Changing the Guard | Buckingham Palace / Dates & Times

About Changing the Guard

• The Queen's Guard
• Where, when & why
• The ceremony
• Best spots to watch

Troop Movements

Maps and details of troop movements before, during and after the ceremony to help you see more.

Visiting With Children

How the, kids can see the Guards, hear the Bands play and avoid the huge crowds in front of the Buckingham Palace

Walk With The Guards

Changing of the Guard spans three locations – Buckingham Palace, St James’s Palace and Wellington Barracks.

Changing the Guard Schedule Updates

Schedules for Changing the Guard at Buckingham Palace can change, sometimes at short notice, when the Guards are required for operational or other ceremonial duties, or as a result of road closures.

We use Facebook, Twitter and G + to share updates. LIKE US to get the latest information.

Wet Weather Cancellations

Changing the Guard can sometimes be cancelled, especially in wet weather.

The decision to cancel can be made, by the Captain of the Guard , sometimes as late as 10:45 on the day.

This means we cannot update our website in time to help people en-route or already at the Palace.

Provisional Dates

The dates shown in the calendar above have been confirmed by the British Army.

On the 16th January 2017 times and alternate day winter schedule was changed for a trial period of 3 months with roads around the Palace closed to vehicular traffic during Guard Mount ceremony.

Provisional Dates, due to the uncertainty of the situation at the end of the current trial period, are not currently being published.

Updated information will be published on our website, and shared on Facebook , Twitter and Google+, as soon as it becomes available

Walk With The Guards

The Changing of the Guard ceremony takes place between three locations – Buckingham Palace, St James’s Palace and Wellington Barracks, information to help you see more than most visitors is in our website, but if you want to guarantee being in the right place at the right time read on.

To see the entire Guard Mount and end up in the right place at the right time we recommend the award winning Changing the Guard Walking Tour from Fun London Tours.

Fun London Tours, receives consistently excellent reviews on Trip Advisor and from our website visitors.

The well known travel writer, Laura Porter, recommended this tour in About.com, and it was recently featured on video by the Londonist.

On a Changing the Guard Walking Tour, Matt's unique mixture of knowledge, sense of fun and impeccable timing combine to create an experience to remember.

As an extra bonus you can save 10% on this fun packed tour by adding the discount code FUNGUARD10PC when you book a Changing the Guard Walking Tour.