Tower Bridge

You're on the riverside in front of Tower Bridge. It opened in 1894. London Bridge was choked with traffic, and the city needed a new crossing that would still let ships through to the docks. The answer was a bascule bridge, from the French word for seesaw. The two halves of the road can rise in about a minute, and until 1976 they were powered by steam. The towers were given a Gothic look to match the Tower of London next door. One December day in 1952, bus driver Albert Gunter was driving a red double-decker over the bridge when the road beneath him began to rise. Too late to stop, he put his foot down and jumped the gap to the other side. He was rewarded with ten pounds and a day off. Look up at the two high walkways between the towers. They closed in 1910 because people preferred to wait down at street level rather than climb all those stairs. Today they have glass floors. From here you can take in two thousand years of London, from the Conqueror's White Tower behind you to the Shard rising across the river. That's the end of your London tour. Thanks for exploring with us. Want to keep going? Open the app to see the tours closest to you, right at the top of your home screen. And tell us what you thought. There's a short feedback option on your screen right now, and it goes straight to the people who made this tour. Guide to Go. Putting stories into your ears since 2017.