Tower Bridge brings Victorian innovation to life for families this Easter
This Easter, Tower Bridge invites families to explore inside one of London’s most recognisable landmarks with a programme of hands-on creative activities marking 140 years since construction first began in 1886. The free-with-admission Family Activities combine making, movement and mechanical marvels aimed at curious children and energetic explorers.
Tower Bridge Easter activities: Moving Pictures for families
The centrepiece of this season’s offering is Moving Pictures, an interactive drop-in activity inspired by phenakistoscopes, the 19th-century toys that demonstrated an early form of animation. Families will discover how the illusion of motion works and make a spinning animation featuring Tower Bridge itself. Sessions are designed especially for 6–10-year-olds but are open to all children, making them suitable for mixed-age families during the school holidays.
Moving Pictures runs in the Learning Space, South Tower on Tuesday 31 March, Tuesday 7 April and Saturday 11 April 2026 from 10: 00 am ET – 4: 00 pm ET. The activities are drop-in throughout the day, free with admission, and no booking is required. Each participating family also receives a Family Activities Pass offering free entry on any Family Activities Day within the next six months.
Explore the engineering: High-Level Walkways and Victorian Engine Rooms
Beyond the workshop sessions, visitors can experience the Bridge’s engineering from the top down. The High-Level Walkways and Glass Floors are suspended 42 metres above the River Thames and offer dramatic city views and, when timed right, a birds‑eye sighting of the Bridge lifting to allow ships to pass — an event that still happens around 800 times each year.
In the atmospheric Victorian Engine Rooms, children and adults can see the original steam engines, coal-fired boilers and hydraulic systems that once powered the bascules. Interactive displays, films and oral histories bring to life the stories of the engineers and workers who kept the Bridge moving, adding historical context to the hands-on learning in the family sessions.
Family-friendly trails, accessibility and extra offerings
Families are invited to follow an interactive trail inspired by ‘The Tower Bridge Cat’ and the characters from the award-winning books. Installations appear throughout the attraction and visitors can meet the Bridge Master and his team — Hannah the Cook, Poppy the Painter, Stan the Stoker and identical twins Eddie the Engineer and Olly the Oiler — who help children complete tasks, answer questions about the Bridge’s history and collect stamps to become part of Bella’s special Tower Bridge team.
The attraction is accessible and family-friendly, offering monthly Family Activities, Relaxed Openings designed for neurodiverse visitors to explore at a calmer pace, and a dog-friendly policy welcoming well-behaved dogs. Guided tours are also available on selected dates for families who want to explore the Bridge’s history in more depth.
These Easter Family Activities combine STEAM-inspired learning with immersive exploration of a Grade I-listed bascule bridge that took eight years to build and opened in 1894, giving children a hands-on way to learn how Victorian engineers and inventors helped shape the modern world.
