Castles · Tour

Buckingham State Rooms and a Royal Walk from St James's Square

The State Rooms at Buckingham Palace open for a few weeks each summer and no longer, so this is a booking with a season attached to it. The walk comes first, the palace after, and the guide hands you over at the gate. The route starts in St James's Square and crosses St James's Park, which was a royal hunting ground before it was landscaped into a public park, with the ponds and the monarchy stories that go with it. It pauses at St James's Palace, which has housed royals from Anne Boleyn to Princess Diana, then follows The Mall, the processional route used for royal ceremonies and state occasions, past Clarence House, where King Charles lived before. At the palace gates your guide checks your ticket, hands you an audio guide and leaves you to it. The guided part ends there by design. Inside, the State Rooms are yours at your own pace: the Grand Staircase, the White Drawing Room, the Ballroom and the Throne Room, with the paintings, the period furnishings and the ceremonial spaces that show what the palace is actually for. You can stay as long as you like. Arrive 10 minutes early. Your guide meets you in front of the William III statue in St James's Square, holding a The Tour Guy sign. If the square is closed, meet at its SW gate, across from King Street.