Visiting Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace is the official London residence of the British royal family. It hosts royal family events and visiting heads of state, and draws crowds from around the world. The building contains some 775 rooms, including 78 bathrooms, 118 staff bedrooms, 52 royal bedrooms, and 19 state rooms.
In the summer, when the monarch stays in Scotland, specific rooms open up for public tours:
- The Grand Staircase: a sweeping marble staircase hung with portraits of royal family members.
- The State Dining Room: the formal dining room reserved for state banquets.
- The Picture Gallery: an exhibition space featuring paintings by Rembrandt, Rubens, Canaletto, and Van Dyck, alongside a family portrait of Queen Victoria, Prince Albert, and five of their children.
- The Green Drawing Room: an antechamber where guests and official visitors wait before meeting the monarch.
- The Throne Room: the setting for investitures and royal receptions, which also serves as the backdrop for official family portraits.
The palace is surrounded by the largest private garden in London, spanning 16 hectares of manicured grounds with 350 types of wildflowers, plus numerous bird and butterfly species.
The Changing of the Guard
This ceremony takes place daily in the summer and every other day in winter at 11:00 AM. Guard posts rotate every two hours. While the ceremony is a major draw for visitors, a strict protocol remains in place for guard intervention should any threat to the palace arise.
The Balcony of Buckingham Palace
The famous balcony needs little introduction, serving as the spot where royals wave to crowds, make official appearances, and greet the public after weddings, such as Prince Charles and Lady Diana, or Prince William and Kate Middleton.
Opening hours
In September: 9:15 AM to 6:30 PM.
*Information subject to change
Buckingham Palace is a real attraction. You are literally drawn to it (herd instinct I guess, as tourists we follow the crowd of our fellow travelers), and once you are in front of it, you aren't disappointed you made the trip. When you think about it calmly, you tell yourself that nothing extraordinary is happening there (a gate, guards who are impeccable and very disciplined, except for rare exceptions that is all), it does not move much. But there it is. The aura of the place means that when you are there, you are not quite yourself. You appreciate it, without really knowing why, and that is exactly what I loved during my short visit to London.