Buckingham Palace

Trip to London… This is your top 5 locations regardless if you are a monarch or not. The building is impressive and the police and guards are very friendly and used to questions from tourists Go give old Betty a shout see if you can get some tea and cake

Bien bien bien. Pour le coup, j’ai joué les parfaites touristes en pointant mon nez à l’heure (ou presque) de la relève de la Garde. Bön, évidemment, j’ai vu plus de touristes que de Gardes, mais j’ai quand même réussi à voir quelques Gardes faire leur chorégraphie et j’ai été assez impressionnée par la manière dont tout est chronométré.
Cela dit, une fois tout le monde parti, je vous avoue que le Palais né m’a pas plus impressionnée que ça… Qui plus est, le drapeau n’était pas là, impossible donc d’aller prendre le thé avec la Reine: déception.
Trêve de plaisanterie, en fait l’architecture m’a laissée de marbre, c’est un bâtiment, voilà. J’en ai vu d’autres beaucoup plus impressionnants dans Londres, du coup…
Pour moi la visite est amusante à faire si on a l’occasion de voir la Relève de la Garde, mais sinon…

Buckingham Palace is an iconic London Landmark. After all it is the home of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. I have never been inside the state palace. Only seen it from the outside. It is a grand building which has many tourists coming here as expected. You come, see the building, get some photos then leave. Not much else to do here.

‘Changing of the Guard’ ceremony is very impressive, hard to imagine humans being so precise in their movements. All I could think of was Wizard of Oz monkeys, lol! No disrespect, your Majesty!
The Palace interior is only open to the public while the Queen is in Scotland for the late summer months. This is Monarchy Headquarters, UK version of the US White-​house albeit on a grand scale. The Queen apparently lives in an apartment located on the North side and the other Royal Family members occupy the East side.
Most anywhere you go in London you will pass this building sooner or later. Very congested traffic area especially if something is going on. Many times people will line up outside the massive gate which attracts even more people thinking they will get a glimpse of the Royal Family. How many times I saw crowds gathering out of nowhere and turned out — no action.
When the Queen is in Residence, the Flag (the Royal Standing) flies up outside. She receives many visitors, holds receptions, entertains State banquets among many other formal occasions so it’s quite a busy place. The Ballroom is so big it’s often used for concerts! Interesting fact also that all Royal babies are Christened here.

Be sure to make time to see Buckingham Palace and the surrounding gardens and park. There is a circle out front where tourists stop for pictures and then you can walk the main promenade down the gardens toward Piccadilly.

What a total bust. Even during winter time it was crowded and the change of guard took FOREVER. I thought it was a waste of time but I guess if you’ve never seen it before it’s worth seeing once.

I’m speaking of the state rooms of Buckingham Palace, not of the outside.
The state rooms include a full visit of the interior of the most famous royal
palace in the world, several private rooms and a full visit of the public rooms,
dining rooms and receiving halls. Furthermore, they usually have some
exhibitions on display, adding value to the place.
This is really a visit you should do ONLY if you are interested into knowing a
bit better the life inside a royal palace. There is Camden Market for everybody
else. Better, there is a tv.
But if you can get in the magic of the place, then you would seriously like it,
it’s a wonderful insight into the life of the royal family, with several
curiosities and nice secrets to be discovered.
It’s a bit expensive and it’s open only during the summer months (well, a bit
more, but anyway it’s closed during the winter), but it’ definitely worth a
visit!
Oh and the garden is awesome!

Realistically you simply cannot visit London for the first time and not paying a quick visit to the Palace. It was interesting to see with my own eyes what I’ve seen on television and in books so many times over my lifetime.
Was it the highlight to my trip? Not at all, we had already paid to see several London sites so the summer tour of the Palace while the Queen was away was not a top priority on my list. That being said, getting to see the outside of the palace, the beautiful statues with incredible detail, the towering golden topped gates, are all very cool and definitely a sight to see.
Definitely a great photo op but unless you’re going to venture into the palace for a paid tour then you really won’t need to spend much time in this tourist trap.
Fun fact: buses aren’t allowed to pass in front of the palace!

This is a review just for the exterior and guard changing, since I wrote a separate review for the State Rooms. Look, this is the really big show. It’s a tourist magnet that would only be visited more if the gates were made out of chocolate or gold. The actual palace is a beautiful, large, bank-​looking structure opposite a large gate and a golden angel-​topped Queen Victoria memorial. Centuries later the palace still serves as a place where the Queen can speak to foreign dignitaries and meet domestic ministers, when she is in residence.
My mother’s dream was always to go to London so when we decided to watch the Changing of the Guards we were an hour and a half early and still managed to get a semi-​blocked view directly at the gate facing the front of the palace. We would eventually see the guards march in from the street, assemble in formation, play American jazz standards in their marching band attire while we also saw several guards passing on horses directly behind us. We must have stood a grand total of 3 hours to see a marching presentation that lasted maybe 20 minutes. The effort was well worth it, if only so I never have to wonder what the big deal was. When I return to London, I will likely do this again but just stand in a different location to see the horsies better.

Visited March 2015: «State rooms are only open during the months of August & Sept»
Buckingham Palace is a working government building, and when the Queen is in residence you are not able to take a tour of the state rooms. We arrived at the changing of the guard ceremony. This area was full of people, crowded together, attempting to see and witness the experience. We were able to peek in through the fences, and take a few photos. When passing a gate, you are not able to stop — per the police on horseback — so we snapped photos as we briskly walked by. ***Do not get tickets to see the state rooms around the time of the changing of the guard ****

Toured the palace while the queen was on summer holiday with a group of 16.
We did the group entrance so the line was a bit shorter but we still had to go through security like everyone else and leave our backpack to be checked. You then walk through to the main entrance where any visiting dignitary comes to meet the queen and walk past her ceremonial carriage.
The main entry and initial stairs in the palace are beautiful. The audio guide was very useful as it described a lot of information about the architecture and building process. It was interesting to find that some of the most beautiful rooms and most famous were the result of a designer who was called before a council for being over budget and who was let go from the project.
The palace has a very large and very nice art collection and has some neat roman statues on the lower level.
The pop-​up gift shop was large and full of lots of neat royal related goodies.

Ah Buckingham Palace, home of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and the grandest house in all the land.
I’m going to share a special secret with you but don’t start spreading it around town as it’s a bit of a security nightmare!
Early in the afternoon head over to the Queen Victoria Memorial and locate the lion. Near the tail a button will be revealed and turning it to the right whilst whispering the name of Queen Elizabeth II’s favourite corgi (Susan) will reveal hidden stairs leading to a secret tunnel inside the palace tea room. Be sure to pull the hatch closed after you or it will end up being a lot more than tea for two!
Here you will find Her Majesty waiting for you with tea, cakes and crustless sandwiches. Customarily in Britain it is bad form to turn up for tea empty handed so make sure you turn up with a gift, we would recommend a packet of digestive Hobnobs as Her Majesty is partial to dunking a few of them in her Earl Grey.
A few of Her Majesty’s favourite conversational topics over tea would be X-​Factor and Doctor Who so stay off any awkward topics and a magical moment can be had by all.
If that all fails, just take a few pics of the guards at the front of the palace with the other tourists and if you want to get in the normal way then you can always buy some passes to view the state rooms of the palace! Enjoy!

It is interesting to see and walk through. There is stunning architecture and ornate decoration. The audio guide is informative and well timed/​paced.
The no photography rule is strictly enforced, so don’t bring the good camera, but you can try to sneak an iPhone photo occasionally.
It’s not something I’d return to, however it is definitely worth seeing one time in your life.

Another must see if you’re in London. We walked through St James park to Buckingham palace.
While it’s cool to see and get a photo, that’s about it.
It’s always busy here with a lot of tourists.
Not my fav spot in London

So, the Queen’s house eh…
I’ve had a bit of an overload of her gaff’s recently — I love round the corner from her house in Edinburgh, and caught both Windsor Castle & Buck Palace on a recent trip down to London. I hate to say it, but Queenie’s main house is my least favourite of the three.
There’s far too many people out and about around it, just slowly wandering about, with seemingly no prompter to go/​do anything specific. As a result, it’s just a big crowd constantly getting in your way…
The «house» itself does look impressive — all very big and grand, but just way too ostentatious. I’m happy having the Royal Family, I think it’s brings more to the country having them than not, but it’s odd to justify the expense and extravagance of this as «one» of her homes at a time when a large part of the country’s going through a recession.
I also find it baffling that this is the main home anyway — Windsor was infinitely nicer, and a much better bet for state occasions too! If I was a foreign dignitary, I’d be far more impressed by the grandeur and sheer imposing scale of Windsor Castle. I mean, it’s an actual castle. With cannons!
That being said, I did enjoy riding round Buck Palace in circles on my Boris Bike…

Joa, né… Es ist halt der Wohnsitz der Queen. Sicher ganz hübsch und auf der Agenda jedes «ersten» London-​Besuchs. Alles sehr prunkvoll hergerichtet, aber seit 2005 nach den Anschlägen in London auch ein großer Sicherheitsbereich. Es war mal ganz nett die Jungs mit ihren Fellmützen zu sehen, aber das «Changing of the guard» fand bspw. an unserem Besuchstag nicht statt — auf Grund bevorstehender Festivitäten.
Ich kann jetzt sagen: Ja, ich war mal da und hab ihn gesehen. ;)

You can’t come to London without coming to Buckingham Palace!
It is very tourists kind of thing… BUT we are tourists and we don’t come to London all the time. So definitely have to visit at least once.
I was very excited standing on the side walk waiting for them to arrive. When I heard the music, turn on my camera to get ready! It is very impressive. Not only the parade but also the amount of people surrounded Buckingham Palace. This happens «everyday»!! You will see double deck tour buses everywhere.
Find out the route of the parade first. Our tour guide didn’t bring us to Buckingham Palace right way, he took us a little bit distance away and waited at the side walk. Less crowd. We got a very good view.
Then we followed the parade to Buckingham Palace.

Follow the red brick road. That’s how you know you’re in the vicinity of the palace as we were footing it around the city that day, or so we were told.
We had to take it in, along with many-​a-​fellow-​traveler but more so the barrage of tourists hoping to see someone in the royal family taking a stroll outside of the gates. Yeah right! All kidding aside, it was the changing of the guards. We did see a parade of guards on horseback riding down the streets but that’s about it. Once we got there, it was super crowded and we weren’t about to elbow our way to the front, so we didn’t get to see much. But we did take pics and got to see the palace from a short distance.
However, we did go back a few days later because Kate Middleton’s wedding dress was on display, and we just so happened to be in town! We purchased our tickets online for a tour of that section of the palace as well as the coach stables. The lines were quite long but entry was very safe and organized. We got to see the room where a lot of their photos are taken, admire the architecture and furnishings, as well as the area where all the balls/​events take place. Super cool. Oh yeah, and her dress was on display, along with a model replica of the wedding cake. Very nice. The only downfall was no pictures were allowed. I felt like we were in Rome lol.
The coach stables is where all the carriages and cars are kept. It was awesome to see them in real life. This part of the tour wasn’t was as crowded as the palace tour which was great for me. I hate herding around like cattle. Photos are allowed here.
TIP:
Buy your tickets online. I don’t think the palace is open to the public throughout the year, so count yourself lucky if you do get in.

Because I was a tourist in London I had to go and see the changing of the guards. Me and 10,000 of my closest friends all jam packed near the fence, elbowing each other to hold our phones up for a photo. While it was cool to see, it seemed to last a long time and forgive me for saying it was getting boring, but it was.
I spent most of the time trying to make sure no one was pickpocketing me while I was jammed in the big crown. I showed up about an hour early to get a good view, but of course there was those people that showed up at the last minute and just shoved there was into the front bumping into everyone and being rude.
So if you want to see some guys march around while you get hit in the head with a selfie stick, check this place out!

Símbolo de la monarquía y el despilfarro, del cambio de guardia y versión más inaccesible y más grande, tal vez, que nuestro Palacio Real, con la diferencia de que continúa siendo residencia oficial (en Londres) de Isabel II .
Alguna vez he llegado a ver el cambio de guardia tras la verja, pero no es algo que despierte demasiado interés en mí, al igual que la ostentosa fuente de acabados dorados muy limpios y brillantes, eso sí, a la que trepan los turistas con el fin de ver mejor los uniformes. La carretera roja, los caballos que pasan de vez en cuando y las banderitas que exaltan distintos valores en distintas personas, son también parte del escenario que aquí puede verse.
Me gustan más los alrededores, pero como primera incursión en el mundo británico, al estar tan cerca de la estación, se puede pasar delante y observar a los turistas haciéndose fotos con su palo de selfie y una verja detrás. Creo que parte del palacio se puede visitar, pero no fue mi caso.

Ah yes … The time-​honored tradition of the changing of the guard. It happens at 11 a.m. weather permitting two to three times a week.
Lots of touristy peeps gather around and snap pictures as the guards march around inside and outside of the Buckingham Palace gates. It’s actually pretty cool.
The area, itself, is absolutely beautiful. The landscaping in and around is very scenic. The palace is surrounded by parks, like St. James’s Park, which are also well taken care of.
I would recommend this section of London as you make your way from landmark to landmark. It’s probably a 15-​minute walk from or to Westminster Abbey and Big Ben.

3.5 No es tan lindo para ir a visitar. Todo alrededor es copado, pero el palacio en sí es un embole y no es lindo arquitectónicamente.
Onda, es el Buckingham palace, obvio. Y está el cambio de guardia que la gente se vuelve loca. Pero es para estar 10 minutos e irse.
Es más linda la rotonda y fuente en frente que el palacio en sí.
Y todo el camino que lleva a eso, obvio. De un lado rodeado por Hyde Park y por el otro por Victory Lane o algo así (me olvidéeee)
Pero si seguís caminando por el camino de las banderas llegás a Trafalgar Square. Está todo conectado.

This was my first visit to London and made it a point to see the changing of the Guard. Get there earlier then 11:15 am because it gets very crowded — otherwise it will be difficult to see much from a distance.
After the changing of the Guard I visited the Guard Museum. There was a charge unlike the larger museums but it was quite interesting. I had no idea the hats they were are made of bears fur!

*This review is for the Changing of the Guards ceremony at Buckingham Palace*
I have seen the Changing of the Guards twice — both times extremely hectic! During my recent visit to London — I looked up the ceremony dates times at Buckingham Palace before my trip to London, as it is not offered daily, but every other day. Here is the schedule listed.
Buckingham Palace: Guard Change Times
11:15 Guards with bands, start arriving
11:30 Official start time
12:00 Guard change ceremony ends
We arrived at 11am for the 11:30am event on a Sunday to find the area absolutely packed. The street was shut down, as expected, and people were sitting on top of everything. From prior experience, it already gets really packed one hour before the ceremony starts and if you don’t get right next to the main gate in front of Buckingham Palace, you really can’t see anything. The whole process is a lot of standing and waiting, when barely anything happens. However, once the marching band came and I see soldiers in puffy hats like in the movies, I get pretty excited, even if it’s only for 15 seconds time during an hour wait.
Changing of the Guards at Buckingham Palace is a tourist attraction and it is free. This is also the biggest crowd I saw in London. It is definitely something worth experiencing while in London, but moderate your expectations. Unless you are going to show up two hours early, you will likely not be in front of the main gate and will be looking over heads, ipads, and go pros. The tradition is interesting but also lacks real excitement. You really need to have patience and tolerance for large tourist crowds.

Man wird als London Besucher zwar nicht von der Queen zum Tee eingeladen, aber trotzdem ist es sehr schön diese grosse Anlage zu besichtigen. Sehr sehenswerte Anlage die man besuchen sollte, wenn man in London ist.

Le palais de Buckingham Palace c’est avant tout la résidence principale de l’actuel reine du pays, Élisabeth II. Un coup d’œil en son sommet. Si l’étendard royal du Royaume Uni est levé c’est qu’elle est présente dans le bâtiment.
Inaccessible de l’intérieur puisqu’il constitue le lieu de vie de la monarchie britannique, la foule se presse toutefois en masse devant ses portes pour assister tout les jours d’avril à juillet en fin de mâtiné, à la très protocolaire relève de la garde.
Une véritable attraction touristique qui durent environ trois quart d’heures et nécessite d’arriver bien en avance pour se garantir une bonne place. Plusieurs options pour se placer, que ce soit devant les grilles, sur les trottoirs alentours ou bien tout autour du Victoria Mémorial, monument érigé juste en face de l’édifice.
Entouré de verdures, on peut y accéder par «Constitution Hill» ou «Birdage Walk qui longent respectivement Green Park et James Park. Toutefois le plus grand nombre passé surtout par «The Mall», longue avenue central bien connu pour servir aux défilés cérémonieux.

Wer denn mal in London ist, darf natürlich den Buckingham Palace nicht verpassen. Gesehen haben sollte man ihn auf jeden Fall mal, das ist keine Frage.
Der Palast mit dem großen Vorplatz und dem Victoria Memorial ist schon eine ordentliche Hausnummer. Ob er auch innen sehenswert ist hängt von den persönlichen Interessen ab.
Besichtigen kann man 20 State Rooms, davon beschäftigen sich 5 ausschließlich mit Elisabeths Krönung und ihrem Jubiläum. Im Nachhinein hätte ich auch gut drauf verzichten können.
Von vielen Seiten wird einem der Wachwechsel vor dem Palast ans Herz gelegt. Also haben wir uns 1 Stunden vorher vor dem Palalst eingefunden und mussten feststellen, dass alle guten Plätze zum Fotografieren (also die direkt am Zaun) bereits belegt waren.
Trotzdem konnten wir gut sehen und waren gespannt auf das Spektakel. Fazit: 15 Minuten nachdem der Wachwechsel begonnen hatte, sind wir wegen akuter Langeweile gegangen. Absolut kein Vergleich mit anderen Wachwechseln z.B. in den USA.
Schaut Euch den Palast an, aber erwartet nicht zuviel.

Ich persönlich finde den Buckingham Palace jetzt nicht ganz so ergiebig. Man schaut ihn sich mal an, checkt, ob die Flagge gehisst ist, also die Queen «zu Hause» und vielleicht bekommt man auch den Wachwechsel mit, aber den empfehle ich lieber bei den Horse Guards anzusehen, da ist man deutlich näher dran und bekommt viel mehr mit!

Wer kennt ihn nicht den Buckingham Palace???
Für mich immerwieder ein Spaziergang wert. Man gelangt direkt am St James Park entlang über eine mit Union Jack dekorierte Straße dorthin.
Auch wenn man natürlich nicht ins innere des Palastest kann, ist der Anblick und die ganze umgebung beeindruckend.
Immer wieder toll ist auch «The Cahnging of the Guards» — Die Wachablösung.
Hierfür gibt es an den Touristeninformationen und im Internet auch Timetables, um es nicht zu verpassen.