Buckingham Palace & Garden Highlights Tour 2025

Buckingham Palace & The State Rooms and Garden Highlights Tour

 

Buckingham Palace is recognised around the world as the home and official residence of the King, the focus of national and royal celebrations, as well as the backdrop to the regular Changing the Guard ceremony. Explore the magnificent State Rooms with a complimentary multimedia guide. Open to visitors for a limited number of weeks each summer. Dates for 2025 are Thursday 10 July - Sunday 28 September 2025.

 

The State Rooms are the public rooms in the Palace where The King 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 by The King for court ceremonies and official entertaining, and was the setting for the wedding photos of Prince and Princess of Wales. 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.

 

At the end of your visit you can enjoy a walk through the 39 acres of gardens with splendid views of the Palace and the famous lake. 'A walled oasis in the middle of London'. It boasts more than 350 types of wild flower, over 200 trees and a three-acre lake.

 

Enjoy a summer’s day out at Buckingham Palace and combine a visit to the State Rooms with a guided walking tour of the famous Palace Garden. The Garden Highlights Tour explains the history of the Garden, taking you to the beautiful Herbaceous Border, the summer house and Rose Garden, the enormous Waterloo Vase and the Palace tennis court, where King George VI and Fred Perry played in the 1930s.

 

Between your self-guided multimedia tour of the State Rooms and guided tour of the Garden, the itinerary allows time for your group to take in the panoramic views of the lawn and the lake, enjoy tea and cakes from the Garden Café and to visit the Garden Shop.

 

Timed entry to the Gardens and Palace State Rooms is usually booked for 13.00 and 15.30. Your Garden Highlights Tour will start after your State Rooms entry time and will last 45 minutes. Meet for the Garden Highlights tour at the bottom of the steps in to the Garden when you leave the State Rooms.

 

You should allow around 3-3.5 hours for the full experience at Buckingham Palace.

 

When you arrive, you will pass through an airport-style security check. You cannot take photographs within the State Rooms. Eating and drinking aren't allowed inside the Palace, with the exception of bottled water.

 

PLEASE NOTE: The East Wing is not part of the State Rooms tour.

 

Access Information

The State Rooms are fully accessible and they welcome visitors with different access requirements. If you require Special Access tickets they must be pre-booked by Bakers Dolphin at the time of your booking. Wheelchair access and step-free access are available via a separate entrance at the front of the Palace.

 

Depart 17.30.

Buckingham Palace Practical information Accessibility information