Tower Bridge opens its underground bascule chamber to winter tours from January 2027

Tower Bridge is running two-hour guided tours that take visitors down into one of its two bascule chambers, the space where the heavy counterweight swings each time the bridge lifts. The tours run on most weekends from January to March 2027.

The visits are timed for the winter months, when there are fewer boats on the Thames.

What the Tower Bridge behind-the-scenes tour includes

Each group has its own guide and covers the areas on the standard visit, plus parts of the bridge the public normally cannot enter. One is a control cabin kept in its original Victorian form, which stayed in use until the 1970s. The bridge is now run from a second, modern cabin.

From there the route heads down past old hydraulic accumulators that are still in place, then along a narrow underground passage below river level into the chamber itself. The tour ends in the old steam engine rooms, where visitors see the engines in action.

Tower Bridge tour tickets and prices

Adult tickets cost £66 to £80 and child tickets £62 to £73, with other ticket options also on sale. Bookings are taken through Tower Bridge’s own website.

The chamber is cold and damp, so warm layers are sensible, along with sturdy shoes with a good grip for the wet brickwork and the stairs.