Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
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Unfortunately, it's unlikely that you're going to see the Queen waving out
of her bedroom window in
Buckingham Palace
. She spends most of her
time in a stately house out of the city. However, when she's not home, many
of the state rooms in Buckingham Palace can be visited as part of a tour.
As befitting the country's rich regal history, the state rooms are some of the
planet's most rapturously opulent. You'll need to get tickets in advance at
•
£FREE
- Soldiers have been stamping up and down and guarding Bucking-
ham Palace for many centuries. They still perform the delightfully quaint
Changing of the Guard
every other day at 11:30, purely for the delight of
amazed camera snapping tourists. Arrive an hour earlier if you want to get a
good spot to take photos.
Check
www.c
hanging-the-guard.com/dates-times
for the schedule.
•
£FREE
- At the end of Westminster you'll discover
Big Ben
, a giant chim-
ing clock that seems to be the world media's de facto stock image of Lon-
don. Unfortunately, tours are only possible by requesting tickets from your
local (British) member of parliament. That's probably not an option for you
so just stand in front of it and join the masses taking a selfie.
•
£FREE - Whitehall
is the defacto street of the British government, with the
Cenotaph commemorating WWI at its center.
Explore the aristocratic 17
th
century splendor of
Banqueting House
, once
home of the monarchy and the scene of Charles I's execution at the end of
the English Civil War. Sublime neo-classical architecture and a vast private
art collection cover just about every room in wonder.
Whitewall, use West-
minster Underground Station.
•
•
£FREE
- Peer through the gates at
Downing Street
, home to the Prime Min-
ster (at number 10) and the Chancellor (at number 11). You probably won't
see them, but it's a famous photo to take.
•
While the streets are ever crowded, the Queen owns half the land and has
ensured that property developers haven't bulldozed the greenery. The royal
St James's Park (£FREE)
is a quiet place to rest the legs while the grand
Buckingham Palace Gardens befit their name.
