The Buckingham Palace opening hours for the State Rooms in 2027 are 9:30 am to 5:30 pm last admission in July and August, and to 4:30 pm in September, from 8 July to 26 September. The palace is not open for ordinary visits today, 7 November 2026. This guide covers the Buckingham Palace opening hours by month, closing days, the free Changing of the Guard and how to get there. When you know your date, my comparison of every Buckingham Palace ticket has the prices.
Buckingham Palace Opening Times
The Buckingham Palace opening hours depend entirely on the season. Google Maps lists no opening hours for Buckingham Palace in the data I used, so the official Royal Collection Trust page is the source here. It says the State Rooms open to visitors each summer, and for 2027 the palace is open from 8 July to 26 September. From October to May it only opens on selected dates for small guided tours, which start at various times between 10:00 and 15:30 and last around 1 hour 30 minutes.
| Period |
Opening time |
Last admission |
Closing time |
| July and August 2027 |
9:30 |
17:30 |
19:30 |
| September 2027 |
9:30 |
16:30 |
18:30 |
| October to May |
Selected dates only |
Tours 10:00 to 15:30 |
See the booking calendar |
These Buckingham Palace opening hours come from the Royal Collection Trust’s Buckingham Palace page. I could not find a published date for 2028 or later, so I’d treat anything beyond the 2027 season as unconfirmed.
Buckingham Palace Closing Time
The Buckingham Palace closing time is 7:30 pm in July and August and 6:30 pm in September, but you cannot enter after 5:30 pm and 4:30 pm respectively, so the real Buckingham Palace opening hours for a visit are shorter than they look. The visit is a timed entry. The Royal Collection Trust says you must arrive 15 minutes before the time printed on your ticket and pass an airport-style security check. Allow for the route, because it ends outdoors along a gravel path of about half a kilometre through the garden.
The palace is also closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays in September, per the official opening times. A working royal palace can close or change arrangements at short notice, and the official page asks you to check closure details before you travel.
Entrance Fee for Buckingham Palace
The entrance fee for Buckingham Palace in summer 2027 is 35 pounds for an adult booked in advance and 39 pounds on the day. Ages 18 to 24 pay 23 and 26 pounds, ages 5 to 17 and disabled visitors pay 17.50 and 19.50 pounds, and under 5s and access companions are free, per the Royal Collection Trust. In winter the official option is the East Wing Exclusive Guided Tour at 100 pounds per person, listed from 6 November 2026 to 31 January 2027.
On GetYourGuide the plain State Rooms entry ticket is $51, which is above the official advance price, so I’d check the official date calendar and the Buckingham Palace opening hours before paying a reseller. A reseller makes sense when you want a guide or the Changing of the Guard bundled in. The Vox City Walks listing is rated 4.6 from 157 reviews and is non-refundable.
Vox City Walks
Buckingham Palace State Rooms Entry & Royal London Audio App
- ★ 4.6 (157 reviews)
- 2 hours
My pick: The plain State Rooms ticket with an audio app, $51 and 4.6 from 157 reviews; it is non-refundable, so book only once your summer date is firm.
What you get, where you meet, what reviewers say
Included
- ✓ Buckingham Palace State Rooms entry ticket
- ✓ Buckingham Palace State Rooms audio guide in English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Chinese, Japanese, Russian and Brazilian Portuguese
- ✓ Royal London’ audio guide app in English, French, German, Spanish, Italian and Chinese
- ✓ Any applicable fees and taxes
Not included / not suitable
- ✕ Guided tour
- ✕ Headset and mobile device (for Royal London audio guide app)
Meeting point: Visitors can head directly to the Buckingham Palace Ticket Office, located at Buckingham Palace Road. Please arrive 15 minutes before your booked timeslot, and have your ticket downloaded and ready to show. GV25+G6X, London, UK
Duration: 2 hours
Cancellation: This activity is non-refundable
“It was a beautiful experience and very well put together on the audio speaker. I really enjoyed this and it was well worth the money. Don’t miss this one.” – GetYourGuide review
Buckingham Palace Entrance Ticket
A Buckingham Palace entrance ticket is tied to the opening hours above and gets you into 19 State Rooms on a timed slot, with a free multimedia guide in nine languages (English, Brazilian Portuguese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Mandarin, Russian, Spanish) and British Sign Language with subtitles. You collect the guide at the start. The rules at the entrance are strict: backpacks may not be worn, bags larger than 45 cm by 20 cm by 30 cm are not allowed, long umbrellas and pushchairs are checked in, and you may bring bottled water but no other food or drink. Phones may not be charged inside. There is no formal dress code, and the Trust advises comfortable shoes.
The ticket price covers a lot of different kinds of people: concession rates apply if you have a disability, and the Trust lets you convert a ticket into a 1-Year Pass for free re-admission. I did not find any ID requirement on the practical information page.
Buckingham Palace Open to Public
The Buckingham Palace opening hours for the public cover a short window. Buckingham Palace is open to the public only for the summer season and on selected tour dates, not all year. Wikipedia says the State Rooms have been open in summer and on selected dates since 1993. What the public can see every day of the year is the outside, including the Victoria Memorial and the forecourt, where the Changing of the Guard takes place. The Household Division says the King’s Guard changes on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and the ceremony lasts about 45 minutes.
The Household Division shows the time as 11am in its header. Its text says the ceremony is held in front of the palace at 10:45. It adds that soldiers gather at St James’s Palace and Wellington Barracks from 10:00, that the ceremony can be altered or cancelled at short notice and that decisions can be taken as late as 10:45. I’d be there by 10:00 for a spot at the railings. Several GetYourGuide walking tours also mention Sundays and Horse Guards ceremonies at Whitehall, which the official page I read does not cover, so I’d trust the official schedule tab.
Buckingham Palace Open
What are the Buckingham Palace opening hours on an ordinary day outside the summer? It is not, for State Rooms visitors. The East Wing Exclusive Guided Tours are the only way in during the winter months, per the Royal Collection Trust, and The Royal Mews is listed as opening on 4 March 2027 for its own season, with The King’s Gallery open daily. The King’s Gallery and Royal Mews have their own tickets.
Windows for tickets matter too. The official site asks you to sign up for email updates to hear ticket announcements first, so I would check the page again before you plan a trip, since the 2027 dates were the only ones on it.
Best Time to Visit Buckingham Palace
The best time to use the Buckingham Palace opening hours is a summer weekday morning if you want the State Rooms with fewer people, though I did not find an official crowd calendar and I won’t invent one. The official page says the rooms can get very hot inside in summer. Open-Meteo data for 2025 shows July at 11.6 sunshine hours a day with 9 rainy days, August at 10.5 with 7, and September at 9.3 with 11 rainy days. September has the earlier closing times and two closed days a week, so July and August look more flexible. For the ceremony, any Monday, Wednesday or Friday works, and wet weather is the main risk to the schedule. A tour with a refund if the ceremony is cancelled covers that risk.
How to Get to Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace is at London SW1A 1AA per Google Maps. The nearest Underground stations are Green Park and St James’s Park, each about 0.6 km away, roughly 10 minutes on foot, and Victoria is about 0.65 km, around 11 minutes. Hyde Park Corner is about 0.75 km, roughly 12 minutes. These walking times are my estimates from straight-line distance multiplied by 1.3 at 4.8 km/h. Westminster is about 1.2 km, around 19 minutes. For live service updates, check Transport for London.
The ticket office for a State Rooms entry is on Buckingham Palace Road, per the Vox City Walks listing, and the Trust says coaches can pick up on Grosvenor Place after you exit. The guided tours I compared mostly start elsewhere: at Green Park, the Duke of York Column, or the Ritz on Piccadilly. Read the meeting point on your listing, because it is not the palace gate for most of them.
Things to Do Near Buckingham Palace
Google Maps puts Big Ben 1.20 kilometres away, rated 4.6 from 99,381 reviews, and Trafalgar Square 1.21 kilometres, rated 4.6 from 141,371. The Palace of Westminster is 1.20 kilometres away and the London Eye 1.56. Several tours I compared join the palace with Westminster Abbey and Big Ben, such as the 5-hour tour at $91 rated 4.8 from 1,311 reviews. My Buckingham Palace map shows the walk between them.
Buckingham Palace Dress Code
I found no dress code for Buckingham Palace in my data. The rules I do have are about bags: the guide above says backpacks are restricted at the entrance, so read the official page before you queue. The State Rooms visit is indoors across two floors and takes about 2 hours, so I’d wear comfortable shoes, and I would check the Buckingham Palace opening hours for the summer dates.
Buckingham Palace Free Entry
The State Rooms are not free: the 2027 adult price quoted above is 35 pounds booked in advance, with lower rates for ages 5 to 24 and for disabled visitors. The Trust lets you convert a ticket into a 1-Year Pass for free re-admission. Two of the cheapest listings, the Changing of the Guard experiences at $24 and $25, are guided Changing of the Guard tours whose listings do not mention State Rooms entry. Check the Buckingham Palace opening hours and prices at rct.uk.
What to Know Before You Go
Whatever the Buckingham Palace opening hours on your date, bring as little as possible. The Royal Collection Trust’s practical information page lists the one-way route, the airport-style security, no photography or filming inside, no eating or drinking apart from bottled water, and no pushchairs, which are checked in and collected afterwards. Toilets and baby-care facilities are at the end of the route, and there are none at the start. The nearest public toilets are at Victoria station. Luggage storage is available nearby, including at Victoria Station.
The State Rooms tour is indoors across two floors and exits through the garden. The standard admission route is not step-free, and step-free access must be pre-booked with the Specialist Sales team. Allow about 2 hours, which is the duration the State Rooms listing uses.
Next Step
Once you know the Buckingham Palace opening hours for your trip, the next choice is the ticket. Every Buckingham Palace ticket I compared is explained there, from the cheapest ceremony walk to State Rooms entry, and the home page lists the other attractions I compare. If your day also includes the river, the London Eye is a short Tube ride away.
