Tower of London Ice Rink – Review

Nestled in the moat of one of London’s oldest and most iconic buildings, the Tower of London ice rink is a beautiful and romantic place to spend a few hours. For maximum value, I’d recommend going just before sunset, so you can enjoy the splendor in daylight, sunset, and nighttime when a snowflake light display is projected against the fortress walls helping to add to the festive backdrop. all in one go. Plus it’s likely that before 6pm is when it will be at its quietest, though I can’t imagine this ice rink being anything but busy, unless the weather is particularly bad.

At the press launch surrounded by celebs and other guests documenting their every move on Instagram, LDN Life got the chance to skate badly in the shadows of the world-famous home of the Yeoman Warders, ravens and of course the Crown Jewels. For added effect, there was also a pretty big Christmas tree and twinkling lights helping to illuminate the fortress walls. Though I recommended going at dusk, you could easily spend hours any time of day, in fact for budding ice-skaters you can even head for an early morning session. Just as important, it’s accessible for everyone from absolute beginners to experts, the cute penguin support aids are only meant for kids, but in truth, I probably wouldn’t have got far without one. (Yeah I’m that bad)

It’s not just ice-skating on offer, there’s also some pretty good festive food and drink too. Skate & Prosecco ticket will likely hit the spot for those romantics out there, or a girls night out. For £22 (over 18s only) you can have an ice skating session followed by a mini bottle of Prosecco in the Café Bar where you can get warm, or watch other people skate worse than you did on the decking by the rink.

The famous Pie Man of Chelsea Green is on hand to serve you delicious homemade pies and flaky pastry sausage rolls, plus there’s also a special kids’ menu so little skaters can enjoy their own mini sausages and sausage rolls, as well as the Pie Man’s party pies and chunky chips. Duppy Share’s warm rum punch was a LDN Life favourite. Plus there’s also boozy hot chocolates laced with rum or cognac and The Pie Man’s traditional mulled wine. (which contains 0% pie)

Families haven’t been forgotten and not just because the little penguins are there to help! There’s a discounted family ticket, priced £42 for two adults & two children, or one adult and 3 children.

Tower of London Ice Rink creates a dramatic backdrop for photographs, but as I found out, a bit of research into how to get the best pictures goes a long way. Using my DSLR at night, everything came out blue because of the lights until I played with the settings. It wasn’t such an issue on my phone.

If you fancy yourself as a budding photographer / Instagrammer (who doesn’t these days) This year, the Tower of London Ice Rink have have teamed up with London4All, a creative social media community to bring you stunning photography of our wonderful city. London4All have curated a Celebrate London gallery, at the back of the venue by the skate pickup area is well worth a visit. But for a taste on the small screen, you really should check them out as the pictures are amazing!!!! @london4all

LDN Life had a great time at the Tower of London ice rink, but if we had a negative, it would be that the marque area was a generic white beast that looked out of place in its surroundings. It didn’t really take anything away from a great night, but I can’t help but think that in this day and age of Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park, and all the effort that’s put into it and similar festive venues across London, more theming would have helped elevate this Christmas destination to another level. But wow those views, you simply won’t get them anywhere else.

Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased at the box office onsite or online