A guide to two of London's famous bridges across the River Thames, Tower Bridge and London Bridge, with travel tips and historical facts

TIP: BEST TIMES TO SEE LONDON'S BRIDGES

If you want to see the bridges really bustling, go at about 8-9am or 5-6pm, when commuters in their thousands cross them heading to or from work.

LONDON BRIDGE

The best-known bridge in London is now in the middle of the Arizona desert! When the new London Bridge was built in 1973, an Arizona man saw an opportunity and bought the old one, that had been built in 1831, for $2.4 million. This was the site of the first Roman bridge, and parts of its wooden supports have been found on the north bank of the river. If you stand on the eastern side of the bridge, then the Roman bridge was about 20 yards from the current one, roughly lined up with Fish Street Hill, which took people up to the Roman forum, or marketplace. The first stone bridge to cross the Thames on this spot was finished in 1209, having taken 33 years to build. It had 19 arches, and was a busy thoroughfare, packed with shops and houses, some of them seven storeys high. If you walk to the southern end of the bridge you're at the spot where the heads of traitors were hung and left out to rot. The heads were first boiled and then dipped in tar, and one of the most famous was that of William 'Braveheart' Wallace.

Getting There

Bus: 15, 21 , 25

Train: London Bridge

Tube: London Bridge or Monument

TOWER BRIDGE

Tower Bridge is one of the most famous sights in London, and an image of London that is familiar all over the world. In fact it's so familiar that Londoners themselves often fail to stop and appreciate it, for the wonderful construction that it is. It was completed in 1894 after eight years of work, built to a design by Sir Horace Jones. The neo-Gothic twin towers are covered in Cornish granite and Portland stone, but underneath is a skeleton of Scottish steel.

The bridge still opens several hundred times a year to let tall ships pass through, and there are wonderful views from the walkway that links the two towers, some 140ft above the river. There are also entertaining exhibitions inside the towers, on the bridge's construction and the engineering that makes it all work. The walkways only re-opened in 1982, having been closed in 1909 because they were attracting too many suicides and prostitutes. Whether the prostitutes ever persuaded anyone not to commit suicide is perhaps best left to the imagination.

TIP

Ring ahead (tel: 020 7940 3984) if you want to watch Tower Bridge open, as ships must give at lest 24 hours notice if they wish to pass through. Opening times are also posted at the bridge itself.

Getting There

Bus: 15, 42, 78, 100

Train: London Bridge or Cannon Street

Tube: Tower Hill or London Bridge

Docklands Light Railway: Tower Gateway

Read about three more of London's famous river bridges.

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And read about the brand new London Bridge Experience.

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