London Morning Tour: Royal Wedding Procession Route and Changing of the Guard Ceremony

London, United Kingdom

To commemorate the Royal Wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton, your London morning tour will follow the route that the Royal Wedding Procession took on April 29, 2011 from Clarence House to Westminster Abbey. See the famous Changing of the Guard ceremony outside Buckingham Palace, then spend the afternoon exploring London at your leisure.

Your morning tour of London begins with a panoramic drive up to Kensington Palace, once home to Princess Diana. Nearby you will see the stunning Royal Albert Hall - where famous London concerts are hosted, and the historic Albert Memorial. Continue through London to Trafalgar Square, passing Whitehall and the Prime Minister's residence on Downing Street. On arrival at Parliament Square you'll see more top London attractions including the Big Ben clock, the Houses of Parliament and the magnificent Westminster Abbey, where Prince William and Kate Middleton were married by the Archbishop of Canterbury.

After tracing the route of the Royal Wedding Procession, your morning tour will head to St. James' Park and Buckingham Palace to see the famous Changing of the Guard ceremony. Accompanied by a military band, soldiers from the Queen's Foot Guard march to Buckingham Palace in their familiar red tunics and bearskin hats. This the oldest ceremony linked to Buckingham Palace, and it is truly representative of the colorful pomp and ceremony that make the British Royal Family so fascinating..

Your tour finishes in Trafalgar Square, conveniently located in the heart of central London so you can continue your afternoon sightseeing independently.

USD $45.82

Traveler Reviews

Review by: Anna F	January 2012
This tour was EXCELLENT! The guide was very informative and knew exactly where to get good pictures. We all enjoyed this tour 110%.

Review by: Veronica M	August 2011
My 7 year old daughter and I went on this tour and I was really disappointed. Often times, we were so far away from the point of interest, i.e. Kensington or Buckingham Palace that trying to get a good photo was difficult. We ended up getting off the bus at Buckingham Palace and not finishing the remainder of the tour. Also, the Changing of the Guard didn't take place that day. Honestly, I would not do this tour and I love to do tours. Put your money towards purchasing an entry ticket to Buckingham Palace or something else and skip this tour...you will thank me later :-)

Review by: Susan G	August 2011
This is a drive by tour not a real tour. It would have been nice to see the inside of any of the historic buildings.

Review by: thehollandsinarabia	July 2011
The trip wasn't as we expected and didn't really focus on the Royal Wedding. It was more of a general tour of London with a brief stop by Kensington and Buckingham Palaces. The guide wasn't very pleasant either

Review by: Gabriele J	July 2011
In general it was a delightful tour with a knowledgable and witty tour guide (Trudy). However, as far as the "Changing of the Guard Ceremony" goes the tour was a hoax. We were led to a place were we could witness a couple of guards marching to Buckingham Palace but we did see nothing of the ceremony nor had the opportunity to enjoy the musical aspects of the event. Since for us this had been the main reason for chosing this tour it was clearly a waste of time and money.

Review by: ALFREDO M M	July 2011
ONLY THE PICK-UP AT A HOTEL NEAR MINE, WAS A FIASCO.THE TOUR BUS AND GUIDER WAS VERY GOOD.

Review by: Bev	June 2011
Our tour guide Richard was wonderful. His knowledge was amazing and he positioned us to gain the most visibility for the events.

Review by: Gavan D	May 2011
Good tour, except just dropped of about as far away from our Hotel as could be. Apart from that good

Review by: Bob	May 2011
Great, Chrissy was a outstanding tour guide.

Review by: RANDY LP	March 2011
My first morning and first tour in London. Made it to scheduled p/u only to find the tour had been cancelled on me. Was not happy and rating would have been 1 star if not for tour guide Chrissy who was very apologetic, understanding and helpful in replacing tour with hop on hop off tour which I think turned out to be better anyway. Good job Chrissy - thanks!

Review by: Sandra Yoder	March 2011
Tour was great.

Review by: Ed	January 2011
This was an enjoyable tour. We used this tour to orient ourselves to London. The tour guide was very informative and seemed to love her job.

Review by: Vincent B	December 2010
A good tour although we did not see the actual changing of the guards.

Review by: mars	November 2010
Total waste of time. Very Dissatisfied. Spent most of the morning picking up from other hotels only to be taken to the bus terminal where we waited another 30 minutes. Only spent about 45 minutes actually touring the city. Guide was very snippy and did not provide much information. I was under the impression we would be able to see the Changin of the Guard Ceremony at the palace gates. Wrong. . . . we only got as close as across the street and was told that was all we needed to see was the guards as they came down the street to and from the palace.

Review by: idma	November 2010
Very good tour.

Review by: Lisa W	October 2010
This was a very disappointing experience with the tour company booked through Viator. Their customer service was very poor. I gave them every opportunity to make the situation right but to no avail with either company. Unfortunately, money ruled over service.

Review by: Lisa W	October 2010
This was the worst experience I've ever had. I would never recommend this tour to anyone. Won't use them again!

Review by: Rebecca P	October 2010
Very enjoyable short tour which took in as many sights as we had time for. Our guide Phil was extremely knowledgeable, pleasant and very accommodating. Highly recommend if you don't have time for long tours.

Review by: Christine F	October 2010
Wonderful!

Review by: Joan C	September 2010
This was a joke. Our guide ran us all over, no time to even keep up. Going to Buckingham Palace was a joke, 5 minutes for pictures and run back to bus. We were informed that the "Changing of the Guard Ceremony" only goes every two days and that it was not going to happen that day. Instead we watched the changing of the horses. The horse thing was interesting but what a waste of a morning, so fast and furious we could not enjoy it.

Review by: Sean H	September 2010
Missed it due to the weather.

Review by: Anonymous, Canada	July 2010
With the little time we had available for visiting,this tour provided us exactly with what we wanted to see and more. Should you book this tour,hope you get Trevor as your guide,Very informative and entertaining.

Review by: KARYN B	July 2010
Great tour for the whole family. It was a perfect way to spend the morning.

Review by: Tom W, United States of America	June 2010
Excellent guide saved the tour when the changing of the guard was canceled because it was the opening of Parliament and the Queen's speech. With Westminster and the area around the Palace blocked traffic, the guide directed the driver to a spot near Pall Mall where we exited and had a front row to the pageantry of the Queen going from the Palace to Westminster.

Review by: Christine B, United States of America	June 2010
This was a Perfect day. The London Morning Tour was very informative and we had the best tour guide ever!! To experience the changing of the guard was far more emotional than we ever expected it would be. We were within 25 feet of the guard. It was one of the best experiences of our entire trip to Europe.

Review by: Thomas W	June 2010
Excellent guide saved the tour when the changing of the guard was canceled because it was the opening of Parliament and the Queen's speech. With Westminster and the area around the Palace blocked traffic, the guide directed the driver to a spot near Pall Mall where we exited and had a front row to the pageantry of the Queen going from the Palace to Westminster.

Review by: Anonymous, Australia	November 2009
We were very happy with this tour as we had only a very limited time in London and yet managed to see a great many of the attractions with a very informed commentary. Our tour guide was friendly and courteous, and he stayed with us when we were viewing the Changing of the Guard and explained things to us. We were very impressed with this as we had been on a tour the day before where the tour guide left us when we were viewing the attractions. We only wished that we had time to do the afternoon tour, which would have completed the tour of London and we would have seen the remainder of the sights which time did not permit us to see on this morning tour. We would recommend this tour to first-time visitors to London with limited time.

Review by: Anonymous, United States of America	October 2009
This tour had a lot packed into a half day. The highlight was the Changing of the Guard, and our guide led us to the best spots for viewing!

Review by: Patricia G	October 2009
Of all our tours we took in London, this one was disappointing. Had we been told that the changing of the guard is every other day, we could have switched plans and been able to see this. Instead we viewed the changing of the horse guard, which was nice, but not what we were expecting. Also we didn't enter any of the buildings, just saw them from the bus or walked by them. I would only recopmmend this tour for first time visitors to London who wanted only a quick view of the city.

Review by: SHRISTIKA S	October 2009
The tour was Ok, due to cycling activities half of london streets closed, the tour was rather rushed.

Review by: Anonymous	September 2009
with less people and more attractions, the trip would be much more interesting.

Review by: Lorraine T, United States of America	August 2009
Our guide was knowledgeable, funny and very pleasant.

Review by: Kathie O	August 2009
What we really wanted to see was the changing of the guard. The tour guide led us to a spot to watch but apparently didn't know they were not doing it that day or at least not at that time. I wish we had known sooner.

Review by: VANIA B	July 2009
The tour was organized, but I don't think it was worth. I didn't like it.

Review by: Anonymous, United States of America	May 2009
This was worth doing.

Review by: Melissa G, United States of America	April 2009
Our guide was knowledgeable and funny. She had great background stories and tips for spending our time when the tour was over. Our guide did a great job getting us placed for the entrance of the guards at Buckingham Palace and then taking us to the general area for the actual changing ceremony. The place is complete chaos and only for dedicated fans but it's exciting to have been where so many people aspire to be. The only disappointing part was that the description of the tour mentioned Westminster Abbey and Big Ben and we never got close to these sights. In fact, we didn't get close to the river at all. We did, however, have a bit of time outside St. Paul's Cathedral with great tips from the guide regarding the best vantage point for photos. Overall, a great tour worth doing if your time in London is limited.

Review by: Peter V	December 2008
The morning tour only passed a couple of highlights of London. The tour included viewing St Pauls Cathedral and the Changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace. The viewing of St. Pauls Cathedral took more than a hour and the time to spend at the Changing of the Guards about 45 minutes which resulted in a remaining time of a little more than a hour to see the rest of London. Too short if you want to see more highlights of London. We found the blue guide on the tour somebody who thought he was very good in giving the tour. A more than a bit "we are the best attitude", which we found annoying. Shortly an expensive tour for a lot of bla, bla by the blue guide and a little of London.

Review by: Ashley C, United States of America	September 2008
I enjoyed the tour. Thank you!

Review by: John T, Australia	September 2008
Change Abbey to Saint Paul's. We did not see the Abbey. The guide was first rate on the this and Saint Paul's was a the very good highlight. The changing of the guard, the only view we got of this was seeing the incoming guard coming down the street. The actual change over could not be seen.

Review by: Raymond M	September 2008
This was terribly disappointing. The 3 hour Morning tour was made even slower by London's non-stop bumper-to-bumper traffic. Adding to the tediousness, the tour guide was extremely droll with her dull explanation of what we were supposed to be looking at. Inside the bus all the windows were closed making it stuffy. We desperately needed to roll down the windows, but couldn't for some reason. Nonetheless, we finally got a break. Half way through the bus stopped for a rest break, and so did we. We got off and didn't get back on. We preferred to walk the rest of the tour which is what we should have done in the first place. The next day, we took the "Big Bus Tour," Hop-on-Hop-off which was much better. I cannot recommend the morning tour.

Review by: Anonymous, United States of America	August 2008
Guide was wonderful and great with my kids. Very helpful with questions. Only complaint would be the lack of organization at the meeting point when preparing to leave. We had no idea who or where exactly to meet our guide.

Review by: Lynn C, United States of America	July 2008
Our guide was awesome and the trip was great. It's true it was a little rushed, but we had a lot to see in a short time period. The guide was very informative and a lot of fun. It was a great tour.

Review by: Anonymous	July 2008
I wish we went to see Tower instead. It was OK, but nothing extraordinary.

Review by: Anonymous, Australia	June 2008
I found this short tour of London great. The guide was fantastic with providing knowledgeable insights about London city and the places we visited. If you are time poor in London then this is a good tour for you, as it shows you the basics. Was very easy to located the meeting point. Enjoy your tour!

Review by: Anonymous, United States of America	June 2008
Excellent!

Review by: Richard S	March 2008
This is not much of a city tour. It's actually very disappointing; from the time we left, the tour was only two and a half hours, rather than the advertised three and a half.

Review by: Debbie H, Canada	November 2007
This was a very informative tour. The guide we had at the Abbey was fantastic.

Review by: Melissa M, United States of America	August 2007
Gives a good overview of the sites of London. Good commentary and well organized.