Tickets for Changing of the Guard: Guided Tour.
One of our BESTSELLERS.
What’s Included
- Changing of the Foot Guards or Horse Guards
- Visit to The Mall, St. James’s Palace / Horse Guards Parade, St. James’s Park & Buckingham Palace (only visible from outside)
- Expert, English-speaking tour guide
- Tour in a small group
- Headsets (so you can hear the guide)
A classic must for any London tourist. Get an amazing view from a special viewpoint and avoid the crowds with our special tickets.
Your guide will give you more details on the history of the tradition. Don’t forget to test your guide on why the guards wear red and why they don’t smile!
You will also get to visit The Mall, St. James’s Palace / Horse Guards Parade, St. James’s Park and Buckingham Palace (only visible from outside).
You will also be provided with a personal headset to wear during the tour.
Interesting Facts about Changing of the Guard
- There are different regiments that perform the ceremony and they can be identified by the colours of their plume
- You may also seen animals involved in the ceremony as the regiments each have their mascots that include a dog, a pony and a ram!
- The music played is chosen by the Captain if the Guard and it was originally played to boost morale before a battle
- One of the reasons they wear red tunics was to make it more difficult for the enemy to count the number of soldiers during attacks
- The guards will ignore tourists even when stood in front of them!
- The guardsman have all fought in conflicts across the world and they volunteer for guard duty
- A daily inspection takes place at 4PM this is said to be because in 1894 Queen Victoria made a surprise visit to the Household Cavalry and found them drunk, so to avoid this happening again, the daily 4PM inspection was put in place and still happens to this day!
