Buckingham Palace, Changing of the Guard and St James's Park

In this guide

💡 The Short Version:

• The guard only changes on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Soldiers gather at St James’s Palace and Wellington Barracks from 10:00, the ceremony is under way on the Buckingham Palace forecourt from 10:45 (handover at 11:00, lasting about 45 minutes). On Sunday there is a 10:00 Sunday Parade; on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday a shorter Captain’s Inspection at 15:00.
• Don’t stand at the palace railings. You will see only one part of the handover through iron bars. Watch the detachments form up at St James’s Palace or Wellington Barracks from 10:00 and march along The Mall, or go to Horse Guards Parade on Whitehall for the 11:00 mounted ceremony (Monday, Wednesday and Friday) with no railings at all — or walk with a guide on Urban Saunters’ Changing of the Guard walking tour on GetYourGuide (from £15).
• The State Rooms open in summer only (9 July to 27 September in 2026; summer 2027 tickets go on sale in November; £33 adult in advance, £37 on the day). From 6 November 2026 to 31 January 2027, the Royal Collection Trust runs East Wing Guided Tours (£100).
• The King’s Gallery and the Royal Mews sit beside the palace: The King’s Gallery stays open through autumn, winter and spring (£22 adult in 2026, £24 in 2027; showing Queen Elizabeth II: Her Life in Style from 10 April 2026 to 18 April 2027), while The Royal Mews (£18 adult) runs 5 March to 1 November 2026 (Thursday to Monday) and then closes for winter until March 2027.
• £1 tickets and free 1-Year Passes. Anyone on Universal Credit or other named UK benefits can pre-book £1 tickets for up to six people per household at the State Rooms, King’s Gallery and Royal Mews. Standard tickets bought direct from the Royal Collection Trust convert free to a 1-Year Pass before you leave.
• St James’s Park is free (05:00–midnight). Stand on the Blue Bridge for the view of the palace one way and Horse Guards and Whitehall the other, and be by Duck Island Cottage at 14:30 when the park’s pelicans are fed.

Buckingham Palace, the Changing of the Guard and St James’s Park sit along a single one-kilometre stretch between Victoria and Whitehall, but each runs on its own calendar. Outside is free every day of the year; going inside depends on the month, the day of the week and which entrance on Buckingham Gate you book.

⚠️ Rain cancels the Changing of the Guard, sometimes as late as 10:45 on the morning itself. Check the Household Division’s official schedule before setting out.

Admission prices and schedules as of October 2026.

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Changing of the Guard: days, timings and where to stand

Changing the King’s Guard is a three-site ceremony across St James’s Palace, Wellington Barracks and Buckingham Palace, not a static display behind the palace railings. Watching from the railings traps you behind several rows of people while the detachments and bands move along The Mall and Birdcage Walk.

The Household Cavalry riding past the palace gates.

Which ceremony runs on which day

How the ceremony works and where to watch

1. From 10:00 — St James’s Palace and Wellington Barracks: Before the handover at Buckingham Palace, the soldiers and regimental bands gather at Wellington Barracks on Birdcage Walk (300 metres east of the palace) and at St James’s Palace off The Mall. At Wellington Barracks you can stand against the perimeter railings right beside the parade square as the New Guard and band form up and rehearse.
2. From 10:45 — The Mall and Buckingham Palace Forecourt: The St James’s Palace detachment marches west down The Mall and the New Guard marches from Wellington Barracks onto the Buckingham Palace forecourt for the formal handover at 11:00, with the ceremony lasting around 45 minutes in total before the Old Guard marches back out.
3. 11:00 (Monday, Wednesday and Friday) — Horse Guards Parade: One kilometre east at the Whitehall end of St James’s Park, the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment changes the King’s Life Guard on the open gravel of Horse Guards Parade. Because there are no iron railings, you can stand a few metres from the horses.
4. 16:00 daily — Horse Guards Whitehall Courtyard: Every afternoon of the week, the officer on duty inspects the dismounted King’s Life Guard in the front courtyard on Whitehall before the horses are led off duty.

How to avoid getting boxed in

• Follow the guards instead of waiting at the palace railings: Start at Wellington Barracks or St James’s Palace from 10:00 to see the inspection and music up close, then watch the march along The Mall or Birdcage Walk rather than standing five deep at the Buckingham Palace gates from 09:30.
• If you want height at the palace: The raised white marble steps of the Queen Victoria Memorial look over the heads of the crowd pressed against the black iron railings, though you need to claim a step early on dry mornings.
• If you arrive after 10:30: Walk ten minutes east along The Mall to Horse Guards Parade for the 11:00 mounted ceremony on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

The mounted ceremony at Horse Guards Parade, with a single rope instead of railings.

Guided Changing of the Guard tours

A guide moves you between St James’s Palace, The Mall, Wellington Barracks and Buckingham Palace as each detachment steps off:

• The Changing of the Guard, With an Expert (Urban Saunters) — from £15, 2 hours, rated 4.8 from 2,718 reviews; walks alongside the guards from St James’s Palace and Wellington Barracks rather than standing at one gate. Book on GetYourGuide.
• Buckingham Palace Entry & Changing of the Guard Tour (City Wonders) — from £72, 2½ hours from the Duke of York Column, rated 4.4 from 2,979 reviews; pairs a guided watch of the ceremony with timed entry to the State Rooms and the official audio guide during the summer State Rooms opening. Book on GetYourGuide.

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Going inside Buckingham Palace: tickets, seasons and prices

Three separate Royal Collection Trust venues sit at Buckingham Palace: the State Rooms (inside the palace itself), The King’s Gallery (the art gallery at the south-west corner on Buckingham Gate) and The Royal Mews (the working royal stables further down Buckingham Palace Road). Each has its own entrance, season and ticket.

Two ways to cut the cost

• £1 Universal Credit tickets: Anyone receiving Universal Credit, Pension Credit, Working Tax Credit, Child Tax Credit, Income Support, income-based Employment and Support Allowance or income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance can pre-book £1.00 tickets for up to six people per household at the State Rooms, The King’s Gallery and The Royal Mews (not valid on £100 Exclusive Guided Tours). Only one person needs to bring proof of eligibility on the day along with photo ID.
• Free 1-Year Pass conversion: Standard tickets bought directly from the Royal Collection Trust (excluding third-party resellers and £1 tickets) can be converted into a 1-Year Pass free of charge before you exit the building. Sign and get your ticket stamped at the desk before leaving, and you can return free for 12 months.

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Inside the Palace, the Gallery and the Mews

1. The nineteen State Rooms (summer) and the East Wing (winter)

Buckingham Palace’s public summer route covers the 19 State Rooms used by the King for investitures, audiences and state banquets while the court is away in summer.

• What you see on the summer route: You climb John Nash’s Grand Staircase, pass through the Green Drawing Room into the Throne Room (holding the chairs of estate made for the 2023 Coronation), walk the Picture Gallery hung with works by Rembrandt, Rubens, Van Dyck and Vermeer, and finish in the Ballroom before walking down the West Terrace and along a half-kilometre gravel path through the Palace Garden towards the exit on Grosvenor Place.
• The winter East Wing tour (6 November 2026 to 31 January 2027): Outside the summer opening, the Royal Collection Trust runs guided tours of the East Wing — the front wing facing The Mall built in the 1840s — at £100 per person, booked in advance through rct.uk.
• Allow two to two and a half hours for the summer State Rooms including airport-style security and the garden exit walk.

2. The King’s Gallery

Built onto the south-west corner of Buckingham Palace on the site of the former private chapel damaged in the Blitz, The King’s Gallery displays rotating exhibitions from the Royal Collection and stays open through autumn, winter and spring when the State Rooms are shut.

• 2026–2027 exhibition: Queen Elizabeth II: Her Life in Style runs from 10 April 2026 to 18 April 2027 to mark the centenary of Queen Elizabeth II’s birth. It brings together around 200 items — roughly half never exhibited before — including Norman Hartnell’s 1947 wedding dress and 1953 Coronation dress, childhood outfits, headscarf and riding coats, evening gowns and design sketches.
• Summer 2027 onwards: Royal Jewellery: From Coronations to Keepsakes runs from 25 June 2027 to 19 March 2028.
• Practical: Open daily 10:00–17:30 (last admission 16:15) during exhibitions; advance timed tickets are required on The King’s Gallery booking page. Allow 60 to 90 minutes.

3. The Royal Mews

Two minutes south down Buckingham Palace Road (entrance opposite The Rubens at the Palacead), John Nash’s 1825 quadrangle is a working royal stable housing the horses and carriages used in state processions.

• The Gold State Coach: Commissioned in 1760 and used at every coronation since George IV in 1821, pulled at walking pace by eight Windsor Grey horses.
• Other carriages and horses: The Diamond Jubilee State Coach, the Irish State Coach, state motor cars, and the working stables of Windsor Greys and Cleveland Bays. Children can dress in livery and sit inside a replica Semi-State Landau.
• Free guided tour: A 45-minute warder-led tour of the quadrangle runs regularly throughout the day and is included in the £18 ticket at no extra cost — ask the warders for the next start time after security.
• Season: Open 5 March to 1 November 2026 (Thursday to Monday, 10:00–17:00, last entry 16:00), then closed for winter until March 2027.

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Security, bags, pushchairs and step-free access

All three Buckingham Palace venues operate airport-style security screening at the entrance on Buckingham Gate / Buckingham Palace Road.

• Photography rules: No photography or video is allowed inside the State Rooms or on the East Wing tour. Photography is allowed once you step out onto the garden exit path, and personal non-flash photography is permitted inside The Royal Mews and The King’s Gallery.
• Bags and luggage: Large rucksacks, suitcases and wheeled bags are not admitted, and there is no luggage storage for suitcases at the palace — use the left-luggage desks at Victoria station (8 minutes’ walk), covered in our London luggage storage guide.
• Toilets and baby care: On the State Rooms route, visitor toilets (including accessible toilets) and baby-care facilities are located at the end of the tour in the garden area, so go before joining the entrance queue.
• Pushchairs and buggies: Not permitted inside the State Rooms. They must be checked in at the entrance cloakroom, where baby carriers and hip-seats are loaned free of charge for the indoor rooms, and reclaimed for the garden walk. Pushchairs are allowed inside The King’s Gallery and The Royal Mews.
• Step-free access must be pre-booked for the State Rooms: Because the standard visitor route uses staircases, step-free entry via lift must be booked in advance through the Royal Collection Trust’s Specialist Sales team on +44 (0)303 123 7324. Both The King’s Gallery and The Royal Mews are fully step-free without advance notice, and a Changing Space facility (with height-adjustable adult changing bench and hoist) is available at the Royal Mews. Disabled visitors pay the concessionary rate and can book a free Access Companion ticket. See our step-free London guide for nearby step-free Tube routes.

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St James’s Park and The Mall

Covering 57 acres (23 hectares) from the Victoria Memorial to Horse Guards Parade, St James’s Park is the oldest of London’s eight Royal Parks — enclosed as a deer park by Henry VIII in 1532, laid out with a canal for Charles II in the 1660s, and reshaped into its curving lake and islands by John Nash in 1827. Pedestrian gates are open 05:00 to midnight daily, and entry is free.

One of the resident Great White Pelicans by the lake, with the Blue Bridge behind.

What to see in the park

• The Blue Bridge: Crosses the middle of the lake on the north-south path between The Mall and Birdcage Walk. Looking west, the trees frame Buckingham Palace across the water; looking east, the rooftops and towers of Horse Guards, Whitehall and the London Eye rise behind the willow trees and the Tiffany Fountain. Early morning before 09:00 gives the clearest light on the palace facade from the east.
• The 14:30 Pelican Feeding and Duck Island Cottage: Pelicans have lived on the lake continuously since 1664, when the Russian Ambassador presented a pair to Charles II. They gather on the lakeside beside Duck Island Cottage — the 1841 Swiss-chalet birdkeeper’s lodge on Duck Island at the eastern end of the lake, near Horse Guards Road — for their daily fish feed at around 14:30.
• Queen Victoria Memorial and Canada Gate: Sir Thomas Brock’s white marble monument (1911) in front of the palace, topped by a gilded Winged Victory and flanked by wrought-iron gates gifted by Canada, Australia, and South and West Africa.
• The Mall, St James’s Palace and Clarence House: Bordering the north side of the park, The Mall is surfaced in red pigment to read as a processional carpet running from the Victoria Memorial to Admiralty Arch. Halfway along on the north side stand Clarence House and Henry VIII’s red-brick St James’s Palace (1536), whose Tudor gatehouse faces up St James’s Street.
• Guards Museum (Wellington Barracks): On the south side of the park on Birdcage Walk, inside Wellington Barracks, the Guards Museum tells the history of the five regiments of Foot Guards (Grenadier, Coldstream, Scots, Irish and Welsh) with uniforms, weapons and a bearskin cap you can try on. Open daily 10:00–16:00 (last entry 15:30; £11 adult, £3 child aged 6–15, concessions from £5), right beside the parade ground where the New Guard forms up from 10:00.

Spring flowerbeds in St James’s Park, with St James’s Café in the background.

Food, coffee and toilets in the park

• St James’s Café and kiosks: St James’s Café sits at the eastern end of the lake near Horse Guards Parade with outdoor tables overlooking the water, and refreshment kiosks sit by Marlborough Gate, Horseshoe Bend and the Playground.
• Public toilets: Public toilets (including accessible radar-key cubicles) sit beside Marlborough Gate on the north side of the park and beside the playground on the south-west side near Birdcage Walk. See our London public toilets guide for nearby free facilities.

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Getting there: best Tube stations by entrance

Because the palace grounds and park stretch from Victoria to Whitehall, the right station depends on where you are starting:

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How to combine them in one morning

On a Monday, Wednesday or Friday:

1. 09:45 — Green Park to the Victoria Memorial: Exit Green Park station and walk through Green Park to photograph Buckingham Palace and the Victoria Memorial before the forecourt crowd builds.
2. 10:00–11:30 — Watch the Guard Change: Move to St James’s Palace or Wellington Barracks on Birdcage Walk from 10:00 to see the soldiers and band form up, then watch the detachments march to the palace forecourt for 10:45 — or walk east along The Mall to Horse Guards Parade for the 11:00 mounted ceremony with no barriers.
3. 11:30 — Blue Bridge in St James’s Park: Cross the Blue Bridge over the park lake for the view of Buckingham Palace one way and Whitehall the other.
4. 12:00 onwards — Afternoon options: Walk to Buckingham Gate for a timed ticket at The King’s Gallery, The Royal Mews (March–November) or the summer State Rooms — or stay in the park for lunch by the lake and the 14:30 pelican feeding by Duck Island Cottage before visiting the Churchill War Rooms or Westminster Abbey.

For a complete 11-stop self-guided route connecting Buckingham Palace and St James’s Park with Big Ben, the Supreme Court, Westminster Abbey and Trafalgar Square, follow our Westminster walking route.

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Common mistakes to avoid

1. Turning up on a Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday or Sunday expecting the 11:00 Changing of the Guard: The full ceremony only runs on Monday, Wednesday and Friday; Sunday has a 10:00 parade and the other days a 15:00 inspection.
2. Expecting to tour Buckingham Palace’s State Rooms outside summer: They open for about ten weeks from mid-July to late September. Outside summer, book The King’s Gallery, The Royal Mews (5 March to 1 November 2026; reopening March 2027) or the £100 winter East Wing guided tour (6 November 2026 to 31 January 2027).
3. Standing against the Buckingham Palace railings from 09:30: You lose an hour and a half and still miss the soldiers and bands forming up at Wellington Barracks and St James’s Palace from 10:00.
4. Arriving with a suitcase or large rucksack: None of the palace venues will store suitcases. Drop bags at Victoria station first.
5. Forgetting to stamp your ticket for the free 1-Year Pass: You must ask at the desk and sign your ticket before leaving the building; it cannot be converted once you have exited.

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Continue planning your London trip

• 🚶 A Walk Through Westminster: 11 Stops from Big Ben to Trafalgar Square — our step-by-step self-guided route through St James’s Park, Buckingham Palace, The Mall and Horse Guards.
• 🏛️ Westminster Area Guide — Whitehall, Westminster Cathedral’s lift-served bell tower, Tate Britain and where to eat nearby.
• ⛪ Westminster Abbey Guide — £31 tickets, the £10 verger tour to Edward the Confessor’s shrine, and free daily Evensong.
• 🎖️ Churchill War Rooms Guide — the underground wartime bunker at the Clive Steps, directly on the edge of St James’s Park.
• 🏰 London’s Historic Houses and Palaces — Kensington Palace, Hampton Court, Eltham Palace and the £1 Universal Credit ticket scheme across London.
• 🌳 The Best Parks and Gardens in London — how St James’s Park compares with Hyde Park, Kensington Gardens, Regent’s Park and Greenwich Park.
• 🧭 The Best Walking Tours in London — Changing of the Guard walks, Blue Badge Westminster tours and historic pub routes compared.
• 🛏️ Best Areas to Stay in London — how Westminster and Victoria compare with South Bank, Covent Garden and Kensington for hotel value and transport links.

Common questions

What days and time is the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace?

The full Changing of the King's Guard takes place on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Soldiers gather at St James's Palace and Wellington Barracks from 10:00, the ceremony is under way on the Buckingham Palace forecourt from 10:45 with the formal handover at 11:00, and it lasts about 45 minutes. On Sunday there is a shorter Sunday Parade at 10:00, and on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday a Captain's Inspection at 15:00.

Where is the best place to watch Changing of the Guard without crowds?

Instead of standing behind the crowd at the Buckingham Palace railings, watch the soldiers form up at St James's Palace or Wellington Barracks on Birdcage Walk from 10:00 and follow them along The Mall, or stand on the raised steps of the Queen Victoria Memorial. For a mounted ceremony with no railings between you and the horses, watch the King's Life Guard at Horse Guards Parade on Whitehall at 11:00 on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, or the daily 16:00 dismounted inspection.

Can you go inside Buckingham Palace in autumn, winter or spring?

Only on a pre-booked guided tour, or by visiting The King's Gallery at the side of the palace (the Royal Mews is open March to 1 November 2026 and closes for winter until March 2027). The nineteen State Rooms open for general timed entry in summer only — in 2026 that ran from 9 July to 27 September, and summer 2027 tickets go on sale in November. Between 6 November 2026 and 31 January 2027 the Royal Collection Trust runs East Wing Guided Tours at £100 per person.

How much are tickets to Buckingham Palace, The King's Gallery and the Royal Mews?

Buckingham Palace State Rooms cost £33.00 adult in advance (£37.00 on the day), £21.50 young person (18–24) and £16.50 child (5–17) or disabled visitor in the 2026 summer season. The King's Gallery costs £22.00 adult (£24.00 in 2027), £14.00 young person and £11.00 child, booked in advance. The Royal Mews costs £18.00 adult, £12.00 young person and £9.00 child, and closes for winter after 1 November 2026 until March 2027. Recipients of Universal Credit and other named UK benefits can pre-book £1.00 tickets for up to six people per household at all three.

When are the pelicans fed in St James's Park?

Every day at around 14:30 by Duck Island Cottage, at the eastern end of the lake near Horse Guards Road. Pelicans have lived in St James's Park since 1664, when a pair was presented to Charles II by the Russian Ambassador.

Is Buckingham Palace included on The London Pass?

No. Buckingham Palace's State Rooms and The King's Gallery are not on The London Pass. However, The Royal Mews is included on The London Pass during its March to November opening season.