How much are Ceremony of the Keys tickets?

Pay what you can: from £10 to £50 per ticket, with a suggested price of £30 (checked 21 Oct 2026). Historic Royal Palaces is a charity and the ceremony itself has no fixed price.

When are Ceremony of the Keys tickets released?

At 13:00 UK time on the first working day of each month, for every date in the following month. If that day is a Friday they are released the following Monday. Popular dates go within hours; there is no waiting list, but cancelled tickets reappear on the booking page.

What time is the Ceremony of the Keys?

Visitors are admitted at 21:30 and must arrive by 21:25 at the main entrance (West Gate). The locking begins at 21:53 and the evening ends at 22:05, when everyone is escorted out.

Can I take photos at the Ceremony of the Keys?

No. Photography is not permitted during any part of the ceremony.

What if the date I want is sold out?

Keep checking the official page for returned tickets, try a weekday, or book a third-party after-hours tour that ends with the ceremony (far more expensive, but it includes a private walk with a Yeoman Warder beforehand).

How to attend

Ceremony of the Keys tickets: when they go on sale and how to get one

The nightly locking of the Tower is open to a small public audience every evening. Tickets are cheap but scarce, released month by month, and only from Historic Royal Palaces. Here is the booking calendar, the rules, and the honest alternative if your date is gone.

Booking

Price: pay what you can from £10 to £50 per ticket; suggested £30.
Release: released at 13:00 on the first working day of each month for the whole of the following month (if that is a Friday, the following Monday). Set a reminder: dates in school holidays and summer go fast.
Limit: 6 tickets per booking. The named ticket holder must attend. Duplicate bookings under one name, email or address are cancelled.
Only from HRP. No group, school or tour-operator bookings; resold tickets are refused at the gate.
Sold out? No waiting list: cancelled tickets go back on sale. Historic Royal Palaces members also have member-only dates.

Book on the official site

From HRP's Ceremony of the Keys page, checked 21 Oct 2026. We earn nothing from this link.

On the night

Arrive by 21:25 at the main entrance (West Gate). Admission is under escort at 21:30 precisely; late arrivals are not admitted and not refunded.
21:53: the Chief Yeoman Warder leaves the Byward Tower with the lantern and the King's Keys. The gates are locked, the challenge is given at the Bloody Tower arch, the bugler sounds the Last Post as the clock strikes ten.
22:05: finished; everyone is escorted to the exit.
Standing, outdoors, on cobbles, in the dark, for about 35 minutes. No toilets or refreshments. No photography at any point. Limited accessibility: email visitorservices.tol@hrp.org.uk in advance with any requirements.

What you are watching, and why it has been done almost every night for seven centuries: the story of the Ceremony of the Keys.

If your date is sold out

Tour operators hold allocations and sell an after-hours package: about an hour in the grounds with a Yeoman Warder after closing, then the ceremony alongside the public ticket holders. It costs roughly six times the suggested official price, includes no interiors and no Crown Jewels, and requires full names at booking. Worth it if the ceremony matters to you and the official page is empty; otherwise keep refreshing.

From €188 per adult, as seen on Viator on 10 Sept 2026; the live price and dates are on the product page.

Check dates on Viator Small print in the ticket adviser

That option is sold on Viator and earns us a commission; the official tickets earn us nothing and are the better deal.

Victorian photograph of the Ceremony of the Keys with a Yeoman Warder and soldiers at a gate — The ceremony photographed by Sir Benjamin Stone in the Victorian era. Photo: Sir Benjamin Stone (1838–1914), Public domain

Related official extras

Keys Club experience: Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays at 11:00, 45 minutes, inside the Yeoman Warders' private club; £20 adult, £16 concession, adults only (18+), on top of admission.
Opening Ceremony experience: the morning unlocking, with early entry; daily until 1 November 2026.

All Yeoman Warder experiences compared

Questions people ask

How much are Ceremony of the Keys tickets?: Pay what you can: from £10 to £50 per ticket, with a suggested price of £30 (checked 21 Oct 2026). Historic Royal Palaces is a charity and the ceremony itself has no fixed price.
When are Ceremony of the Keys tickets released?: At 13:00 UK time on the first working day of each month, for every date in the following month. If that day is a Friday they are released the following Monday. Popular dates go within hours; there is no waiting list, but cancelled tickets reappear on the booking page.
What time is the Ceremony of the Keys?: Visitors are admitted at 21:30 and must arrive by 21:25 at the main entrance (West Gate). The locking begins at 21:53 and the evening ends at 22:05, when everyone is escorted out.
Can I take photos at the Ceremony of the Keys?: No. Photography is not permitted during any part of the ceremony.
What if the date I want is sold out?: Keep checking the official page for returned tickets, try a weekday, or book a third-party after-hours tour that ends with the ceremony (far more expensive, but it includes a private walk with a Yeoman Warder beforehand).