The State Rooms — Attraction in London

Visited on a hot Thursday. We approached the Palace from Green Park Tube Station, which gives a nice walk through the park to the front of the Palace,

Had pre-booked via an agent, but on hindsight would probably have been better buying tickets direct from the Royal Collection Trust. If you have a voucher you need to go to Gate A and swap the voucher for your tickets. Further, a ticket from RCT allows you to convert it to a 1-year pass which once stamped on the way out gives free admission for the year.

We found this part of the process straightforward, with friendly helpful staff, and no queue. The tickets then give you a meeting time and entry time at Gate C. We arrived early due to the queue, but as the queue moved we arrived at the front fairly quickly. Staff were constantly combing the queue to ensure you met your entry window, and in our case because we were early we had to return further down the queue, and rejoin. 300 people enter every 15 minutes, and you are directed to one of two waiting rooms before being called to go through the security checks. The whole process was very smooth and efficient. Once through security free audio tours are available but strictly no photography, and no food and drink is allowed in the house. However, bottled water is allowed. Note there is no air-conditioning and the Palace can get warm on a hot day.

Toilets are only available at the end of the interior tour, as are the cafe facilities.

The tour itself takes in a number of the state rooms such as the stunning White Drawing Room, the Throne Room, Ballroom including the latest portrait of King Charles, Music Room, Grand Staircase, and State Dining Room.

There are numerous collections of paintings by artists such as Vermeer and Canaletto, and other artworks.

Staff are available everywhere and are extremely helpful, friendly, and knowledgeable.

Some of the rooms and corridors felt a little worn and dim.

Ultimately, the tour takes you out into the gardens where the cafe and toilets are located.

The cafe was extremely busy, although a little disappointing as it resembled a terrace canteen with paper cups, pre-wrapped sandwiches, etc. It was also quite pricey. Although once again the staff were excellent.

Photographs are allowed in the garden, and the exit from the terrace is along a paved path round the edge of the lake.

An iconic building which is worth a visit if...

Practical Information

We suggest you allow 2-2½ hours for your visit.Prebooking tickets is recommended. There is a timed admission system, this is the time you select when purchasing your ticket. You are advised to wear comfortable shoes, as the visitor route includes a half-mile walk through the garden to the exit.When you arrive, you will pass through an airport-style security check. Read more about security & luggage.You can take photographs in the Palace Gardens at the end of your visit, but not within the State Rooms. Read about photography, filming & mobile phones.Your ticket includes a multimedia guideavailable in English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, Brazilian Portuguese, Russian and Mandarin. We also have a guide for families, an audio descriptive tour for blind or partially-sighted visitors and a video tour for D/deaf and hard of hearing visitors. Eating and drinking aren't allowed inside the Palace, but during the summer the Garden Café is open, overlooking the famous lawn and lake.Toilets and baby-care facilities are only available at the end of the visit, located in the Garden once you have exited the State Rooms.For safety reasons, pushchairs cannot be taken into the State Rooms. They must be checked in and collected at the exit from the State Rooms. Read more about visiting...

The palace is absolutely beautiful and phenomenally well kept, but the tour is a tourist trap and it knows it. The rooms that were accessible were amazing, but I'm sure there could have been a few more that could be opened to the public, it's a massive building after all. I was left wanting more from the audio guide. The clips were quick at 1-2mins per room giving you some basic information. The highlight was the info about the highlighted painting in the picture gallery, and I think they could so very easily add some more if they wanted to. It was engaging though. I assume the clips were so short to force you to move on to the next room swiftly, and it works. The place was packed and you shuffled round a one way system like sheep. The cafe was expensive but the quality did match the expense, and how often are you going to be able to have a Pimms and a bun at Buckingham Palace! Yeah they got me there. The gift shop was big and worth a browse on your was out. Somehow managed to get Buckingham Palace on every bit of tat imaginable and more. (I think amarican tourists especially would go wild for the costume jewellery and random tea sets.) Overall, would...