed and started dropping hints about needing some new jewelry. The collection here was impressive.

The Tower of London is one of those must see tourist attractions as is the nearby Tower Bridge. However, this was one tourist attraction that required us to hop on a train. It was just too far to walk. Tip: get there early. The queues continue to build and if you go too late in the day you won't see much by the time you get in through the gates.

The Beefeaters are also well chosen. Their knowledge is only surpassed by the sense of humour. They managed to make some gruesome topics more than a little entertaining!

By the way, the underground works well and it’s easy to get to the Tower of London via rail. We returned by bus after doing a tour of St. Paul’s.

Tantalize a visitor with tales of intrigue and torture, throw in a dash or two of grisly humor now and then, and later let the visitor be dazzled by a circuitous display of some of the largest, most splendid jeweled items in the world -- such is the "recipe" for entertaining history presented at the Tower of London. Our tall, violently red-haired Scotsman Beefeater guide was excellent; by the luck of timing, as we arrived just before the site opened, we drew a real ham, an actor with relish for his job, whose sense of dramatic emphasis was impeccable. What a weaver of tower tales he was!

Our son on his first visit to London followed most of our recommendations; his first stop was THE tower, which he could have walked to, across the Tower Bridge, from where we were staying in South Bank, in about an hour. But, he took the Tube to Tower station, of course. What fascinated him (ex-"Dungeons and Dragons" player) most about this storied landmark? The ancient weapons in the Armory, the walls, especially of the Norman White Tower, perforated at crucial points by slits, the immense expanse of this impressive fortress- sometimes it was even the home of monarchs who imprisoned rebellious subjects expeditiously within its confines, and, if needed, signed royal writs of execution that ended their subjects’sinister sojourns here.

Within its impressive precincts, the royal wives Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard, out of favor with King Henry VIII, (at different times, of course), died on the block. The Tour includes Sir Walter Raleigh’s cell, and that of Sir Thomas More, the "Man for all Seasons", the Lord Chancellor who dared to question King Henry VIII’s divorce, and paid for his dissent with his life. The Beefeaters relay tales of the "nine-day queen" Lady Jane Grey and her husband, Dudley, who lost their young, ambitious lives, and of the young nephews of Richard III, rumored to have been dispatched as obstacles to Richard’s kingly ambitions, as well as those about the ill-fated Mary Queen of Scots, so reluctantly executed by Elizabeth I.

Today, the splendid Yeomans of the Guard, the "Beefeaters," conduct their daily tours of about an hour, from 9:30am to 3:30pm, with this plethora of historic horrors to relate. Afterwards, visitors can gape as they glimpse Victoria’s Imperial State Crown, worn by the current monarch when she opens Parliament, the 530 carat Star of Africa that embellishes the Royal Sceptre with Cross, and other dazzlers as they whiz by the gems on their (the visitors’, not the jewels’) moving walk. No lollygagging here!

No visit is complete without seeing the six ravens whose presence mythically "guarantees" the existence of the Tower. Indeed, the ravens are prisoners; their wings are clipped to prevent escape. Although pricey, the Tower is definitely worth the visit, our tightwad son felt. For families, it’s still only 34 pounds, cheaper than admissions to many American amusement parks.

Back in 1078, the White Tower - the earliest building in what is today the Tower of London - was built. In the centuries since (and tumultuous years they’ve been), many buildings have been added, many sieges broken, and many histories written. This is the ultimate in historical castles, and it’s worth a visit.

A moated fortress with 3 lines of defense, the Tower’s best seen on a guided tour led by a `beefeater’ (strictly speaking, a `yeoman warder’). We took the last tour of the day - at 3:15 pm - and found our guide immensely entertaining and informative.

The Tower of London’s been, at various times, a castle, an arsenal, a storeroom for records, and a prison. Beginning at the gate, the tour goes through much of the castle - past Traitor’s Gate, St Thomas’ Tower, Bloody Tower , and the Chapel of St Peter ad Vincula (`St Peter in Chains’), where the headless bodies of 1,500 traitors (proven or otherwise) had once been interred under the flagstones to be later exhumed and given a Christian burial; at the altar, the bodies of three of Henry VIII’s wives still lie.

While at the chapel, take a look at the beautifully carved wood under the organ: it was worked by the master carver Grinling Gibbons, who always incorporated peapods in whatever he carved. He carved the pods open (if he’d been paid for the job) or closed (if he hadn’t). The ones at St Peter ad Vincula are open.

The tour proceeds to the Jewel House, which houses the Crown jewels - solid gold, heavily jeweled sceptres, crowns, diadems, swords, flagons, chalices, altar plates, and more. The most stupendous is a punch bowl the size of a small bathtub, all gold and very ornate.

Beyond the Jewel House is the White Tower (outside which is part of the Roman wall from the first fortress on the site). The White Tower has original garderobes (medieval toilets basically with a chute leading straight down into the moat), fireplaces, staircases, prisons, armouries, and guardrooms dating back through the ages. The Tower’s many prisoners left rather a lot of graffiti behind - you can actually see an inscription scratched by Thomas Culpeper onto a wall: "Be faithful unto death, etc, etc.", and signed with his name. Somewhat creepy.

Within the White Tower’s a huge collection of medieval weaponry - shields, armour (for both man and horse; the display includes Henry VIII's armour), pikes, halberds, lances, swords, helmets and what not. Also on display are an executioner’s block and the axe used to chop off Anne Boleyn’s head.

Incidentally, they say that while ravens live at the Tower, it will stand - the day they leave, the Tower will fall, and so will England. Logically (if you go by that illogical reasoning), the ravens are a pampered lot - they’re fed special rations of blood-soaked biscuit and raw meat, their wings are clipped, and so on. Idiotic but quaint.