London Dungeon, London

FOR KIDS and FOR KIDS ONLY!!!

One of London's biggest tourist attractions apparently. Features Jack the Ripper stuff and other subjects related to murder, blood and gore.

This tourist attraction based in Tooley Street, near London Bridge rail station. It recreates various gory historical events in a style which attempts to make them appealing to the younger generation. Some of the more than 40 exhibits include 'The Great Fire of London', 'Jack the Ripper', 'Judgement Day', 'The Torture Chamber', 'Henry VIII', 'The Tower of London' and 'The French Revolution'. In 2003 a special exhibition opened on the Great Plague of 1665.

Unique Suggestions: http://www.thedungeons.com/

020-7403-7221

Fun Alternatives: Go to the Tower of London to see real instruments of torture and hear stories about real evildoers from the past.

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After buying my nephew one of the Horrible Histories books on London, London Dungeons became his #1 request of things to go see on our trip. I hadn't been here since my 1st trip in 1988 when it was just a series of rooms showing various torture methods, it's been substanially overhauled since then and the admission price has risen accordingly.

The target audience here is teenagers who will enjoy the cheesiness of the place and it made the teenage girls shriek.

We waited for 30-40 minutes to buy our tickets and then the experience starts, the whole thing took about 90 minutes and you have to follow along with a group of people. I thought the maze with the mirrors at the beginning was the most frightening thing in the place, from there it was a series of actors hamming it up with the patrons and passing on a trivial amount of information about the fire of 1666, Sweeney Todd, the Plague of 1665 and Jack the Ripper. The two amusement style rides were pretty lame, the boat ride to hell was very short and the drop ride to doom mildly entertaining. On the other hand, my sister in law was put on trial for dancing naked on Hampsted Heath and being a witch, there was definitely some entertainment value in that!

When I asked my nephew what he'd rate the place on a scale of 1-10, I think he said 6 or 7 so it certainly wasn't a highlight for him.

Unique Suggestions: Everyone in line seemed to have some kind of discount, some of them from local retailer Woolworth's, ours was one of the 2 for 1 offers in conjunction with getting a 7 day travelcard on paper instead of on an Oyster Card, I've also seen them offered in conjunction with the Oyster Card.

Splurge and get the Fast Pass, at least you won't stand in line for an hour. They were handing out information about the Fast Pass while we were standing in line, I think it was an additional £3 per person. Or go 1st thing in the morning before the queue forms.

Fun Alternatives: You might look into the similarly themed London Bridge Experience across the street if lines are too long, there are also 2 for 1 coupons for that and no lines. The Clink Museum has some of the torture devices on display and is more economically priced but that wasn't one of my favorite attractions in London either.

If you really want to spend around £20 seeing macabre reconstructions of murder, torture and gore I guess you deserve to be parted with your cash.

I can't think of a less appealing prospect. And a waste of time when your stay in this wonderful city is probably limited.

Ugh.

Unique Suggestions: Ticket prices seem to vary, at least the online information suggests so. It seems cheaper if you get there before 10.30 am

Don't be conned into going to The London Dungeon. It's not very impressive and its very damp. It is also very expensive costing 50 pounds for 2 people. You can also expect a long line up.

Unique Suggestions: Book it online so you can save some money. Also, if you are travelling with kids this would be fun for them.

I have no idea why people queue, and pay good money, to get into a staged attraction with waxworks! But each to their own. Personally I'd visit somewhere like the Tower of London which has the real mccoy!

VERY OVERPRICED!!!

If I remember correctly it was about £23 for 2 people.

It was extremely hot and stuffy, dark and they packed you in rooms like sardines. The "special effects" were poor and overall it was a complete waste of time.

Recreation of some of the horrors of the history of London such as The Plague, The Great Fire, Jack the Ripper, going to court, torture, etc. It cost 14.50 pounds to get into and for the most part you are rushed through and can't really look at anything. And it smells like pee down there, I suppose to give it a more realisitic feeling. Anyway, the exhibits, what you get to see of them seem good. There are guides who take you through parts of the tour and they are good for the most part and involve the audience in what's going on. They know their history pretty well. Then you get put into a litlte roller coaster type thing to finish off the trip. Beware of this section. you are in complete pitch black. At one point on this ride you heard a scream and then water gets squirted at you. Unfortunately this water went right in my ear and I became sick from it. But I didn't let it ruin the rest of my trip. I just would not recommend going here unless you have a deeply discounted ticket. Total time was about 2 hours. One benefit was a clean toilet, you know how hard it is to come across a "free" toilet when out an about. LOL

Unique Suggestions: Go only if you have a free or deeply discounted ticket. Go in a group, solo it was not as much fun. Avoid getting "stuff" on you. Use the clean toilet.

Fun Alternatives: Tower of London plus a Jack the Ripper Walk plus a Haunts and Ghosts of London Walk. Got all the same info as in the London Dungeon without the pee smell.

The London Dungeon is a very popular attraction that is a complete waste of money. Visitors walk through dark rooms with displays that are intended to give one a feel for London in the days of the plague, the fire, the Ripper.....

After a ridiculously long line to get in, you'll shuffle through pushed and prodded by people behind you in a continuation of the line you were in at the beginning.

Unique Suggestions: Buy your tickets from one of the locations prior to getting to the Dungeon. It's possible to buy tickets at Big Bus stops, other than this one, or at the Big Bus office. But that's only if you or your kids absolutely insist on wasting money on this attraction (and I use the word very loosely!)

Fun Alternatives: Take one of the wonderful Original London Walks; Jack the Ripper, The Ghost Walk. For about 5 GBP per person you'll have a great time and hear much more about the rich history of this great City.

Go to the London Tower. You'll see all the torture devices you can handle.

Visit Hampton Court Palace and take some of the guided tours. Much much more worthwhile!

Not only was the London Dundgeon not worth our time or money but we got caught by the photographer. Before you get to enter the attraction they immediately stop you and have you pose here for a picture. Even though we were disappointed with the entire experience we still could not pass up the fun picture. Looking back now maybe it wasn't as bad as I originally thought.

I wandered through the London Dungeon wondering why the heck did I come here. This attraction is dedicated to the horrors of London's (and England's) past. To be honest each tableaux is well presented but for my taste it all seemed very corny. It is history for people who can read at a level above grade school. It is also extremely gory with lots of diorama like exhibits of people being tortured and executed in various manners. Very realistic with gallons of blood. Apparently many of tableaux were designed and constructed by television and movie set designers.

Unique Suggestions: Visit the torture chambers. Kids love this stuff but prepared for the extreme gore.

Fun Alternatives: The actual Tower of London is nearby, just across the Thames in fact. It has real dungeons.