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Buckingham Palace?
We'll be coming in a day early before starting the London-Paris small group tour in September. Wondering if anyone has booked the Buckingham Palace tour? We would combine that with changing of the guards. It does not appear that either of these activities are in the itinerary for this tour. Thanks!
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Though I've been to London several times, I've never been there when the Palace was open. I've heard good things, and they now offer a chance to see the gardens, as well as the state rooms. Bear in mind that the Palace is in the middle of a ten-year renovation. It shouldn't affect the tour, but you never know.
As to the changing of the guard, I've seen it twice and would suggest skipping it. It's a real mob scene and difficult to get a good view. Instead, see the changing of the horse guards on Horse Guards Parade (on the St. James Park side of the building). It's much more intimate and the horses make it more impressive.
We used the concierge at the Savoy to get our palace tickets. You will have a time for entry but after security check similar to a tsa type you are able to do a self guided tour. You can move thru at your own pace.
Unless things have changed, the Palace is only open in August and some of September. Make sure you go to the official website to check everything out well in advance of your tour.
Thanks for your advice! We'll be there in September, so the Palace is open for our dates. Unfortunately, our "free" day is Wed., and it's not open that day. Will have to try to squeeze that in, maybe after the Afternoon Tea, when we have the rest of the day to ourselves. The tip on using the concierge to help with tickets is a good one--thank you!
I would not leave it until you get to England. Those tickets sell quickly from our experience.
We visited Buckingham Palace while on ESW tour. As I remember we purchased tickets on line ahead of our visit. We were there in August. If you have the time, it is well worth the visit.
As with eleonore we were there in August on an ESW tour and were able to purchase the tickets on line while we were in Wales. We also purchased tickets for the Churchill War Rooms. We enjoyed both and would recommend the War Rooms, if they're not included on your tour.
I will probably go ahead and order the tickets online, as judging from the itinerary, we would only have 1 day that we could do this tour, and it's something I don't want to miss. Thanks again for sharing your experiences!
WI_Snowbird, Hi.
If you don't want to miss it, book it from here-. Anything you really want to see and it's a popular sight book the tickets online. - no need to waste 2 hours on a queue to buy tickets on site.
I buy all the museums, historical sight etc. online.
Tauck offers the main attractions and of general interest but doesn't go into specific /detailed inside visits, unless it's something of historical relevance or religious importance.
Remember, the initial idea of Tours... it's to give a general/overall view of the countries they visit, you have to complement with your own activities on places of interest.
I always call Tauck, and I ask them to detail days activities and to let me know at what time does the tour daily activity ends- and if the day activities are not of my interest, I skip the tour day and do my own.
@mil I took your advice and called Tauck. The representative took a look and I was able to confirm the best day to book the tickets. I really appreciate your input!
WI_Snowbird Hi. Glad to help. Feel free to ask me anytime.
Tickets all secured and printed out!
Thanks, all, for your help!
Awesome. I took the tour some years ago. Please consider reporting your visit here when you return!
Unless things have changed, you can buy Afternoon Tea type refreshments there and there is a great gift shop, expensive but oh well, you are on vacation. One of my purchases were adorable pajamas for our grandchildren.