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You can see the Change of Guards at Buckingham Palace through the railings, surrounded and pushed by a huge crowd. Not really comfortable!
You can also go on the left of Buckingham Palace to the Wellington Barracks on Birdcage Walk where the New Guard is formed starting at 10.45 am.
On the left side of the parade ground of Wellington Barracks, the new guard, thirty men plus the lance corporals and sergeants, are facing the public standing behind the railing. No crowds here. One can see the details and take photos under good conditions.
On the right side stands in circle the band of the Guards with about thirty musicians.
They play during the inspection of the guardsmen.
It is a colourful parade with the scarlet tunics, bearskin caps, the brass of the music instruments and the typical British drill and shouting orders.
The easiest way to recognize the various Guard regiments is by their plume on the bearskin cap: white for the Grenadiers, red for the Coldstream, blue for the Irish, white/green/white for the Welsh and no plume for the Scots.
The new guard is formed in two sections; the regimental flag is handed to the youngest officer of the Guard.
At 11.30 am the band and the new guard leave the Wellington Barracks by the gate on the right. They march toward Queens Victoria Monument and Buckingham Palace. From here on the crowd is getting quite important.
I read that after the ceremony it is also interesting to stay at the Wellington Barracks to see the "old guard" coming back from the Palace, but I did not stay for this part. Directions: St James Park Underground Station.
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Every tourist to London will probably see Buckingham Palace at some point, whether just to get a glimpse of the exterior, watch the changing of the guard or visit the state rooms inside the Palace. John Nash converted the original Buckingham House into a palace for George IV but he died before work was complete so Queen Victoria was the first monarch to live at the Palace. The Palace is currently home to Queen Elizabeth II and her family.
During the summer months when the Queen is hanging out in Scotland, it is possible to visit the state rooms at Buckingham Palace. I debated over whether I wanted to go see them or not as the price was a bit high, L12.95, if booked in advance online it was L13.95. But I did and I'm glad I decided to.
Buckingham Palace is a functioning Palace, events are still held here-state dinners, knighting ceremonies, etc. and the tour takes you through some of those rooms. The tour is by timed ticket, after you pick up your tickets at the ticket booth in Hyde Park, you queue up on the left side of the Palace as you are facing it. Once inside, they give you an audio guide so you can travel at your own pace through the Palace.
The interior is really quite spectacular, with bold blues and reds, crystal chandeliers, ornate decoration. You see where the Queen holds state dinners for visiting dignataries and the room where she knights folks like Elton John, Ben Kingsley and Paul McCartney. After the tour of the interior, the tour finishes through the "backyard" of the Palace and of course the Royal Giftshop.
It seemed as if people were still able to get tickets if they waited until London to buy them but if you only have a couple of days and time is tight, you may want to reserve in advance. No photos are allowed inside the palace so the only pictures I could get were of the Queen's backyard. Leave a Comment
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Having seen a few palaces around the world, including the Presidential Palace in New delhi, I found the Bukhingham palace to be quite ordinary at first sight .Besides being the official London residence of The Queen, Buckingham Palace is also the busy administrative headquarters of the monarchy and has probably the most famous and easily recognisable façade of any building in the world.
The Palace is a working building and the centrepiece of Britain's constitutional monarchy. It houses the offices of those who support the day-to-day activities and duties of The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh and their immediate family. The Palace is also the venue for great Royal ceremonies, State Visits and Investitures, all of which are organised by the Royal Household.
Although Buckingham Palace is furnished and decorated with priceless works of art that form part of the Royal collection, one of the major art collections in the world today, it is not an art gallery and nor is it a museum. Its State Rooms form the nucleus of the working Palace and are used regularly by The Queen and members of the Royal family for official and State entertaining. Buckingham Palace is one of the world's most familiar buildings and more than 50,000 people visit the Palace each year as guests to banquets, lunches, dinners, receptions and the Royal Garden Parties.
Visitors are allowed access by and organised tour to some areas of the Palace
During the summer, the Changing of the Guard takes place at the front of the Palace and is a popular event for visitors to the capital from 1st April to Early July and on alternate days at other times. Directions: Green Park tube
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 Inspection of the new guard at
Wellington Barracks by breughel, 1 more photos
This was done by a little man; as he wore a normal cap, not a bearskin cap, he looked smaller than the guards. He was dressed with a dark blue coat, had a sword and spurs at his boots. So that he looked quite different from any guardsmen on the parade ground but he clearly was the chief inspector of all the parade.
During more than half an hour he inspected each button on the scarlet tunics, checked if the white belts were fitted tightly, if the shoes were clean, the correct position of the riffle at the shoulder. He inspected all ranks: guardsmen, sergeants and even the two officers. A sergeant major was following him writing his remarks on a notebook!
Among the tourists standing behind the railing of Wellington barracks a number has been in the army like me; we all had the same thought "what a vicious guy". How could he find defects on Guardsmen who are an example of military perfection?
At the end of the parade I asked a guardsman at the entry of the barracks who was that man. I was answered the "adjutant" what surprised me because this rank, highest of NCOs, is used in France or Belgium but not to my knowledge in the UK where the equivalent is "Warrant Officer". So I will have to return to learn who was that perfectionist inspecting the mounting Irish Guards.
After some search on the web I found that Guards Battalions have officers called "adjutants". The one which intrigued me was a Captain, Adjutant 1st Battalion Irish Guards.
There is also a Colonel, Regimental Adjutant and, last but not least, the Irish Guards Colonel-in-Chief is Her Majesty the Queen.
Directions: St Jame's Park Underground station.
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 Irish Guards at Wellington
Barracks. by breughel
As you might know the Household Division is made up of seven Regiments:
The Household Cavalry Regiment.
The Life Guards and The Blues and Royals; they wear a metal helmet.
The five regiments of foot: Grenadier Guards, Coldstream Guards, Scots Guards, Irish Guards and Welsh Guards. They wear the bearskin cap.
To know who is on guard on the day of your visit, look at the following website www.changing-the-guard.com , at "Schedule" where you will find what battalion is on guard on a specific day.
If you want to see the scarlet tunics and bearskin caps choice a foot guard regiment. During my visit in July there was an alternation between the Irish Guards and the Blues and Royals. I choose the day with the Irish Guards with the band of the Grenadier Guards.
The Irish Guards wear a bleu plume on their bearskin cap.
Directions: St Jame's Park Underground station.
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I'd have to say that Buckingham Palace (formerly known as Buckingham House) is probably the most famous place in London.
But, unless you are someone famous, a hero, or a visiting head of state, you won't see much of the interior of the Palace. It can only be toured from 9:30am-4:30 pm in the months of August & September and then only the State Rooms!
The public entrance to the palace is through the Ambassador's Court.
I was in London in January, so I could only see it from afar. The literature that I read said that the palace has 600 rooms and that it is surrounded by 45 acres of gardens.
For me, the good news was that I was able to see up close the Victoria Monument outside the palace, and what a glorious monument it is!
It's huge, the largest monument dedicated to any king or queen in London. Edward VII planned this memorial for his mother, Queen Victoria. The designer, Edward Webb, used 2300 tons of marble, and the project took five years to complete. How sad that Edward VII did not live to see it completed.
The Victoria Memorial is located at the west end of the Mall.
Note: You are able to see the CHANGING OF THE QUEEN'S GUARD during May through August daily at 11:30 am. During September through April, it happens on alternate days & is subject to change without notice. (0171 930 4832) Leave a Comment Directions: Green Park tube
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 Buckingham Palace by irisbe
It also is the location where official and great Royal ceremonies are held.
Inside the Palace a huge collection of art is hidden away. Some areas of the Palace are accessible for organized tourist tours.
Opened: daily from 1 August - 28 September, Last Admission: 16:15
And they have their own royal website! Leave a Comment Phone: +44 (0)20 7766 7300Directions: Tube: Victoria or Green ParkWebsite: http://www.royal.gov.uk Other Contact: fax: +44 (0)20 7930 9625
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As my works not far from Buckingham Palace if ive done a nightshift or somethings happened like today and i am around after during the day i take the chance to head on up and see the sights along the way on my way up to the British Tourist Office at Regent Street off the Mall.
Its all a lovely walk along with historic buildings, gardens such as the flower beds - and the freqently changing colour and flower scheme in them! - in the roundabout in front of Buck Palace and St James Park and its lake, and in the mornings theres the Queens Guards and Horse Guards that come up and down the mall for the Changing of the Guard and other events.
You can check out what flags are out - whether the Royal Standard is flying or not on top of Buck Palace which indicates whether shes home or not, or like today it was flying on top of Clarence House a few houses along from the Queen, up the Mall, which should mean that Prince Charles is home.
Be around the area by 1030 to see all the lead up to the Changing of the Guard ceremony which is 11am daily in summer and alternate days in winter. Leave a Comment Directions: Green Park tube
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 Buckingham Palace and the
Victoria Monument by Mariajoy, 1 more photos
Despite being a Londoner, I've never seen the Changing of the Guard, and have no great desire to either! But I was in London (as usual) and not too far from the Palace early one evening so thought I would have a wander up the Mall. If do you want to see the Changing of the Guard, this happens at 11.30am.
It was just getting dusk and there were still dozens and dozens of snap-happy tourists around as well as plenty of police on horseback and in cars and motor bikes. The Union Jack was flying so Her Majesty was in residence and I suppose there is always more police presence evident in this area when she is in the capital.
The Queen Victoria Monument is beautifully illuminated in the evening and is situated at the top of the Mall with Green Park on the right where you can take a quiet stroll up to the hustle and bustle of Piccadilly. Leave a Comment
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Ive been in to see Buckingham Palace twice when its been kindly opened to the public each summer - July to September - and its in the top of my list of favourite castles and palaces. This is the Queens home when shes not at home at Windsor Castle or at Sandringham or Balmoral homes - or wherever else travelling about!
But this place is one of her homes - her Royal Standard flag flies above the palace when she is at home - and in my opinion is beautifully and tastefully decorated - also opulent but tasteful - and as with the Windsor Castle has an excellent art collection which is also well worth seeing.
Each year there is also included a special exhibition with the theme being a significant event or milestone eg a few years back an exhibition on the Queen Mother for her 100th birthday, this years exhibition was in relation to the Queens 60th wedding anniversary.
The exit from the palace is out the back with an opportunity to see some of the Queens 'backyard' - her large lawn (garden tea party spot!) and some of the gardens and then you pretty much end up at the Royal Mews and Palace gift shop to give you the opportunity to spend some more money to commemorate your visit! The range of souvenirs is rather good though with good quality and interesting items for sale - but a bit on the expensive side - things like pens, calendars and teatowels are pretty much standard prices though. Leave a Comment Directions: Green Park tube
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