Skip to main content
London Tickets
‌
‌
‌
‌
‌

Buckingham Palace Garden is the largest private garden in London, stretching across 39 acres behind the Palace. Once reserved for the Royal Family and official events, the garden opens to visitors on select Buckingham Palace experiences, offering a rare chance to explore its landscaped grounds. Wander past the Rose Garden, lake, herbaceous borders, and tennis court, and finish with views back towards the Palace. Unlike the State Rooms, the garden is an outdoor experience, so it gives you a different perspective on royal life and the scale of the Palace estate.

Quick overview

  • Access: Included with every State Rooms ticket. There's no way to visit the gardens without booking a State Rooms entry.
  • Separate ticket: Not applicable. Garden access isn't sold as a standalone product or add-on.
  • Visit duration: The route is roughly a half-mile walk from the garden to the exit, taking about 7–10 minutes — though most visitors spend closer to 30–45 minutes.
  • Best time to visit: Summer opening only, 9 July to 27 September 2026. Book early July or September for smaller crowds, since July-August is peak season.
  • Physical requirements: A long outdoor gravel path leads through the garden to the exit, so wear comfortable shoes. No stairs on this stretch, but there's no seating along the route.

Things to know before booking your tickets to access the Palace Gardens

  • Access is seasonal: Access to the Palace Garden is not a year-round opportunity. The Garden is exclusively open to the public during the annual Summer Opening of Buckingham Palace (July to September).
  • Not every ticket includes it: Choose the State Rooms option specifically if you wish to access the Palace Gardens. If you pick the Royal Mews instead, you won't get garden access at all — the two aren't interchangeable.
  • No variants to choose between: Unlike some add-ons, the garden route doesn't have different versions or upgrade tiers. Every State Rooms ticket includes the same walk through the garden to the exit.
  • Physical restrictions: The garden stretch is flat gravel, with no stairs, but there's a fair bit of walking and nowhere to sit along the route. Combined with the State Rooms, plan for 1.5–2 hours on your feet.
  • Booking lead time: State Rooms tickets are timed and sell out, especially August dates and weekends. Book at least 2-3 weeks ahead if you have specific dates in mind.
  • Timed slots: Entry is locked to a 15-minute window. Miss it, and re-entry isn't guaranteed — arrive early.
  • Age notes: Under-5s enter free but still need a booked ticket.

Is it worth it?

What you lose if you skip it: From outside the railings, Buckingham Palace is a façade and a gate. The garden route is the only place the visit shows you the other side — the lake, the west front from across the water, and the 39 acres that make this a working private residence, not just a museum front. That view of the Palace doesn't exist anywhere else in London.

Your ticket options explained

TicketGarden accessWhy go for it?Price from
The State Rooms Tickets

Yes

The simplest way in — just the State Rooms and garden, no add-ons to plan around or pay extra for.

£33

Buckingham Palace Ticket

Yes, if your pick State Rooms

Flexible if you're undecided between State Rooms and the Royal Mews — book one ticket type and choose your site closer to the date.

£14

State Rooms + Royal Walking Tour

Yes

Turns your visit into a fuller royal morning — a guided walk past St James's Palace and the Mall before you go inside.

£53.46

State Rooms + Changing the Guard Tour

Yes

One booking covers the ceremony and the Palace interior, so you're not juggling two separate tickets and timings.

£61

Buckingham Palace & Windsor Castle Full-Day Tour

Yes

Best if you only have one day in London but want two royal residences covered without arranging your own transport.

£125

Royal Mews Tickets

No

Go for this if carriages, working stables, and royal horses interest you more than the State Rooms themselves

£18

Changing the Guard Ceremony

No

Ideal if the ceremony is your priority and you don't want (or don't have time for) a full Palace visit.

£14

Westminster Abbey, Big Ben & Buckingham Palace Guided Tour

No

Good for a first orientation walk past London's big royal landmarks without committing to any single entry ticket yet.

£55.64

Changing the Guard + King's Gallery + optional Royal Mews

No

Suits visitors more drawn to the current King's Gallery exhibition than the State Rooms this season.

£65

How to best experience the Palace Gardens

Exploring the Palace Gardens

Once you step out of the State Rooms, you're in the one part of the visit where photography is finally allowed — and the Buckingham Palace lake, not the Palace itself, is the view most visitors remember. Look for the wildlife on its island, not just the water, and the walk becomes far more than a route to the exit.

The path ends at a gate onto Grosvenor Place, roughly half a mile and 7–8 minutes from the lawn. There's no rushing this stretch — it's gravel, gently sloped, and the last chance to look back at the Palace before you're back on a regular London street.

Historical & cultural significance

The garden most visitors credit to Capability Brown wasn't entirely his. In the 1760s, Brown drew up an ambitious scheme for Buckingham House — an oval lake ringed by dense groves of trees. The lake was never built, though his tree belts were planted and some still stand today. The garden as it exists now is a different man's work entirely: botanist William Townsend Aiton, better known for running the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, was brought in by George IV in 1825 to lay out grounds for the newly rebuilt palace. Aiton dug the lake, shaped the lawns, and built it all as a private retreat — sealed off from a city that had no view of what was inside.

That seclusion lasted only a few decades. In 1868, Queen Victoria hosted the first Garden Party on these lawns, turning a private retreat into a stage for public ceremony. The tradition never stopped: three Garden Parties are still held here each summer, each welcoming around 8,000 guests onto the same grass Aiton's design meant no outsider would ever reach. Walk it today and you're tracing that same shift — a garden built for privacy, still doing double duty as a public stage nearly two centuries later.

​Explore the full history of Buckingham Palace.

Know before you go

Frequently asked questions about the Buckingham Palace Garden

No. Only tickets that include State Rooms entry offer garden access. Royal Mews, King's Gallery, and Changing the Guard-only tickets don't include it.

More reads

‌
‌