Westminster Tours: Abbey, Parliament & Changing the Guard

The Abbey is a working church, open to visitors Monday to Saturday. On Sundays and religious holidays it's open for worship only, with no sightseeing, and it can close at short notice for services or state occasions. Weekday visiting currently runs from 9:30am with last entry around 3:30pm, and Saturdays are shorter.

The Abbey's own ticket (£32 for adults when we checked) includes a good multimedia guide, so a tour isn't essential. A guide earns the fee by moving you efficiently past the royal tombs, the Coronation Chair and Poets' Corner, and by explaining what you're looking at. The Abbey suggests 1.5 to 2 hours for the main highlights.

Our pick, London Strides's Blue Badge tour, pairs the Abbey with a walk past Big Ben, Downing Street and Buckingham Palace. If you only care about the Abbey, Premium Tours's priority-access tour starts with coffee and pastries in the 14th-century Cellarium and enters through the cloister.

Overseas visitors can tour Parliament on Saturdays year-round and on weekdays during recess, when the Commons and Lords aren't sitting. Tours last about 90 minutes, start with airport-style security (arrive 20 minutes early), and can be cancelled at short notice for parliamentary business. Parliament sells these directly; UK residents can also request free tours through their MP.

The Viator option we'd book is Walks - UK's combined tour, which takes you inside the Abbey and then through Westminster Hall and both chambers in 3 hours 45 minutes. It only works on days Parliament is open to visitors, so check your date before you book.

Big Ben itself, the Elizabeth Tower, is a separate Parliament-run tour: ages 11 and up, 334 steps, and tickets released online on the second Wednesday of each month at 10am. No Viator tour goes inside; "Big Ben" in a tour title means a view from Parliament Square.

The Household Division's November 2026 calendar shows the guard changing at Buckingham Palace at 11am on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, with a 10am Sunday Parade. On Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays there's only a 3pm Captain's Inspection. The Army can alter or cancel the ceremony at very short notice in wet weather, sometimes deciding as late as 10:45am.

A guided walk is worth the modest price. Instead of claiming a spot at the railings early and seeing a slice of the forecourt, guides like Fun London Tours Ltd and Fantastic Walks move you between the marching columns on The Mall and around St James's Palace. Book for a Monday, Wednesday or Friday. Our Changing of the Guard guide has the full timetable and the best viewing spots.

The State Rooms open only in summer; the 2026 season ran July 9 to September 27. On a fall or winter trip, every tour treats Buckingham Palace as a photo stop and the backdrop for the guard change. Don't pay a premium for "Buckingham Palace" in a tour title unless you're traveling in the summer window and the listing clearly includes State Rooms tickets.

What you can do year-round is watch the guard change from outside (Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 11am, or the 10am Sunday Parade) and walk through the royal parks between the palace and Parliament Square. The budget walking tours on this page, like Top Sights Tours Group LLC's, cover exactly that loop with the palace as a stop.

The Churchill War Rooms, the underground wartime bunker on King Charles Street, sit a few minutes from Parliament Square and make the best add-on for history fans. Urban Saunters's small-group WWII walk (capped at 15) covers Whitehall, the Cenotaph and Downing Street before you head into the War Rooms on your own with an audio guide. Top Sights Tours Group LLC's longer tour adds more of Westminster first.

With just one day, the London-in-a-day tours combine the Abbey with the Tower of London and a Thames boat. The Tour Guy's includes the guard change on ceremony days; Walks - UK's includes Abbey entry only on its early departures. See our Tower of London tours for the other half of the day, or wind down with afternoon tea.

Because each sight keeps its own calendar, the day of the week decides your plan. Start from the fixed points, the guard change and the Abbey's visiting hours, and fit everything else around them.

• Monday, Wednesday or Friday: Changing the Guard walk in the morning, lunch, then the Abbey in the early afternoon before last entry.
• Saturday: Parliament tour plus the Abbey (shorter Saturday hours), and the 3pm Captain's Inspection at the palace if you want to see the guard without the 11am crowds.
• Sunday: the 10am Sunday Parade and the Churchill War Rooms. Skip Abbey sightseeing; attend a service instead if you want to see inside.