Don't Miss This Year's Buckingham Palace Summer Opening
Posted on 10/08/2015
What is the Best Time to Visit Buckingham Palace?
How many times have you had a royal welcome? Well, Buckingham Palace offers you the opportunity annually by opening the doors to the Buckingham Palace for eight whole weeks during August and September. So if you ever wanted to see royalty and witness what royal life is all about, you are welcomed to join the rest of the curious people who will arrive in London just to have a peek at the royal residence. What are you waiting for? The longer you stay there, the longer you will have to wait in line for all the people rushing over to see the glory of the Palace to finally leave the place so that others might enter.
But how to plan this trip and visit? Don’t worry, you still have almost two full months to plan it out and go to visit the royal residence. All you have to do is find a day when the over 60,000 visitors that will probably be there (there were 62,000 visitors in 2014) are in smaller groups and are not hugging the whole of the Palace. Visiting the Buckingham Palace’s own tourist site helps as well, as there are plenty of useful tips for first time visitors. They warn visitors to wear comfortable shoes as the walking distance in the tour is half a mile. And do leave your beverages and snacks at home – no foods and drinks are permitted within the borders of the Palace; if you want refreshments, there is a Garden Café that awaits visitors at the end of the tour of the State Rooms with a beautiful view to the Palace’s brilliant lawn and lake. You have come to look and only look you shall. So practice patience and restraint while you are inside the great structure for the two and a half hours you will spend inside – that is the average length of the stay of visitors.
Do take as little as possible with you as the security is tight and there will be airport levels of security checkups. Any unnecessary item will be stored with the security team and can be reclaimed after the tour, but you should skip leaving things behind altogether by coming with as little items upon yourself as possible – save yourself and security the time and effort for the search and enter quicker.
Inside the Palace, you can witness the numerous marvels of London’s nobility. If you are a fan of art, then there is absolutely no chance that you would not find something there appealing. The halls of the Palace are basically picture galleries and you can witness the art of numerous artists, specially chosen by royalty to hang inside the Palace’s walls. You can follow the exclusive guided tour and get yourself acquainted with the history and culture of everything within the Palace. The education value that the tour offers is astounding, so you may opt to bring your kids along for a grand history lesson that could be of use someday. If you do not want to be confined to the inside, then you can come just before noon to the court and behold the changing of the Royal Guard – a colourful ceremony that has taken place every day or every few days ever since 1660.
Once your chosen tour is done, you can stop by the Buckingham Palace Shop and take your pick of gift items that include books, toys, jewellery, china, clothes, and others. Every purchase from this shop goes to the Royal Collection Trust, a registered charity that does not leave your donation meaningless.
So if you are still wondering about what to do for the next two months, how about paying Her Majesty’s castle a visit and see the glory of the Buckingham Palace.
