Trifter

The visit to Buckingham Palace has three possible destinations: the Royal Mews, Queen’s Gallery and the real Buckingham Palace. You can choose to view only one, two or all three.

The Royal Mews

The visit to the Royal Mews is possible all year round, with the exception of some special days between April and June. Once inside, you can see three, four horses in their boxes, and the beautiful Gold State Coach, the royal carriage for excellence, built in 1762, all covered with gold leaf that adorns all the decorations (flowers, statues …) , about a dozen of other cars, mostly built between the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, two, three super luxury cars. In addition, there are several signs that explain the daily life in the stables, as they are born, people who work there, and you can see the various liveries of employees and the saddles and harnesses used in the stables.

The Queen’s Gallery

The Art Gallery, open all year, consists of two sections. The first accepts a temporary exhibition (in August, the performance of several drawings by Leonardo da Vinci). Second section is devoted to works of various kinds: paintings, statues, furniture, clocks …
Frankly, none of that.

Buckingham Palace

And this is the highlight of the visit and perhaps the only one who deserves it. E visits only between August and September, when the Queen does not reside at the palace. Visiting some of the halls of the huge building, or those of representation. The price of the ticket is provided an audio, very well done, that you will visit the best salt. It ranges from the Throne Room to the ballroom, the dining room of representation at Gallery … and it’s all a glittering with mirrors, marble, gilded stucco, cornices sparkling, crystal chandeliers, in admiration of the portraits of various members of the royal family , chairs, statues, busts, Silverware, desks, pianos and tapestries, with muffled steps from a beautiful red carpet everywhere … in short, a royal palace with all the rules!

Now, we come to the painful note: the price!

Arrived at the tent in the park opposite the building, which makes the tickets, I decided to buy the tickets for all three places, saying: “If I could only see Buckingham Palace to my fourth visit to London better take advantage and see everything, otherwise who knows how long I’ll have to wait to be able to revisit, “Well, come in front of the cashier, I ask all three tickets. The fact that Titian has widened his eyes to me and I have asked “Are you sure?” Perhaps I should have come up with some suspicion. But you know, was the first day in London, I was still taking all the excitement of the trip and then, right there, I thought that he had not understood what I had said, because my English is not bad but not even Oxford! I decide to pay by credit card e.. Boom! The blow! 23 pounds! More or less 35 euros! By now the damage was done, the printed receipt and the only sign, alas! Luckily my father never complains if I charge “cultural” But, cabbage, 23 pounds is too much! I understand that the Queen has to scrape together money, because for some years now she pays taxes, I understand well that it must pay the restoration of Windsor Castle, half-ruined by a fire some years ago … but this is a robbery!

The value for money really goes down the drain.

The royal stables are nothing special and you pay 5 pounds (7.50 million): Recommended only for those who have a passion for truly extravagant carriages and horses.
Even the Queen’s Gallery is not really worth a visit. 6 pounds (9 million) for works that you can not define certain lofty, seem to me too much.

Buckingham Palace is very nice but the entrance fee is no less than 12 pounds (18 euros).

Now, do not think I’m a stingy, far from it. Especially for Museums & co., Spend and spread out. But this is not really worth it, considering that just a few kilometers of the village, for free, the British Museum and National Gallery respectively the sum of archeology and of European painting. My advice is to forget the Queen’s Gallery, not worth it, to visit the Royal Mews where only horses and carriages are your passion and the Palace, if you have a passion for the English royal family, or if, at the end stay in London, where progress of time and money.

Incidentally, all three parties that comprise Buckingham Palace are equipped shop, where you can find really everything. Guides, prints, postcards, mugs, plates, food (including from Prince Charles Highgrove estate, whose proceeds go to charity) … with some lapses of taste, as the cups with the face of Prince William, created at the his twenty-first birthday … I imagine that if you buy almost all teenagers are British (or maybe even some foreigners). In short, the perfect machine for making money that, in my opinion, further diminishing the enamel of the Royal Family, already chipped bad from various scandals and gaffes.

You go to Buckingham Palace, if you really have seen everything in London, but then do not say that I had not warned!

Useful Sites:

www.royal.gov.uk the official website of the British royal family
www.the-royal-collection.com the official website of merchandising real

www.the-royal-collection.com/royaltickets the site to buy tickets online for royal residences. Useful to know the dates of opening.