A visit to London would not be complete without a tour of Buckingham Palace
Last Thursday ‘5things’ went on a tour of the state rooms at Buckingham Palace. This a popular tourist attraction in London attracting in the region of 600,000 visitors per year.
The Royal Collection © 2002, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
Photo: Derry Moore
You will need to allow yourself about 1.5 hours to tour the state rooms – make sure that you arrive early in order to make your allocated time slot. The queues were quite considerable and you will need a little patience – it is however well worth it!
The state rooms at Buckingham Palace are open from to Saturday, 25 July 2015 to Sunday, 27 September 2015
Here are 5 things to do on your visit the most famous palace in the world.
1. Arrive early to make site that you are on time for your allocated slot. Tickets can be bought online before hand (highly recommend using here
2. Take your touch screen multimedia guide and spend a few moments familiarising yourself with the device. This system is new to the tour and has been getting some good reviews. As you walk around the state rooms you simply press ‘play’ according to which room you are in. There are also explanations given about key paintings and objects that you will see on your tour. You are not given masses of information which is actually a big plus – you have time to look for yourself and you don’t feel that you have to be always listening.
3. Walk though the stunning 47 m picture gallery and see some of the greatest paintings in the Royal Collection. The hang in the Picture Gallery is changed quite regularly, as The Queen lends many paintings to exhibitions around the UK and overseas. The current display brings together Italian, Dutch and Flemish works mainly from the 17th century, grouped by subject and artistic nationality. Among the great artists represented are Titian, Rembrandt, Rubens, Van Dyck and Claude.
4.Find out how people are welcomed to Buckingham Palace and what goes on behind-the-scenes to create the magic and magnificence of a State Visit – from the dresses designed, to the ingredients and porcelain chosen for a State Banquet.
5. At the end of your visit you can treat yourself to a cake in the Garden Cafe – we can recommend the millefeuille. There is also an extensive gift shop selling a huge range of Buckingham Palace branded items – everything from fruit cake to umbrellas! They did seem to have an impressive range of fine wines that can be shipped to a destination of your choice.
Here is a video of the State Carriage Procession Along The Mall For The Visit of The President of Mexico , 3rd March 2015
