Kensington Palace Tickets, Tours and Afternoon Tea: What to Book

There are three ways in, and the right one depends on how much of the day you want to hand to a guide.

• Official entry ticket. Bought from Historic Royal Palaces, it covers the palace rooms that are open, with a free audio guide. Historic Royal Palaces advises booking online in advance, and children under 5 go free. Best if you want to explore alone and have tea elsewhere.
• Garden tour + afternoon tea. A guided walk through Kensington Gardens that ends with tea. The base price covers the walk and the tea, not the palace; most operators sell palace entry as an add-on option on the same booking.
• Tour with palace entry included. Walks - UK includes pre-reserved palace tickets in every option, and you go round inside with the audio guide. The longer options add the Changing of the Guard and an Orangery tea.

None of these tours guide you through the rooms in person: inside the palace, everyone uses the official audio guide.

Three tours pair the palace with a proper afternoon tea, and they suit different moods.

• Top Tasting Tours's Royal High Tea is the easy choice. A guide meets you at Queensway station, walks you through Kensington Gardens past the Italian Garden and the Diana statue, and seats you at a private table for sandwiches, scones and cakes with a choice of 15 teas. Groups are small, and the palace-entry option lets you go inside after tea.
• LetzGo City Tours's Royal Tea Crown Experience takes its tea at the Orangery beside the palace. The garden tour includes the Cradle Walk view of the Sunken Garden. The base option sees the palace only from outside, and the listing warns it can't cater for special diets or allergies, or suit limited mobility.
• Top Tasting Tours's royal walk starts at Green Park and passes St James's Palace, Buckingham Palace and Wellington Arch, then takes a short bus ride (bring a contactless card) to Kensington Gardens for tea. With about an hour of walking and a cap of 10, it's the most sightseeing for one booking.

Walks - UK builds a whole royal day around the palace. The full option meets at the Guards Memorial on Horse Guards Road, watches the Changing of the Guard, crosses Hyde Park, and ends with your pre-reserved palace tickets and an afternoon tea at the Orangery. A shorter option starts at the Albert Memorial and covers only the palace and Kensington Gardens.

Two caveats from the listing. The guard ceremony can be cancelled at short notice in wet weather, in which case the tour runs an alternative route. And the long version means about three miles on foot, so it isn't suitable for wheelchairs or strollers. For when the guard actually changes, see our Changing of the Guard guide.

Kensington Palace has two sets of royal rooms: the King's State Apartments, with the long King's Gallery, and the Queen's State Apartments. Historic Royal Palaces' own map also lists the Victoria: A Royal Childhood exhibition and the Jewel Room.

This winter, check before you go. Historic Royal Palaces lists the Queen's State Apartments as closed until spring 2027 for re-presentation, and the King's Gallery as closed from November 18, 2026, until spring 2027 for roof repairs. Some of its pages describe the whole King's State Apartments as closed from that date, so confirm what's open on hrp.org.uk when you book.

For the holidays, Historic Royal Palaces lists Victoria's Countryside Christmas from November 25, 2026, to January 3, 2027, included with admission.

Outside, the Sunken Garden is home to the statue of Diana, Princess of Wales, unveiled in July 2021. It's viewed from the surrounding Cradle Walk rather than entered.

• Hours. In winter (October 26 to February 28) the palace opens 10am to 4pm, with last entry at 3pm. Summer hours (from March 1) run to 6pm, with last entry at 5pm.
• How long. Historic Royal Palaces suggests around two to three hours inside; a tea tour adds about two hours more.
• Getting there. Queensway station is about a 10-minute walk and High Street Kensington 10 to 15 minutes. Neither has step-free access from platform to street.
• Accessibility. Inside, a lift serves the palace and free manual wheelchairs are available, first come, first served.
• Combine it. The palace sits at the western end of Kensington Gardens, which runs into Hyde Park. A morning at Buckingham Palace for the guard, then tea in Kensington, makes an easy royal day; see our Buckingham Palace tours.

You don't need a tour to have tea here. Historic Royal Palaces says the Orangery, its restaurant and tea room beside the palace, serves "elegant teas," and that neither it nor the Palace Café needs a palace ticket.

If you'd rather have tea in a grand hotel, or on a bus touring the sights, our London afternoon tea guide compares the options. Before you go, check what to wear in our afternoon tea dress code guide; garden tours mean comfortable shoes come first.

Kensington puts you a walk from the palace, Hyde Park and the big free museums in South Kensington, with quieter streets than the West End. Compare it with other neighborhoods in our guide to where to stay in London.