The Houses of Parliament with Kids
Is it worth it with children?
For a child who has met any of this at school, standing in the room they have seen on television lands better than any museum display. The route is ninety minutes, mostly on the flat, with three rooms that hold attention: the medieval hall, the green chamber and the gold one. That is a manageable shape for a family morning.
The honest caveat is the queue. Security takes up to thirty minutes and there is nowhere to sit in it. Go first thing, bring something to occupy the wait, and the rest of the visit is straightforward.
What it costs for a family
| Option | Adult | Child | Age notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Official audio tour | from £31 | one free per paying adult | Children's version available |
| Official guided tour | £34 | £18, ages 5–15 | Under 5 free |
| Elizabeth Tower climb | £55 | £35, ages 11–17 | Minimum age 11, no exceptions |
| Public gallery | free | free | No ticket needed on sitting days |
| Listed entry ticket | from $42 | youth pricing offered | Wheelchair accessible |
Official prices published by UK Parliament and checked in August 2026.
The audio tour is the family option
One child free with every full-paying adult is the single best value in Westminster, and there is a version of the commentary recorded for children rather than a shortened adult one. It also lets you set your own pace, which matters more with a seven-year-old than any amount of commentary. You can skip a room, double back, or stop in Westminster Hall while everyone else moves on.
Practical things worth knowing before you go
- Pushchairs. Several listed trips do not admit them, and the fully guided combination excludes them outright. Check before you book — accessible visits has the trip-by-trip table.
- Bag size. The 60 by 40 centimetre limit applies to changing bags too. Pack small.
- Photo ID. Adults need it. Children generally do not, but take it if you have it.
- Toilets. There are facilities inside, including an accessible Changing Places toilet off Central Lobby, roughly halfway round.
- Food. There is a cafe inside. The guided combinations take their break outside, on Tothill Street or at the Abbey shop.
What holds a child's attention, room by room
Westminster Hall works because it is enormous and because the stories are gruesome: Guy Fawkes was tried on that floor. The Commons chamber works because it is on television. The Lords chamber works because it is gold. Central Lobby, honestly, does not, so keep moving through it.
The brass floor plaques in Westminster Hall are the best thing in the building for a child who likes finding things. Photography is allowed there, which helps.
Big Ben, and the age limit that catches families out
The Elizabeth Tower tour is for ages eleven and over. There is no exception and no younger version, because it is 334 steps with no lift and the bells are loud enough that ear defenders are handed out. If you have a ten-year-old who wants the tower, come back. What you can do instead is stand on Parliament Square at the hour and listen to the quarters and the strike, which costs nothing. Big Ben and the Elizabeth Tower has the booking detail.
Making the queue painless
The security queue is the only genuinely hard part of this visit with a child, and it is solvable. Go at opening rather than mid-morning; the wait grows through the day and Monday to Wednesday afternoons are the slowest of the week. Have the photo ID out before you reach the front, and keep the bag small enough that it goes through in one pass.
Once you are inside there is no more queuing. The route is continuous, mostly flat, and you can stop wherever you like if you are carrying a handset rather than following a guide.
If the tower is booked out
Elizabeth Tower tickets are released in batches and sell out fast, so there is a good chance the answer for your dates is no. The consolation is free and genuinely good: stand on Parliament Square a few minutes before the hour and listen. The four quarter bells play first, then the Great Bell strikes. Children who have been told the bell has a name tend to be more impressed by hearing it than by climbing towards it.
Which trips work with children
The timed entry ticket is the flexible one and states that it is wheelchair accessible. The private black cab is the choice for a jetlagged family with one day, because it collects you from your hotel and the fare covers up to six people between you. The fully guided combination is excellent and long: nearly four hours on your feet, with few chances to sit, which is a lot for a younger child.
London Parliament Tours sets them all side by side. Visitor information covers the entrance and the queue, entry tickets compares the timed-entry options including the youth fare, when Parliament sits has the dates that allow a weekday visit, traveller reviews say how families found each one, and the questions page answers the practical ones that come up with children in tow.
A realistic family morning
Arrive at Cromwell Green at opening. Thirty minutes through security, ninety inside, and out by late morning with everyone still cheerful. Cross Parliament Square for lunch, and if there is appetite left, Westminster Abbey is ninety seconds away and takes another two hours. Two buildings is a good day; three is a march.
Tours that fit this trip
Chosen for what this post covers rather than for what sells.
