A Buckingham Palace tour is mostly a walk, because nobody guides you inside the State Rooms. I compared eight guided Buckingham Palace tours, from $24 to $99, and the real question is whether the price includes a ticket for the inside. This page sets them side by side, with meeting points, languages and what reviewers say. If entry is all you want, my guide to tickets for Buckingham Palace covers the official prices and dates.
What a Buckingham Palace Tour Adds Over a Plain Ticket
The Royal Collection Trust says guiding is not allowed inside the palace, and visitors use a free multimedia guide in the State Rooms, per the Buckingham Palace page on rct.uk. So the guide on a Buckingham Palace tour works outside: they pick the viewing spot for the Changing of the Guard, take you along the Mall and tell you who lived in the buildings you pass. Inside, every tour that includes entry hands you over to the same audio guide you would get with a plain ticket.
The timing matters as much as the commentary. The Household Division lists Changing the Guard at 11am on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and warns that it can be altered or cancelled at short notice. A guide who knows the route to the right pavement is the main thing you are paying for.
Changing of the Guard Walking Tours Without Entry
Two Buckingham Palace tours are built around the ceremony and cost almost the same as a sandwich lunch. Neither includes palace entry.
Secret Chamber Tours is $24 for 2 hours, and its 4.5 stars from 2,694 reviews make it the most-reviewed guided option. The group meets at the Goddess Diana fountain by the Ritz entrance to Green Park, which the listing is careful to say is not the Diana Memorial Fountain in Hyde Park. The route runs through the park to the palace and the guard, then on past St James’s Park, Westminster Abbey, 10 Downing Street and Trafalgar Square. English only.
Secret Chamber Tours Ltd
Buckingham Palace & Changing of the Guard Tour
★4.5 (2,694 reviews)
2 hours
Free cancellation
My pick: My pick if you just want the ceremony explained: $24, 4.5 from 2,694 reviews, 2 hours, no palace entry.
What you get, where you meet, what reviewers say
Included
✓ Guide
✓ Walking tour
Not included / not suitable
✕ Food and drinks
✕ Tips
✕ Entry to attractions
Meeting point: • Meet your guide at the Goddess Diana fountain at the Ritz Corner entrance of Green Park
• Enter Green Park via the entrance next to the Ritz Hotel and the fountain can be found just a few steps down the footpath, next to the Colicci refreshment stand. This is not the Diana Memorial Fountain in Hyde Park
• If taking the Underground, disembark at Green Park Station and take the Green Park/Buckingham Palace exit. This exit will lead you to the fountain Green Park (Stop H, London W1J 9DZ, UK
Languages: English
Duration: 2 hours
Cancellation: Cancel up to 24 hours in advance for a full refund
“Alan was the best guide and we were grateful to have him get us to all the right places at the right times!” – GetYourGuide review
My tour London costs $27, also for 2 hours, and it is the only one in this comparison that offers four languages: English, French, Italian and Spanish. It meets just outside Green Park station, south Piccadilly exit, by a wooden food stall. Its listing promises a full refund if heavy rain, extreme heat or a private event cancels the ceremony, which I did not see on any other tour. With 211 reviews at 4.6 it has a small sample, and the one mixed review says the walk did not focus enough on the Changing of the Guard.
My tour London
2-Hour Buckingham Palace Changing of the Guard Tour
★4.6 (211 reviews)
2 hours
Free cancellation
My pick: The French, Italian and Spanish option at $27, with a refund if the ceremony is cancelled; only 211 reviews.
What you get, where you meet, what reviewers say
Included
✓ Heart of London Walking Tour
✓ Meeting Point: Green Park, Constance Fund Fountain of Diana.
✓ Discover London's royal history and iconic landmarks on a 2-hour guided walking tour with an expert local guide.
✓ Changing of the Guard: Experience the traditional Changing of the Guard ceremony or Horse Guards Parade. On days without the main ceremony, enjoy the smaller Changing of the Horse Guards. Please check the official schedule before booking.
✓ Main Stops:
✓ St. James's Park & St. James's Palace
Not included / not suitable
✕ Hotel pickup and drop-off
✕ Lunch
✕ Entry tickets
Meeting point: Meet your guide near the Constance Fund fountain of Diana: just outside Green Park tube station (south Piccadilly exit). On the left side, there is a wooden food stall. Green Park, Underground Ltd, Piccadilly, London W1J 9DZ, UK
Languages: French, English, Italian, Spanish
Duration: 2 hours
Cancellation: Cancel up to 24 hours in advance for a full refund
“Great tour with perfect weather. Barry was a fantastic and knowledgable guide and aided us in dodging the crowds and still seeing everything we'd hoped to!” – GetYourGuide review
Four tours put the palace visit inside the booking. They cost $92 to $99, they run 2.5 to 3 hours, and they all depend on the summer opening: the Royal Collection Trust lists the State Rooms from 8 July to 26 September 2027, so these tours make sense only for dates in that window. I could not confirm from the listings how each operator handles dates outside it.
City Wonders sells two versions. The Entry and Changing of the Guard Tour is $96, 2.5 hours, rated 4.4 from 3,000 reviews, with an expert guide, pre-reserved State Rooms entry, the official audio guide in nine languages and audio headsets when needed. It meets at the Duke of York Column on Waterloo Place, which the listing stresses is not at the palace. The foot guards parade on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday and the Horse Guards on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, per the listing, which is its own schedule and not the Household Division’s. One reviewer wrote: “My only disappointment was being unable to view the changing of the guard due to the thousands of visitors.”
City Wonders Ltd. UK
Buckingham Palace Entry & Changing of the Guard Tour
★4.4 (3,000 reviews)
2.5 hours
Free cancellation
My pick: The most-reviewed tour with State Rooms entry: $96, 4.4 from 3,000 reviews, with the ceremony built in.
What you get, where you meet, what reviewers say
Included
✓ Expert English-speaking guide for the Changing of the Guard walking tour
✓ Prime viewing of the Changing of the Foot Guards (Mon/Wed/Fri/Sun) or Horse Guards (Tue/Thu/Sat), subject to the official schedule
✓ Pre-reserved entry to Buckingham Palace State Rooms
✓ Official Buckingham Palace audio guide (available in English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Chinese, Japanese, Russian and Brazilian Portuguese)
✓ Insider commentary on Britain's royal history and traditions
✓ Free time to explore Buckingham Palace at your own pace
Not included / not suitable
✕ Gratuities (optional)
✕ Hotel pickup and drop-off
Meeting point: Meet by the Duke of York column on Waterloo Place, 9 Carlton Terrace, London SW1Y 5AJ. It's a tall column with a statue on top. Guides will have a City Wonders sign with the name of the tour at the meeting point for easy recognition.
Directions: Take the Underground to Piccadilly Circus. Take exit 3 to Regent Street/St James. Walk south down Regent Street towards St. James Park (do not walk towards Oxford Street). Waterloo Place is at the end of Regent Street. Alternatively, take the Underground to Charing Cross Station, and walk down the Mall towards Buckingham Palace. The statue is at the top of the stairs to your right after the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA). Please note the meeting place is not at Buckingham Palace. (GPS Coordinates: 51.5063159, -0.1317662000000155) St. James's, London SW1Y 5AJ, UK
Languages: English
Duration: 2.5 hours
Cancellation: Cancel up to 24 hours in advance for a full refund
“Our guide, Marilyn, was terrific. Knowledgeable and personable. My only disappointment was being unable to view the changing of the guard due to the thousands of visitors. (This tour was advertised as getting a favorable view.)” – GetYourGuide review
The City Wonders Entry Ticket and Royal Walking Tour is $92 for 2.5 hours and skips the ceremony in favour of a walk along the Mall past St James’s Park, St James’s Palace and the Palace Garden. A reviewer liked that the guide does not go in with you: “he is not with us in the palace, but the tour starts outside and prepare us for the palace”. The same reviewer found the rooms full of people.
City Wonders Ltd. UK
Buckingham Palace Entry Ticket & Royal Walking Tour
★4.5 (1,185 reviews)
2.5 hours
Free cancellation
My pick: The $92 walk-then-palace option, 4.5 from 1,185 reviews, if you do not care about the ceremony.
What you get, where you meet, what reviewers say
Included
✓ Expert tour guide for your Royal Walking Tour
✓ Entrance ticket to Buckingham Palace State Rooms
✓ Official Buckingham Palace audio guide (available in English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, and Brazilian Portuguese)
✓ Free time inside Buckingham Palace — explore at your own pace
✓ Headsets (when required) to clearly hear your guide
Not included / not suitable
✕ Tips
✕ Hotel pickup and drop-off
Meeting point: Meet your guide at the Duke of York Column, this is the tall column with a statue on top.
If you are arriving by tube, take the tube to Piccadilly Circus and exit 3 onto Regent Street/St. James. Walk south down Regent Street towards St. James's Park (do not walk north toward Oxford Street). Waterloo Place is at the end of Regent Street. You will see the tall column with a statue on the top. You can also arrive via Charing Cross station. Walk down the Mall toward Buckingham Palace, and you will see the statue on your right at the top of some steps. The meeting point is not at Buckingham Palace. St. James's, London SW1Y 5AJ, UK
Languages: English
Duration: 2.5 hours
Cancellation: Cancel up to 24 hours in advance for a full refund
“There was bit of a mix up and delay in tbe start dye to too many people showing up and some earphones not working. After that the it was good. Guide was nice.” – GetYourGuide review
Walks costs $92 for 3 hours, the longest tour with entry. It meets at the Queen Victoria Memorial in front of the palace, so you do not need to cross the park to find the guide, and it lists skip-the-line State Rooms tickets with an audio guide. The walk passes Clarence House and St James’s Palace. Reviewers like the guide, and one notes that “the state rooms were self guided”. With 273 reviews at 4.4 the sample is small.
Walks - UK
Buckingham Palace State Rooms & Royal Walking Tour
★4.4 (273 reviews)
3 hours
Free cancellation
My pick: Starts at the Queen Victoria Memorial, 3 hours, $92: the easiest meeting point if you want to be at the gate.
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 the Queen Victoria Memorial in front of Buckingham Palace. London SW1A 1AA, UK
Languages: English
Duration: 3 hours
Cancellation: Cancel up to 24 hours in advance for a full refund
“Great tour guide! The tour of the actual palace was still a self guided audio tour but we enjoyed starting with the guided walking tour of the area and then getting to skip the line to go in the palace.” – GetYourGuide review
The Tour Guy is the most expensive at $99, for 2.5 hours, and the best rated of the four at 4.7 from 187 reviews. The guide meets you at the William III statue in St James’s Square, or at the southwest gate when the square is closed, and the route covers the Mall, Clarence House and the Queen Victoria Memorial. A reviewer said the guide “was great with the children made the facts interesting and fun”, and the listing says a live guide inside the palace is not included.
the tour guy
Buckingham Palace Tickets with Royal Walking Tour
★4.7 (187 reviews)
2.5 hours
Free cancellation
My pick: The best rated of the tours with entry at 4.7, and a guide reviewers call good with children; $99 is the top price.
What you get, where you meet, what reviewers say
Included
✓ Expert English-speaking guide
✓ Guided royal walking tour of St. James’s Park and the Mall
✓ Privileged access entry ticket to Buckingham Palace
✓ Audio guide for interior palace tour
Not included / not suitable
✕ Live guide inside Buckingham Palace
✕ Guide tips
Meeting point: Meet your guide in front of the William III statue in St. James Square. They will be holding a sign that says The Tour Guy. When St. James Square is closed, please meet at the southwest gate of the square across from Kings Street. St. James's, London SW1Y 4JS, UK
Languages: English
Duration: 2.5 hours
Cancellation: Cancel up to 24 hours in advance for a full refund
“Well informed enthusiastic tour guide Jen. Good way about handling tourists. Friendly and helpful. Spoke clearly.” – GetYourGuide review
If you want more than one landmark in a day, two Buckingham Palace tours reach Westminster. Neither includes palace entry.
Top Sights Tours is $91 for 5 hours and the best rated at 4.8 from 1,311 reviews. It meets outside the Ritz on Piccadilly, next to two red telephone boxes, and walks past Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square, Horse Guards Parade, 10 Downing Street and Parliament Square. The price includes a pre-booked Westminster Abbey ticket, and the not-included list says “Entry to Buckingham Palace or Big Ben”. A reviewer called the guide “extremely knowledgeable and along with his flare for humor” and said it was the best of several GetYourGuide tours.
Top Sights Tours LLC.
Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey & Big Ben Tour
★4.8 (1,311 reviews)
5 hours
Free cancellation
My pick: Best rated at 4.8 for a full Westminster day: 5 hours, $91, with Westminster Abbey entry but no palace entry.
What you get, where you meet, what reviewers say
Included
✓ Walking tour
✓ Local guide
✓ Westminster Abbey pre-booked entry ticket
Not included / not suitable
✕ Entry to Buckingham Palace or Big Ben
Meeting point: We meet outside of the Ritz hotel (150 Piccadilly, W1J 9BR) next to 2 red telephone boxes and 2 souvenir stands, underneath one of the Ritz signs. The nearest tube station is Green Park Underground station. When you get to Green Park Underground station, take the left hand exit. You will see a set of stairs and a ramp leading out of the station. Take the stairs up and walk towards the Ritz Hotel. 150 Piccadilly, St. James's, London W1J 9BR, UK
Languages: English
Duration: 5 hours
Cancellation: Cancel up to 24 hours in advance for a full refund
“The tour provided a great introduction to the highlights of Westminster. We especially enjoyed our guide, Ash, who included interesting historic stories and kept us thoroughly engaged despite the bad weather!” – GetYourGuide review
Z-Ocean Tours is $80 for 2 hours at the Diana fountain, with a guide and a walk through Westminster, and it has the fewest reviews of the eight, 118 at 4.8. Entry to attractions is not included. One reviewer who loved the guide still felt that “for the amount of money we spent, it did not justify the tour”, which is the clearest value complaint I found.
Z-Ocean Tours LLC
Buckingham Palace & Westminster Guided Walking Tour
★4.8 (118 reviews)
2 hours
Free cancellation
My pick: A short Westminster walk at $80, 4.8 from 118 reviews; one reviewer questioned the value.
What you get, where you meet, what reviewers say
Included
✓ Walking tour
✓ Guide
Not included / not suitable
✕ Entry to attractions
✕ Hotel pickup and drop-off
Meeting point: The guide will meet you at the Fountain - Statue of Goddess Diana
Look for a noticeboard or a tablet which will be mentioning the company name that is Z-Ocean Tours GV45+P3H, London, UK
Languages: English
Duration: 2 hours
Cancellation: Cancel up to 24 hours in advance for a full refund
“This tour hit all the expected highlights plus a whole lot more. Our guide, Matt, was excellent. Very knowledgeable, friendly and funny, super entertaining. Excellent value for money” – GetYourGuide review
What Do Reviewers Say About These Buckingham Palace Tours?
In the review texts I read for each tour, the praise goes to the guide, nearly every time by first name: knowledge, humour and the way they placed the group. The complaints are about the day, not the guide: crowds at the ceremony, a palace full of people, and the price against what you could do alone.
“Alan was the best guide and we were grateful to have him get us to all the right places at the right times!”
— GetYourGuide reviewer
That tells me the operator matters less than your date, and a Buckingham Palace tour is only as good as the day you pick. A guide cannot make the Changing of the Guard bigger, and the crowds are the same for every group.
Guided Tour or Ticket Only?
A Buckingham Palace tour with entry costs more than twice the plain ticket, so it deserves a hard look. The one plain entry ticket I compared is the Vox City Walks State Rooms ticket with a royal London audio app at $51. The tours with entry cost $92 to $99, so the guided walk adds about $41 to $48. The official price is 35 pounds for an adult booked in advance and 39 pounds on the day for summer 2027, per the Royal Collection Trust. If the ceremony and the area do not interest you, the ticket on its own is the cheaper plan, and my Buckingham Palace tickets page explains what each one opens.
Small Group, Private or Standard Tours
I looked for a small-group or private Buckingham Palace tour first. None of the eight listings gives a group size, and I did not find a private Buckingham Palace tour among them. I cannot tell you which is smallest. Only the languages differ: My tour London offers four, and the rest are English only.
How I’d Choose a Buckingham Palace Tour
Ceremony only: Secret Chamber Tours at $24.
Not in English: My tour London at $27, in French, Italian and Spanish.
Palace and ceremony in one: City Wonders at $96, in summer only.
Palace and a walk: City Wonders at $92 or The Tour Guy at $99, which is the better rated.
Starting at the palace: Walks at $92.
A full day: Top Sights Tours at $91, with Westminster Abbey.
I think so if you want the ceremony and the area explained. The walks without entry cost $24 to $27, and the most-reviewed one, from Secret Chamber Tours, has 4.5 stars from 2,694 reviews. Tours that add State Rooms entry cost $92 to $99, so they are worth it only if you travel in the summer opening.
How long does a Buckingham Palace tour take?+
The tours I compared run from 2 hours for the Changing of the Guard walks to 5 hours for the Westminster combination. The tours with State Rooms entry are listed at 2.5 to 3 hours, which includes free time in the palace.
Does a Buckingham Palace tour include entry to the palace?+
Only four of the eight do. City Wonders, Walks and The Tour Guy list State Rooms entry; the cheaper walks and the Westminster tours list entry as not included. Check the included list for the words State Rooms before you pay.
Is there a guide inside Buckingham Palace?+
No. The Royal Collection Trust says guiding is not allowed inside the Palace and visitors use a free multimedia guide instead. The Tour Guy listing says this too: a live guide inside is on its not-included list. The guide walks you around the outside, then you go in on your own with the audio guide.
Where does a Buckingham Palace tour start?+
It depends on the operator. Meeting points in the listings are the Diana fountain in Green Park, the Duke of York Column on Waterloo Place, the Ritz on Piccadilly, the Queen Victoria Memorial and the William III statue in St James's Square. None of them is at the palace gate except the Walks tour.
Can I watch the Changing of the Guard on a tour?+
Yes, on the Changing of the Guard walks. The Household Division lists the ceremony at 11am, and the King's Guard changes on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. One reviewer of the City Wonders tour could not see it because of the crowds, so a guide improves your chances but does not guarantee a view.
