Find out why taking a Changing the Guard tour can be worth it
Seeing Changing the Guard at Buckingham Palace is one of the great free spectacles in London and one it's definitely worth seeing. Yet it's also confusing to know what's going on, to find out where might be the best places to watch from, and where to be when.
I joined Matt from Fun London Tours who offers a Changing the Guard tour. But if it's a free ceremony why should you pay to join a tour? I read about Matt's experience of seeing Changing the Guard the wrong way and wanted to discover how he could make the experience more enjoyable, and give visitors a better chance of seeing the guards, as there will always be big crowds for the ceremony.
The Tour
The tour starts in Piccadilly Circus which is a short walk away and allows Matt to set the scene. He runs this tour regularly but nothing felt jaded about it and his smile made it clear he still enjoys this tour too.
I was quickly impressed with Matt's knowledge of the ceremony and London dates in history relating to the statues we saw along the way. I was also impressed that he checked the official schedule for Changing the Guard in the morning before his tours so he can know which regiment you'll see and whether there might be a military band too. He also checks the Queen's official schedule because, of course, we all wanted to know whether she was inside Buckingham Palace.
Is The Queen In?
You may have heard about the flag that flies above the Palace which signifies if the Queen is home. The Union Flag means she's away and the Royal Standard means she is in London. What I didn't know is there are other markers within the ceremony that also confirm whether the Queen is at Buckingham Palace or not.
Excellent Timing
While the walk didn't seem rushed, and Matt had no need to check his watch, we still found ourselves on The Mall just at the right time to see the mounted cavalry on their way to do their Changing of the Guard ceremony at Horse Guard's Parade.
From there we got a prime position outside St James's Palace and Matt even had feathers in his bag to help us remember which regiment has which color plume on their bearskin cap. He nicely filled the few minutes while we waited for the Guards to appear with information about St James's Palace, and he moved out of the way as soon as the Guards appeared so we could all get lots of photos.
From this point in the proceedings we had to move faster as the ceremony had started but as much as we all wanted to stay longer at St James's Palace it soon became apparent why we moved early as we had another excellent view as the Guards started their march to Buckingham Palace. And then, to the absolute delight of the whole group, we got to walk/march along beside them and they were literally only a couple of feet away from us.
Matt then got us another front row viewing spot for the new Guard leaving Wellington Barracks, and as the Guards went into the palace forecourt, and out of sight, we moved round to get some better photos of Buckingham Palace.
I wondered if we'd seen everything then, and I think most of us would have been completely satisfied, but Matt had another surprise for us as he got us back to St James's Palace to see the Sentry Guards change too. Again, he got us there before the crowds and we stood only a few feet away from the Guards as the new and old Guards swapped roles. And because there are no barriers here we all then got to have our photo taken next to a Guard.
You Need This Tour
I am confident that without this tour it would be incredibly hard to see all the key parts of the Changing the Guard ceremony on your own. I know I would have stayed longer when I was in awe of the Guards appearing at St James's Palace, especially as we were lucky enough to have a military band come out too as this doesn't happen every time.
We saw some huge tour groups out to see Changing the Guard and felt lucky to be in a smaller group. There were 8 in the group when I tried this tour and Matt doesn't take more than 25 as he wants everyone to be able to ask him questions and to be able to hear when he's sharing information.
I spoke to others in the group and they had chosen to join the tour either because of a personal recommendation from a friend or from reading the tour's excellent reviews on TripAdvisor. Matt certainly has impressive guiding qualifications but he also has a wonderful enthusiasm for London and I'd definitely recommend this tour.
Fun London Tours website:www.funlondontours.com
Disclosure: The company provided free access to this service for review purposes. For more information, please see our Ethics Policy.
You can see more photos on my Facebook Page.
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