Tips for visiting Buckingham Palace with kids

One of London’s most iconic sights, there’s only a 10-week period each year when you can get a look inside the monarch’s official London residence – so I’ve pulled together these tips for visiting Buckingham Palace with kids (or without) to make the most of it.

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The East Wing of Buckingham Palace will be open to visitors for the first time this summer, when special guided tours will also be available in July and August, giving you an added incentive to book, if you’re planning to take the tour of the Buckingham Palace state rooms. (EDIT: Currently sold out)

The home of the British royal family since Queen Victoria moved in in 1837, it’s still a working palace with the ornate rooms used for state events and a rare chance to glimpse the gilded splendour behind the famous facade. So if you’re planning to visit Buckingham Palace with kids, here’s everything you need to know.

Should you visit Buckingham Palace with kids?

A tour of the State Rooms isn’t the cheapest thing to do in London with kids, so the first question to answer must be, is Buckingham Palace family-friendly?

And you can absolutely visit Buckingham Palace with kids – with a few provisos.

Personally I think this is somewhere that’s better for school age kids and older. There’s a great free family multimedia tour and family activities in the gardens but otherwise it’s (understandably) not very hands on.

For older kids, getting to see inside a palace and its impressive rooms, imagining kings, queens and mischievous corgis as they go, it’s fantastic. But the thought of chasing a bored toddler who wants to run off, while surrounded by priceless art and furniture makes my blood run cold.

Having said that, there’s nothing to stop you bringing younger kids in and I did see one young toddler during my visit, so it’s certainly possible – just be prepared to go round faster than you might like.

Do check out the interactive map online before you visit, to give kids a taste of what they’re going to see as well, and explore the palace virtually. There’s also a list of 10 highlights to spot, which makes a fun treasure hunt.

You can’t use your own buggy/stroller – these have to be checked at the start of the tour and collected at the end – while toilets and baby changing facilities are only available at the end of the tour.

You can’t eat or drink inside the palace (except for bottled water), although you can breastfeed anywhere, and there are benches in some of the rooms.

Do you have to prebook tickets?

You don’t have to, tickets may be available on the day, but as the Buckingham Palace state rooms are only open for part of the year, it’s a good idea to book in advance.

There’s also a discount if you prebook tickets online – currently from £30 for adults, £16.50 for children aged 5-17, under fives go free.

Get a discount if you book using my link and the code MUMMYTRAVELS6

You can also convert tickets into a one year pass, if you think you might return within 12 months.

There’s a family discount which is automatically applied if you book at least one adult and two children, up to two adults and four children, saving up to £24 when you book direct.

Tickets have a 15-minute time slot, and you’re asked to arrive at the time shown on your ticket.

When are the Buckingham Palace state rooms open?

The main public opening runs for 10 weeks from mid July to late September. This year’s opening dates are July 11-September 29, 2024.

The Palace is closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays during September but otherwise open seven days a week. Opening time is 9.30am and last entry is 17.15 during the summer months (with the palace closing at 19.30), and at 16.15 in September (with the palace closing at 18.30)

If you’re visiting London outside these dates, scroll down for more details of the guided tours which take place on select dates between November and May

Where’s the entrance to the Buckingham Palace tour?

You won’t get to go through the grand gates at the front, sadly. Instead the entrance for the summer opening of the Buckingham Palace state rooms is on Buckingham Palace road.

If you’re standing looking at the front of the palace, simply head round to the left, follow Spur Road to Buckingham Palace Road, and you won’t be able to miss the entrance, with staff checking tickets before security.

The closest underground stations are Victoria, Green Park and St James’s Park. If you’re walking from Victoria station, just follow Buckingham Palace Road from the station past the entrance for the Royal Mews and the King’s Gallery and you’ll see it on the left.

Be prepared for security

You’ll need to pass through airport style security with bag searches and X-ray, although this was very quick and efficient.

If you’re visiting with Buckingham Palace with kids, you can’t bring a buggy/stroller into the state rooms, so will need to leave that at the start of the tour and collect it at the end in the gardens.

You can’t bring large bags (or various other items including bikes, folding bikes and rollerskates) in at all, while some other items need to be left and collected after the tour, such as large umbrellas (smaller fold-up ones that go in your bag are fine).

Check the full list of security restrictions here – but it’s mostly common sense.

Do get the audio guide

The audioguide is included in your ticket, in nine languages, plus British Sign Language (as well as a descriptive tour for the blind and visually impaired). There is very little information in the rooms otherwise, so without the guide, you’ll miss most of the detail.

You can choose the adult version or the family multimedia tour (and it’s easy to flick between the two if you do want to hear bits of both).

I started off alternating between the different options, but switched to the family audio a few rooms in, as it did a great job of bringing the state rooms to life, picking out quirky details and adding some fun elements.

The tour is narrated by footman Alice, along with Rex the corgi, and is aimed at kids under 12. Having said that, it still packs in similar amounts of information to the adult tour, just in a more easily digestible fashion.

There are also some fun games for kids to play – I’m ashamed to say it took me three attempts to correctly set a table – as well as details to spot in the rooms, challenges and other interactive fun.

One highlight was being asked to spot the secret door in the White Drawing Room: closed during our visit (it’s normally ajar), it really wasn’t easy to spot but led to a great conversation with the member of staff in the room – and also the discovery that one other set of more obvious doors are fakes, designed to balance the room, with nothing but wall behind them.

You won’t be able to take photos inside

For once, you can put phones and cameras away, as photos aren’t permitted inside the state rooms – only in the gardens at the end of the tour.

We were also given permission to photograph the Coronation Exhibition and Diamond Jubilee coach which was in the courtyard but ordinarily that wouldn’t be allowed either.

Don’t be tempted to sneak a few snaps – staff were keeping a close eye on all visitors and reminding them if they had phones out, so if you’re caught, you may well be escorted out.

Allow plenty of time

There are 14 rooms with multimedia guide commentary during the tour of the state rooms at Buckingham Palace, quite apart from the chance to explore some of the gardens.

Allow at least two hours for your visit, more if you want to enjoy the activities in the family pavilion at the end, or visit the cafe.

You can go at your own pace though, so if you feel inclined to linger – or if your kids are going to get bored after around an hour – you can speed up and slow down as you want.

What can you see in the state rooms at Buckingham Palace?

The tour of the Buckingham Palace state rooms takes you through 14 separate rooms with audioguide commentary.

Starting in the Grand Hall and climbing the Grand Staircase, you’ll visit the Green Drawing Room, the Throne Room, the Picture Gallery, the East Gallery, the Ballroom, the State Dining Room, the Blue Drawing Room, the Music Room, the White Drawing Room, the Marble Hall and the Bow Room.

Needless to say, it’s impossible to capture every detail in a blog post, especially one focused on tips for visiting Buckingham Palace; you need to go on the tour to really appreciate it. But expect huge rooms, priceless art, lots of gold and ornamentation, and impressive decor as you go!

To pick out a few highlights, you can spot everything from a delicate pot pourri holder in the shape of a ship, one of only 12 ever made by Sevres (and one of only 10 still in existence) right up to the thrones embroidered with the King and Queen’s cyphers and some fake marble columns.

The art in the picture gallery is just a small fraction of the million works in the royal collection – which also includes sculpture, furniture and other artworks – including everything from Rubens, Rembrandt and Vermeer to Canaletto and Van Dyck.

There are also some insights into royal family life as you stroll through the long East Gallery, whose carefully placed mirrors make it seem to stretch on forever.

Built for Queen Victoria, along with the ballroom, to allow her to host balls for up to two thousand guests, the walls are covered with portraits of the Queen and her family – with a reminder in the family audio guide that Victoria was only 19 when she was crowned, a year after she inherited the throne.

Or the jaw-dropping information that the table in the state dining room can be extended so it’s as long as a cricket pitch – and the spare leaves are stored in one of the many secret rooms and cupboards in the palace, tucked away behind mirrored doors.

There’s modern-day trivia too – seeing the room where the current Prince of Wales was baptised, or learning how to clean a chandelier – as well as information about the palace itself, from the number of staff (around 800) to the number of lightbulbs (around 40,000).

My favourite was perhaps the White Drawing Room (actually far more gold and yellow), which has fake doors, real doors and that secret door to find…

What is the Coronation exhibition at Buckingham Palace?

EDIT: Now closed The new Coronation exhibition included the outfits worn by King Charles III and Queen Camilla at the coronation in May 2023, on display for the first time.

Staged in the ballroom – which was used for Coronation rehearsals – the grand robes with their embroidered trains were joined by other items of regalia, as well as the Throne Chairs and the Anointing Screen used during the ceremony.

There was also the chance to see sketches for the invitations, alongside one of the finished creations, plus other symbolic items including the Coronation glove and girdle, not to mention the diamond necklace worn by the Queen Consort.

It was fascinating to get chance to see some of the gold embroidery up close, hand embroidered by the Royal School of Needlework at Hampton Court Palace, with personal touches as well as more symbolic emblems – something even the best TV coverage of the day couldn’t provide.

The exhibition ran until September 24, 2023, when the State Rooms closed to the public. The Diamond Jubilee State Coach was also be on display as you enter the courtyard before heading inside the state rooms themselves but can now been seen in the Royal Mews.

If you buy a Royal Day Out ticket, also including entry to the Royal Mews, you can see the historic Gold State Coach – among other royal coaches and carriages – which carried the King back to Buckingham Palace from Westminster Abbey

Will you see the royal family?

Sadly not – or not unless you’re very lucky. Traditionally, the royal family heads to their Scottish home of Balmoral for the summer, so they’re away from London while the state rooms are open – and King Charles has confirmed he’ll be continuing the tradition, as Queen Elizabeth did.

In any case, the tour takes you though the public state rooms rather than the private rooms, so even if members of the royal family are in residence, they’ll be elsewhere in the huge palace.

You can check before you go in: if the monarch is in residence, the royal standard will be flying, otherwise you’ll see the union flag above the palace, if the royal family is at another residence such as Windsor Castle or Sandringham.

Don’t miss the family pavilion

If you’re visiting Buckingham Palace with kids, do save time to check out the family pavilion in the gardens.

You’ll find it just after the point where you return the multimedia guides and there are some great activities for kids.

There’s a small soft play area for the youngest visitors, as well as tables with crafts and activities. You’ll also find a dressing up box, lots of chances to pose for photos, and other games and quizzes to test kids on their royal knowledge.

You can also download a garden trail, colouring and drawing activities from the Royal Collection Trust website, plus there are sometimes additional events for families.

Save time to enjoy the gardens

The path from the palace to the exit on Grosvenor Palace leads through the gardens, with a view back to Buckingham Palace over the lake.

You are limited to where you can explore in the gardens however – the lawns are roped off, for example – so you can’t spend long wandering and you do need to keep to the paths.

What facilities are there at Buckingham Palace?

Most of the facilities for visitors are towards the end of the tour, including toilets and baby changing in the gardens.

If you are visiting Buckingham Palace with kids, it’s worth finding toilets before you head inside – there are public toilets at Victoria station – as it’s likely to be over an hour before you reach the gardens (and you can’t leave and retrace your steps). And no, you can’t use the king’s bathroom on the way!

In the main block in the gardens, there are family toilets and very nice handwash though. Arrangements can be made for visitors with disabilities, but you’re asked to contact the specialist sales team in advance.

There’s also a cafe in the gardens, as well as stands serving ice cream and drinks – keep an eye out for the coronation ice cream (which is red, white and blue), although sadly it wasn’t on sale during our visit.

There’s no eating and drinking inside the palace (apart from bottled water).

You’ll also find the shop along the path through the gardens on your way out if you want a special souvenir of your visit – fluffy corgis are an option!

Can you visit the state rooms at Buckingham Palace at any other time?

Yes, there are limited chances to explore the Buckingham Palace state rooms outside the main summer opening, with guided tours running on selected dates from November to May.

These cost £95 per person, or there are also Family Guided Tours available where tickets for adults children aged 5-17 cost £60, and under 5s are free.

If you are joining a guided tour, you’ll enter through the Royal Mews and there are toilet facilities available at the start as well as the end of the tour. You’re also asked to arrive 30 minutes before the entry time on your ticket, and will have to go through a similar security process as the self-guided tour.

Tours usually take around 90 minutes to two hours, and the other restrictions (such as no photos inside) remain the same. The family tours lasts one hour.

Apart from that, you’d need a personal invitation from a member of the royal family or be invited to an official event to get in!

What else is there to do near Buckingham Palace with kids?

You’re in easy walking distance of both St James’s Park, with its pelicans (and a lovely view of the palace from the Blue Bridge) and of Green Park if your kids need to run off some energy.

You could also combine a visit with the Changing of the Guard ceremony, or a chance to see the guards at Horseguards Parade.

There are also two other Royal Collection Trust attractions at the Palace – the Royal Mews, which houses the Gold State coach, among other historic carriages, and the King’s Gallery. There’s a discount if you book using my link and the code MUMMYTRAVELS6.

For more royal places in London with kids, check out my pick of the best for families who love history (or mini monarchists)

Westminster Abbey and the Houses of Parliament are around a 15-minute walk from the entrance to the State Rooms, and the family attractions on the South Bank are only a short walk further on.

Or download this Royal London Walking tour, designed to take around 50 minutes, introducing you to some of the history around Buckingham Palace and Westminster.

Disclosure: My entry to Buckingham Palace was free for the purposes of review – all opinions and tips for visiting Buckingham Palace are my own. This post contains affiliate links – any purchases you make are unaffected but I may receive a small commission

Main image/Buckingham Palace gates courtesy of Depositphotos; Throne Room courtesy Royal Collection Trust/© His Majesty King Charles III 2023; White Drawing Room courtesy Royal Collection Trust/© His Majesty King Charles III 2023/Derry Moore; all other images copyright MummyTravels

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