Buckingham Palace

I've worked in London for many years and have never been to Buckingham Palace. So this year, as part of my mission to visit more places in England, we booked a trip to the palace!

We actually booked online and we were extremely glad we did, as the queues were horrendous - although quite well managed by the staff.

The ticket we booked gave us access to The State Rooms, The Royal Mews and The Queens Gallery. Whilst the Mews and the Gallery were a good experience - there wasn't really much there and i wouldn't go back again.

The Palace itself was a different matter. It was a brilliant place to visit and knowing that you were inside a building which I had seen hundreds and hundreds of times on the TV, was very special.

It is exactly what you would expect, beautiful, extravagant, pristine, and very sparkly ! There is so much history both old and new associated with the building, it is well worth listening to the audio guide at every opportunity.

Well worth a visit both for tourists and Brits !

How can you visit London and not go to Buckingham Palace? Yes, the lines are rediculously long and even worse are quite expensive, but there is a solution to at least one of these problems--buy your tickets online before you go. Then you can skip the queues completely.

I visited on a Thursday morning, and toured the state rooms and the garden in about 90 minutes, stopping to listen to the audio guide completely in almost every room. The exhibit about Queen Elizabeth's royal visits to other countries was interesting because it showcased her outfits (you can see the change over time) and the gifts she had been given from cultures around the world. The garden was a bit unimpressive compared to the more lavish Kensington Palace Garden.

It was definitely on my list of "to dos" in London, but having done it once I don't think I'd be eager to do it again.