There are no fixed Big Ben opening hours for looking at the tower from the street, and Google Maps lists none, so the Big Ben opening hours that matter belong to the official tower tour, which UK Parliament sells in timed slots at 55 pounds for an adult per Google results of its ticket pages (parliament.uk/bigben). This guide covers when you can go, whether you can go inside Big Ben, the entrance, the best time and the nearest stations. If you are choosing a booking, my comparison of every Big Ben ticket and tour shows what each one really includes.
Big Ben Opening Hours
Today is Saturday 7 November 2026, and the Big Ben opening hours I could find are none for the street view: I found no published opening hours for Big Ben on a page I could open. The official parliament.uk pages refused my requests, and Google Maps lists no hours for the tower. That fits what Big Ben is: a clock tower at the north end of the Palace of Westminster, with the Great Bell inside, as Wikipedia describes it. You can look at it whenever you walk past.
The timed part is the official tower tour. The Google results for the UK Parliament ticket pages showed these sample slots:
Date shown
Start time
Monday 7 September 2026
11:45
Monday 14 December 2026
15:45 (marked sold out in the snippet)
Monday 11 January 2027
16:45
Tuesday 19 January 2027
9:45
Wednesday 20 January 2027
12:45
Thursday 28 January 2027
13:45
These come from search snippets, not from the page itself, so treat them as an example of the pattern and not as a schedule. One other result said that tickets are released on the second Wednesday of every month at 10:00 and that the visit lasts 1 hour and 45 minutes, but it came from a site I could not identify. Check the official page for the current rules.
Big Ben Times
Big Ben times are different from Big Ben opening hours: really the bell’s times. Per Wikipedia, the Great Bell strikes the hour, and four quarter bells chime every quarter hour. The tower fell silent on 21 August 2017 for restoration, the scaffolding came down in December 2021 and the chimes returned to regular service on 13 November 2022. Another detail that helps after dark: the Ayrton Light, a lantern above the belfry added in 1873, is lit whenever the House of Commons sits after dark.
Can You Go Inside Big Ben?
Can you go inside Big Ben? Yes, but only on the official tower tour, and I could not confirm who may book it. The tower is 96 metres high and has 334 steps from the ground to the belfry per Wikipedia, so the visit is a real climb. The Google results show an adult ticket at 55 pounds, an adult being aged 18 or over, and a separate listing marked for ages 11 and over, which suggests there are age rules to read before you book. The guidebook for the Palace of Westminster was listed at 7 pounds in the same results.
GetYourGuide does not sell the tower interior. The Thank You London City Tours listing says entry to the Elizabeth Tower or access to the Big Ben bell is not included, and the Top Sights Tours listing says entry into Big Ben is not included. If the Houses of Parliament are the real aim, they are a separate product with their own page, Houses of Parliament tickets.
Big Ben Entrance
The Big Ben entrance is the part I can say least about. Google Maps gives the address as London SW1A 0AA and shows the Palace of Westminster about 140 metres away in a straight line. I found no public entrance for the tower on a page I could read, and tower tour holders should follow the meeting instructions on their confirmation. The walking tours use Parliament Square instead: the Walks tour meets at the statue of Viscount Palmerston, the Private tour at the Winston Churchill statue, and The Tour Guy at the Abraham Lincoln statue.
Best Time to Visit Big Ben
Within the Big Ben opening hours that exist at all, the best time to visit Big Ben depends on the light, and the weather figures give a clear answer. Open-Meteo data for 2025 shows London at about 4 to 5 sunshine hours a day in winter and 11 to 13 in April to July, with 3 rainy days in March and April against 16 in November. Sunset is at about 15:51 in December and 21:19 in June. For photographs I would pick April or June in the afternoon, and for the lit tower I would pick a winter evening, when it is dark by 16:00.
Month
Sunrise
Sunset
Sunshine hours a day
Rainy days
January
07:59
16:21
3.5
13
April
06:04
19:57
11.4
3
June
04:42
21:19
12.9
8
September
06:35
19:14
9.3
11
November
07:19
16:11
4.3
16
December
07:59
15:51
3.5
10
I did not find an official crowd chart, so I can’t name the quietest hour with a source. Walking tours that start early avoid some of the day’s coach groups, but that is my reasoning and not a published figure. The weather data is from Open-Meteo.
How to Get to Big Ben
Whatever the Big Ben opening hours of your slot, Westminster Underground station is the nearest, about 70 metres from the tower by Google Maps coordinates, which I estimate as a one-minute walk (straight line times 1.3 at 4.8 km/h). The other stations are farther.
Station
Straight line
Walk (estimate)
Westminster
0.07 km
1 min
St. James’s Park
0.64 km
10 min
Waterloo
0.71 km
12 min
Embankment
0.74 km
12 min
Charing Cross
0.84 km
14 min
Lines and live status are on the Transport for London site. If you walk from the London Eye, the tower is about 7 minutes across Westminster Bridge by my estimate, and Westminster Abbey is about 4 minutes away on foot. Buckingham Palace is roughly 20 minutes, with its own page at Buckingham Palace tickets.
Big Ben Free Entry
There is no free entry to the inside of Big Ben. The tower interior is open only on the official tower tour, which the Google results show at 55 pounds for an adult, and I could not confirm any free category. Seeing the tower from outside costs nothing, since Westminster Bridge and the Parliament Square pavements are public. The Big Ben opening hours matter mostly for the tower tour and the chimes, not for the view from the street.
Things to Do Near Big Ben
The Palace of Westminster is about 2 minutes on foot by my estimate, and the London Eye and the London Dungeon are each about 7 minutes away (straight line times 1.3 at 4.8 km/h). Trafalgar Square is about 14 minutes and Buckingham Palace about 19 minutes. The London Eye is rated 4.5 from 206,619 reviews on Google Maps, so I’d book it in the same slot if you want both, after checking the Big Ben opening hours. For a closer look at the tower and the Westminster side, my Big Ben map shows the area.
What to Know Before You Go
The Big Ben opening hours for a tour are fixed by the slot, and most visits to Big Ben are walks, so the rules are those of your tour. The walking tour listings I compared leave out drinks, food, hotel pickup and tips, and several say entrance fees to the places they pass are not included. The Thank You London listing adds that its Abbey option has no guiding during Evensong and that photography is strictly prohibited there. The meeting points are in Parliament Square or a Tube exit, so plan to arrive 10 to 15 minutes early, as the Walks and The Tour Guy listings ask.
For the official tower tour I could not read the rules, so I can’t tell you what bags, ID or access arrangements apply. Read the page at parliament.uk/bigben before you pay, and note that the age wording in the Google results (adults 18 and over, an event for 11 and over) suggests you need to check your group.
For most visitors the practical choice is the Walks tour, which pairs the tower with the Abbey, and I’d book it in advance.
Walks - UK
Westminster Abbey Tour with Guard Change & Big Ben
★4.7 (156 reviews)
2.5 hours
Free cancellation
My pick: The booking I'd start from: Big Ben from outside plus skip-the-queue Abbey entry, $119, 4.7 from 156 reviews, 2.5 hours, free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
What you get, where you meet, what reviewers say
Included
✓ Certified Blue Badge guide
✓ Expertly guided walking tour
✓ Skip-the-queue access to Westminster Abbey
Not included / not suitable
✕ Hotel Pick-up/Drop-off
✕ Gratuities
Meeting point: Please arrive 15 minutes prior to the start of your tour, your guide will be holding a yellow WalksDevour sign. This tour meets at Viscount Palmerston Statue, Parliament Sq, London SW1P 3JX Parliament Sq, London SW1P 3JX, UK
Languages: English
Duration: 2.5 hours
Cancellation: Cancel up to 24 hours in advance for a full refund
“Our guide was extremely knowledgeable! She showed her love for England. She was friendly and wonderful . My daughter and I loved this tour🩷 highly recommend” – GetYourGuide review
If you are still deciding, the full price list is on my page for Big Ben tickets and tours from $19, and the home page lists the other London sights I compare. A short checklist for the day, built around the Big Ben opening hours of your slot: check parliament.uk/bigben for tower tour dates, confirm your walking tour’s meeting point the evening before, look at Transport for London for Westminster station status, and keep the cancellation window of 24 hours in mind, since every listing I compared allows a full refund up to then.
Frequently asked questions
What are the Big Ben opening hours?+
There are no opening hours for seeing the tower from the street, and Google Maps lists none for Big Ben. Tower tours run in timed slots sold by UK Parliament; the Google results for its ticket pages showed start times such as 9:45, 11:45, 12:45 and 16:45 on dates between September 2026 and January 2027. Check parliament.uk/bigben for current slots.
What time does Big Ben chime?+
Per Wikipedia, the Great Bell strikes the hour and four quarter bells chime every quarter hour. The bells fell silent for restoration from 21 August 2017 and returned to regular service on 13 November 2022. Check the hour yourself from Westminster Bridge or Parliament Square if you want to hear a strike.
Can you go inside Big Ben?+
Only on the official tower tour, which UK Parliament sells in timed slots. The Google results I saw list an adult ticket at 55 pounds for visitors aged 18 or over. GetYourGuide tours that pass the tower state that entry to the tower or the bell is not included. I could not open the official page, so check who is eligible there.
Where is the Big Ben entrance?+
I could not find an official entrance for visitors on a page I could open. Google Maps gives the address as London SW1A 0AA. Tower tour ticket holders should follow the meeting instructions on their confirmation, and walking tours meet in Parliament Square or nearby, for example at the Viscount Palmerston statue.
How many steps are there in Big Ben?+
Wikipedia says the climb from ground level to the belfry is 334 steps, and that a lift was installed during the recent renovation. It does not say whether visitors use the lift, so ask when you book the official tower tour.
Which Underground station is nearest to Big Ben?+
Westminster, about 70 metres from the tower by Google Maps coordinates, roughly a one-minute walk by my estimate. St James's Park is about 10 minutes away. Transport for London publishes live status for both.
