Buckingham Palace Interior and the Park That Was a Royal Zoo

St James's Park is where this walk turns interesting. Before it was a park it held the royal menagerie, a working zoo kept by the crown, and the ground you cross on the way to the palace was laid out for animals rather than for picnics.

The walk starts near Buckingham Palace with a local guide. St James's Palace, built by Henry VIII, comes first, then the park, then The Mall, laid out and surfaced like a red carpet running up to the palace gates, with Clarence House on the way, where King Charles III lived before.

The palace itself is the reason to book. The State Rooms open to the public for only two months a year, and entrance tickets are booked in advance here, so there is no ticket queue to stand in when you arrive.