Buckingham Palace., London

If your stay in London is limited and you wish to get the most poignant understanding of British royalty and the pomp and ceremony associated with all that they stand for, I would recommend visiting Buckingham Palace to view the the changing of the guard ceremony. At this very formal, yet simple ceremony one member of Queen's Guards relieves the previous guard from his duty of guarding the main gate to the Palace. Both guards are dressed in traditional red tunics and bearskin hats, and the ceremony is set to music and often there will be an entire squad involved in the ceremony.
To catch the ultimate experience, be outside Buckingham Palace at 11am, but check beforehand as the ceremony only takes place on certain days, and most definitely does not take place in bothersomely inclement weather.

Basically you just watch the parade of palace guards who are about do their shift. Not really something you'd ooh and aah over but you might want to do this just for the experience. The parade comes with the band playing which is also entertaining and according to our local tourist guide the songs they play are sometimes wild, like that one time when they played the .007 james bond song.

Check the schedule here for the changing of the guards ceremony which is viewable from the gates of the palace.
Get there early though and take an umbrella or sunshade/hat depending on the weather that day!
http://www.changing-the-guard.com/chaging-the-guard-schedules-times.html

If you walk along the Mall to the monument, you will see the best view as you can go right up to the iron railings and poke a camera through.
However, there are no toilets or cafes nearby unless the place above is operating.

As everyone already knows Buckingham Palace is the official London residence of the British monarch. I didnt get to go inside Buckingham Palace but I did see the changing of the guard. It starts at 11:30 a.m. every day between April 1 and June 30, and every other day during the rest of the year, the New Guard marches to the Palace from Wellington Barracks along with a Guards band. The Old Guard ceremoniously hands over the responsibility and returning to the barracks. The New Guard then marches to St. James's Palace, leaving the detachment at Buckingham Palace. The whole process takes about 45 minutes and takes place in the front court of Buckingham Palace. It was pretty exciting to see.
From the outside Buckingham Palace looks enormous. Buckingham Palace is 108 meters long, 120 meters deep and 24 meters high. The total floor area from the basement up to the roof is 77,000 square meters. The Buckingham Palace has 775 rooms. There are 19 State rooms, 52 bedrooms including the Royal bedrooms and guest rooms, 188 staff bedrooms, 92 offices and 78 bathrooms. The Palace garden covers 40 acres. No visit to London is complete unless you have been here.

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The Changing of the Guard is a fantastic London experience. It begins daily at about 11:15 AM and lasts until about 12:00 PM.

We watched the event from the monument in front of the Palace (Victoria Memorial). I think the Memorial provides the best vantage point, except maybe right in the very front row of the gate.

We arrived about 45 minutes early, but I would recommend at least a full hour. If you want a front row view at the gate, you should probably arrive 2 to 2.5 hours early. If you are claustrophobic then at the front by the gate is not where you want to be.

If you view the Changing from the Monument, do not climb upon or sit on the Monument walls as the Horse Guards will run you off of them.

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A trip to Buckingham Palace is a must, especially if the Queen is away and you can take a tour, which is expensive but worth it. We had tickets to tour the Palace on our last day in London. We had to buy them about a month in advance on the internet. It was the first day for this year that the Queen was away so it worked out well for us. The Queen usually leaves in late July through August.

Unfortunately, photographs are not permitted during the tour. We took the State Rooms tour and room after room was pretty breathtaking. I particularly enjoyed the dining room and the piano room. The Queen's Gallery of artwork was also impressive.

After the tour you can spend as much time as you want wandering through the Queen's Garden, which is mostly a natural park, but quite relaxing. Most of my pictures are from either the front or back of the Palace from the Garden.

We had tickets for the Royal Mews, but were not that interested in seeing them.

Buckingham Palace is the Queens official London residence and is used to entertain guests on state, ceremonial and official occasions. Its worth a walk down the Pall Mall to get to the Palace. Nearest tube station is St James park

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The Palace is the official residence of the British Monarch. The building was famous as the Buckingham House and now it is a part of the huge Palace now. It has 77000sq.m on its 1-st floor. In the backyard is the biggest private garden in London.
When we went there I was very satisfied that I’m going to see the changing of the guard. We were hundreds of tourists waiting in the rain for one of the most interesting attractions in London. After half an hour a guy came out and shouted: “There’s not going to be changing today, people. Go home.” I was that disappointed ….but now I know that I should go back at least for that.