Buckingham Palace & Garden Tour

Buckingham Palace & Garden Highlights Tour

 

The State Rooms are the public rooms in the Palace where the monarch and members of the Royal Family receive and entertain their guests on State, ceremonial and official occasions. There are 19 State Rooms, which mainly reflect the taste of George IV, who commissioned the architect John Nash to transform Buckingham House into a grand palace in 1825. The State Rooms are furnished with many of the greatest treasures from the Royal Collection, including paintings by Van Dyck and Canaletto, sculpture by Canova, Sèvres porcelain, and some of the finest English and French furniture in the world.

 

Many of the State Rooms have particular uses today. The Throne Room is used for court ceremonies and official entertaining, and was the setting for the wedding photos of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. The White Drawing Room, perhaps the grandest of all the State Rooms, serves as a royal reception room for The King and members of the Royal Family to gather before official occasions.

 

Many of the pieces of furniture, sparkling chandeliers, candelabra and other works of art in these rooms were bought or made for Carlton House, George IV's London home when he was Prince of Wales. Today the State Rooms are furnished with many of the greatest treasures from the Royal Collection, including paintings by Van Dyck and Canaletto, sculpture by Canova, exquisite pieces of Sèvres porcelain, and some of the finest English and French furniture in the world.

 

Many of the other State Rooms also have particular uses today. The Music Room was completed in 1831 and has not been altered since. This is the room where guests, having assembled in the Green Drawing Room, are presented before a dinner or a banquet. Here too, royal babies are sometimes christened – The King was baptised here in water brought from the River Jordan. The enormous Ballroom, the largest of the State Rooms, was completed in 1855, during the reign of Queen Victoria. It was originally known as the Ball and Concert Room and features a musicians’ gallery complete with an organ. Today, the Ballroom is used for official purposes, including investitures and State Banquets.

 

As part of a visit to Buckingham Palace, combine a visit to the State Rooms with a guided walking tour of the most remarkable features of the beautiful garden. Described as 'a walled oasis in the middle of London', it boasts more than 350 types of wildflowers, over 200 trees and a three-acre lake.

 

The Garden Highlights Tour includes the beautiful Herbaceous Border, the summer house, the Rose Garden, the enormous Waterloo Vase and the Palace tennis court, where King George VI and Fred Perry played in the 1930s.

 

How it works:

• Your visit will start with a self-guided tour of the magnificent State Rooms of Buckingham Palace, with a complimentary multimedia guide available in nine languages. 

• After the State Rooms there is time for you to take in the panoramic view of the lawn from the Garden Café on the West Terrace and to visit the Garden Shop.

• Your Garden Highlights Tour will start from near the steps on the West Terrace, 2 hours and 15 minutes after your State Rooms entry time and will last 45 minutes. The tour starting location is clearly signposted. The guided tour of the gardens will take place in English.

 

Monday 29 July 2024 - FULL

Pick ups: Royston, Baldock, Stevenage

 

Saturday 3 August 2024 

Pick ups: Royston, Baldock, Stevenage

 

Monday 5 August 2024

Pick ups: Trumpington, Saffron Walden, Newport, Stansted Mountfitchet, Bishop's Stortford

 

Saturday 24 August 2024

Pick ups: Trumpington, Saffron Walden, Newport, Stansted Mountfitchet, Bishop's Stortford

 

We aim to add further dates if we have sufficient demand, so please do ask to be added to a wait list if you cannot attend the above dates.

 

£72 Per Person

 

Price Includes:

Entrance to Buckingham Palace State Rooms with audio-guide

Guided Garden Tour

Return coach travel

 

This tour is limited to 30 people - book early to avoid disappointment

 

 

 

 

 

 

Buckingham Palace