Buckingham Palace Tour: State Rooms, the Guard and What to See Inside
A Buckingham Palace tour is one of the few chances to walk through a working royal residence rather than just gaze at its gates. For most of the year the palace is the monarch’s London home and office, closed to the public; but each summer the State Rooms open for roughly ten weeks, and that window is the only time you can stand inside the rooms where visiting heads of state are entertained. This is a look at what the tour covers, why the building matters, and how to time it so the famous forecourt spectacle does not slip past you.
The site began as Buckingham House, built in 1703 for the Duke of Buckingham. George III bought it in 1761 as a family retreat, and John Nash remodelled it into a palace for George IV from 1825. The familiar facade we photograph today, with its balcony, is Aston Webb’s 1913 redesign in Portland stone. Behind it are 775 rooms, of which the summer tour shows perhaps twenty. The building is both a home and the administrative heart of the royal household, which is why so much of it stays private even in August.
What a Buckingham Palace Tour Actually Includes
The route runs through the grandest public spaces: the White Drawing Room, the Throne Room with its domed ceiling, the Picture Gallery hung with Rubens and Rembrandt, and the 47-metre-long Ballroom. You exit through the Garden, where the famous lake and the south-facing lawn open up. Themed yearly exhibitions in the State Rooms often focus on a single collection or royal event, so no two summers are identical.
| Space | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Throne Room | Used for formal receptions; the chairs are for coronation rather than daily use |
| Picture Gallery | The only room with a changing Old Master display open to visitors |
| Ballroom | Largest room; investiture ceremonies are still held here |
| The Garden | 39 acres, roughly the size of a small farm, at the city’s heart |
Tickets for the summer opening typically run around £30 for an adult and must be booked with a timed entry. The palace also runs a shorter winter guided tour of the staterooms and the royal mews at other points in the year, worth checking if your dates fall outside August and September. The Royal Mews, with its state coaches including the Gold State Coach, can be visited separately and is a hit with children.
The Changing of the Guard
You do not need a ticket to see the Changing of the Guard, and many visitors plan the whole morning around it. The ceremony happens in the forecourt, roughly daily in summer and on alternate days in winter, usually from 11:00 and lasting about 45 minutes. Arrive 30 to 60 minutes early for a rail-side view; the crowd on an August morning is thick. It is free, unscripted in the sense that timings shift with weather, and far older than the tourist trail, tracing a guard rotation that dates back centuries. The marching band is the part children remember, and the route from St James’s Palace to the forecourt is worth staking out early.
History and Why the Palace Matters
Buckingham Palace became the administrative headquarters of the monarchy in the 19th century and has since been the backdrop for declarations of war, victory celebrations, and the famous balcony appearances that mark national moments. Its significance is less architectural than symbolic: this is where the British state and the royal family meet the public eye. The Tower of London, by contrast, tells a story of conquest and imprisonment; the palace tells one of ceremony and continuity. The Stonehenge speaks to a far older Britain altogether, and together these three trace a long arc of the island’s story.
Best Time to Visit
The summer opening (late July to September) is the only period for the full State Rooms tour. Within that window, weekdays beat weekends and the first slot of the day beats the mid-afternoon crush. London itself is best in late spring and early autumn for weather, but the palace schedule, not the climate, should drive your dates here. If you cannot make summer, the winter guided tours and the Guard ceremony still deliver a strong experience, and the Edinburgh Castle up in Scotland offers a different kind of royal fortress year round.
A Nearby Walk and Practical Notes
St James’s Park wraps the palace on two sides and is the prettiest approach, with pelicans in the lake and a direct path to the Mall. The Queen’s Gallery, at the palace’s south-west corner, shows rotating works from the Royal Collection and makes a neat add-on. Security is airport-style, so arrive with bags already cleared of sharp items, and note that the tour is largely one-way, so pause where you like early on because you cannot double back.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I visit Buckingham Palace year round?
The State Rooms tour runs only in summer. A guided winter tour and the Royal Mews are available at other times, and the Guard change is year round.
How long does the tour take?
Allow two to two and a half hours including the garden walk, though you can move faster if pressed.
Is photography allowed inside?
No inside the State Rooms. You can photograph the exterior and the garden from permitted areas.
Is it accessible?
Step-free routes exist and wheelchair loans are free; book access support when you buy so they can stage it.
Should I combine it with other London sights?
Yes. The Stonehenge is a day trip away, but closer in town, St James’s Park and the Westminster sights sit within a short walk, and the Tower of London is a pleasant river bus ride east.
Are audio guides included?
Yes, a multilingual handset is part of the ticket and is well worth the time; the commentary is voiced by members of the household.
Make a Day of It
Pair the palace with a walk through St James’s Park and a visit to the nearby royal parks. Our attractions archive links you to other landmark tours across Europe, and the city guides cover where to base yourself in London.
The Palace Through Harder Times
The building visitors photograph today has weathered real shocks. A German bomb destroyed the palace chapel in 1940 during the Blitz, and George VI and Queen Elizabeth (the late Queen Mother) were in residence when the raid hit, a fact that did more for wartime morale than any speech. The chapel was rebuilt after the war in a restrained modern style and is still used for royal baptisms. The balcony that crowds watch for dates to the 1850s and the Great Exhibition, when the royal family began the habit of appearing above the Mall to acknowledge the public. Inside, the Royal Collection that fills the State Rooms is not the monarchy’s private property in the simple sense; much of it is held in trust and shown precisely so that people can see it, which is the quiet justification for opening the doors each summer. The gardens, too, are a working landscape, with the lake stocked and the lawns cut by a small army of staff through the season, and the famous bee hives on the roof produce honey sold in the on-site shop.