London Travel Guide
Royal London
A thousand years of monarchy, mapped — where kings were crowned, imprisoned and buried, where the Crown Jewels live, how to watch the guards, and the palaces and castles to add when you have more time.
No city tells the story of a monarchy like London. Here you can stand where William the Conqueror was crowned, see the regalia used at the 2023 coronation, walk the green where queens were executed and watch soldiers guard the King's residence in bearskins and scarlet. Royal London is a story best followed in order, from fortress to abbey to palace. This is the route.
The Tower of London: power and the Crown Jewels. Begin where the Norman kings began. William the Conqueror built the White Tower in the years after 1066 to dominate the city, and for centuries the Tower was a royal palace, fortress, armoury, mint and prison. Today it guards the Crown Jewels in the Jewel House: St Edward's Crown, used at the moment of crowning, the Imperial State Crown, the Sovereign's Sceptre with its vast diamond, and the orb and other coronation regalia. Go at opening and visit the jewels first, then join a Yeoman Warder tour for the stories — the Princes in the Tower, Anne Boleyn on Tower Green, the prisoners' graffiti, and the ravens. If you can, book the Ceremony of the Keys, the nightly locking of the gates.
Westminster Abbey: crownings and burials. The Abbey has been the coronation church since William's own crowning on Christmas Day 1066, and King Charles III became the fortieth reigning monarch crowned there in May 2023. See the Coronation Chair, made for Edward I and still used at coronations; the shrine of Edward the Confessor, the saint-king whose church this was; the Lady Chapel of Henry VII; the shared tomb of Elizabeth I and Mary I; and the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Galleries high in the triforium. Royal weddings and funerals have also filled the nave. Remember: no sightseeing on Sundays.
Buckingham Palace and the guards. The sovereign's London residence has been the monarchy's headquarters since Queen Victoria moved in in 1837. The ceremony of Changing the Guard takes place in the forecourt on scheduled mornings, with the Foot Guards in their bearskins and a military band; check the Household Division's calendar and arrive early, or watch the march along Birdcage Walk and The Mall. The palace's State Rooms open to visitors for a limited summer season, and the Royal Mews and the King's Gallery offer further glimpses when open. Nearby, at Horse Guards Parade, the Household Cavalry stands guard on horseback and changes daily.
St James's and Whitehall. St James's Palace, the Tudor palace built by Henry VIII, remains the senior royal palace and the official seat of the court, though it is not open to visitors; its red-brick gatehouse is a fine sight from Pall Mall. Down Whitehall, the Banqueting House is the surviving fragment of the great Palace of Whitehall, with its Rubens ceiling and the window outside which Charles I was executed in 1649. The Churchill War Rooms, nearby, tell the story of a twentieth-century crisis when the monarchy and Parliament stood together.
St Paul's Cathedral: national celebrations. Not a coronation church, but the stage for royal thanksgivings, jubilees and the 1981 royal wedding, St Paul's adds the City's perspective: royal and national pageantry in Wren's great Baroque church.
When you have more time: the palaces beyond. Kensington Palace, in Kensington Gardens, was Queen Victoria's birthplace and childhood home and is now a museum of royal life and fashion. Hampton Court Palace, up the Thames, is Henry VIII's magnificent Tudor palace with its kitchens, Great Hall and maze, joined to a later Baroque wing by Wren. Windsor Castle, about an hour west by train, is the oldest and largest occupied castle in the world, with State Apartments, St George's Chapel — burial place of many monarchs, including Elizabeth II — and its own Changing the Guard. Each deserves most of a day.
Reading the guards. The five regiments of Foot Guards look alike at first glance, but you can tell them apart. The Grenadier Guards wear their tunic buttons singly with a white plume on the left of the bearskin; the Coldstream Guards wear buttons in pairs with a red plume on the right; the Scots Guards wear buttons in threes with no plume; the Irish Guards wear buttons in fours with a blue plume; and the Welsh Guards wear buttons in fives with a white-and-green plume. Spotting the regiment of the day is a good game for children, and for adults too.
Royal London with children. The Tower is the star for families — armour, ravens, battlements and gleefully gory stories from the Yeoman Warders. Changing the Guard is best watched along the march route rather than at the packed railings. Kensington Palace sits beside the Diana Memorial Playground, and Hampton Court's maze and Tudor kitchens are a hit. Keep the Abbey short with older children, and use the family audio guides where available.
A royal two-day route. Day one: the Tower at opening and the Crown Jewels, a Thames boat to Westminster, the Abbey in the afternoon. Day two: Changing the Guard on a scheduled morning, St James's Park, the Banqueting House or Churchill War Rooms, and the National Portrait Gallery's royal portraits by Trafalgar Square. Add Kensington Palace, Hampton Court or Windsor on a third day.
Royal calendar notes. State occasions can close or alter access to the Abbey, the guard ceremonies and the palaces at short notice, and the summer opening of Buckingham Palace is time-limited and pre-booked. Check official calendars close to your visit, and book the Tower and the Abbey ahead. Then let the story unfold in the order it happened: conquest, coronation and the living ceremonies of a monarchy that still performs its history in public.