Private 2-Hour Night Tour of London in an Iconic Black Cab
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London Night Attractions
London does not so much light its landmarks as repaint them. The Portland stone that reads grey-white all day goes gold under floodlight, the river turns black and doubles everything standing on it, and buildings you walked past without looking become the only thing you can see. This is what a night tour is actually for.
Below is what is lit, what it looks like when it is, and which departures pass each one. One thing to settle first: almost nothing on this list can be entered after dark. The big indoor attractions close in the late afternoon, so an evening in London is an outdoor, look-up evening by design. Check each attraction's own site for the day you are visiting — hours move with the season and we do not republish them here. late night London tours covers the departures themselves.
The Palace of Westminster and the Elizabeth Tower
The single best-lit building in the city and the one every route passes. The whole river frontage is washed gold, the clock faces glow white, and from the far bank the reflection runs the full width of the Thames.
Look above the clock: a small lantern known as the Ayrton Light burns when Parliament is still sitting after dark. It is the one thing here that changes night to night, and spotting it lit is the closest London gets to a live status indicator.
Can you go in? Not on any of these evenings. Seen from: every bus route, every cab tour, the photography walk and the royal-parks ghost walk.
Tower Bridge
Both towers and both high walkways are picked out in white, and the blue paintwork goes almost black around them. From the south bank you can frame the bridge and the Tower of London together, which is the photograph most people come home with.
Can you go in? The walkway exhibition closes in the evening. Seen from: both bus routes, all the cab tours, and the two-hour river route on foot from London Bridge.
The Tower of London
Floodlit white from the moat, and considerably more atmospheric empty than full. The outer walls take the light and the White Tower sits above them; from Tower Hill you get the whole thing at once, which is where two of the walking tours begin or end.
Can you go in? No — it closes well before these tours run. Seen from: both bus routes, the cab tours, and on foot from Tower Hill.
The Illuminated River bridges
A permanent light commission running along the Thames, covering nine central crossings. It is not floodlighting: the colours shift slowly across each span, so the river reads as one continuous work rather than a set of lit objects. Blackfriars and the Millennium Bridge are the two easiest places to stand and watch it.
This is the piece of London at night that most visitors have never heard of, and one two-hour cab route is built specifically around it.
Can you go in? You can walk across all of them, free, any hour. Seen from: the two-hour black cab route and the photography walk.
St Paul's Cathedral
The dome is lit warm against the sky and, unusually for London, from several angles at once. The approach across the Millennium Bridge frames it dead centre, and after about nine in the evening the steps are the quietest place in the City.
Can you go in? Not in the evening, outside occasional services. Seen from: both bus routes, the two-hour cab route and the four-hour cab tours.
The London Eye and the South Bank
The wheel changes colour through the evening and throws the whole of it onto the water. The South Bank around it stays busy long after the rest of the riverside empties, which makes it the easiest place to start an evening on foot.
Can you go in? The Eye itself runs later than most London attractions; check its own site for the date you want. Seen from: both bus routes, every cab tour and the whole first hour of the photography walk.
Piccadilly Circus and the West End
One curved screen throws moving colour across the entire junction, and it is the brightest single point in central London. The theatre crowds come out from about half past seven, so this is the loud, populated part of any evening — the opposite of the river.
Can you go in? The theatres, if you booked. Seen from: both bus routes and the Christmas walking tour.
Trafalgar Square and the fountains
The fountains are lit from beneath and change colour, the National Gallery frontage is floodlit behind them, and in December the Norwegian spruce stands in the corner of it. Nelson's Column disappears into the dark above the light, which is a stranger effect than it sounds.
Can you go in? It is a public square, open always. Seen from: the four-hour cab tours and both Christmas routes.
Which departure sees what
| Landmark | Open-top bus | Four-hour cab | Two-hour river cab | On foot |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Palace of Westminster | Yes | Yes | — | Photography walk |
| Tower Bridge | Yes | Yes | Yes | — |
| Tower of London | Yes | Yes | Yes | Ghost and Ripper walks |
| Illuminated River | — | — | Yes | Photography walk |
| St Paul's Cathedral | Yes | Yes | Yes | — |
| The London Eye | Yes | Yes | — | Photography walk |
| Piccadilly Circus | Yes | — | — | Christmas walk |
| Trafalgar Square | — | Yes | — | Christmas walk |
If you only have one evening. Take the river. Westminster, the Illuminated River bridges, St Paul's and the Tower are all on it, and it is the only stretch of London where the lighting was designed as one thing. The map page shows where to start.
What to do either side of all this is on the after-dark page, and the gallery shows most of these lit. London Night Tours lists every departure that reaches them.
