Visiting the Houses of Parliament
Which entrance, and how to find it
There is one visitor entrance and it is called Cromwell Green. You will find it on St Margaret Street, on the western side of the building, below the bronze statue of Oliver Cromwell that gives the green its name. The postcode is SW1A 0AA. It is a gated ramp rather than a door in a wall, which catches people out on their first visit.
Westminster Underground station is directly across the road, served by the Jubilee, Circle and District lines. Exit 4 puts you on Parliament Square, which is where most guided trips gather, and Exit 2 puts you on Victoria Embankment. If your booking says the George V statue, that is on Abingdon Street opposite the entrance — the same road, a little further south.
What security is actually like
Everyone goes through the same screening, and it is airport style: you and your bag both go through an x-ray. The published average wait is up to thirty minutes, and closer to forty-five on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons when the building is busiest. Arrive twenty minutes before your slot and none of that will matter.
Three things to get right before you leave your hotel:
- Photo identification. Bring a passport or national ID card. You will be asked for it and there is no way round that.
- Bag size. Anything larger than 60 by 40 centimetres is refused, and there is no storage on site. Use a left-luggage office at a mainline station if you are travelling between trains.
- Sharp objects and flags. Both are refused at the door, which surprises people carrying a small penknife on a keyring.
Once you are through you are given a visitor badge, and you wear it for the whole visit.
When you can actually get in
This is the part most first-time visitors get wrong, because the building does not keep museum hours. Tours run on Saturdays throughout the year. On weekdays they run only when the House of Commons is in recess and the chambers are empty. There are no Sunday tours at all.
In 2026 the recess windows are 13 to 22 February, 27 March to 12 April, 22 to 31 May, 17 July to 31 August, 16 September to 11 October, and 18 December to 3 January 2027. The summer window is by far the widest, at six full weeks.
The five ways in, and what each costs
Parliament sells its own tickets, and operators sell guided trips that include entry. They are different products at different prices, and the honest comparison looks like this.
| Way in | Price | Length | Who it suits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Official audio tour | from £31, one child free per adult | 90 minutes | Independent visitors and families |
| Official guided tour | £34 adult | 90 minutes | Anyone who wants a person, not a handset |
| Free tour through your MP | free, UK residents only | about 75 minutes | Residents who can plan three months ahead |
| Public gallery | free, everyone | as long as you like | Anyone who wants the building at work |
| Guided trip with the Abbey | from $75 | up to 4 hours | Visitors with one Westminster morning |
Official prices published by UK Parliament and checked in August 2026; operator fares are starting prices and move with demand.
The two free routes nobody uses enough
If you live in the UK, your own MP can book you a free guided tour, up to three months ahead. You do not need to know them, meet them, or have voted for them. It is a constituency service and it takes one email. The tour is about seventy-five minutes and is led by the same in-house guides who run the paid ones.
The second route is open to everybody, resident or not: the public galleries. When either House is sitting you can queue, pass through the same security and sit above the chamber watching a debate, for nothing. The Lords is much easier to get into than the Commons and every bit as interesting to see in use. The House of Commons page explains what you will be looking at.
What you will see once you are inside
The route runs about fifteen stops and takes ninety minutes at a comfortable pace. You start in Westminster Hall, which was begun in 1097 and roofed between 1393 and 1402, then walk up through St Stephen's Hall to Central Lobby, and on into both debating chambers. The full route sets out what is in each room.
Photography is allowed in Westminster Hall, St Stephen's Hall and New Palace Yard, and nowhere else. Put your phone away at the top of the Westminster Hall steps and you will not be corrected by anyone.
If you need step-free access
Most of the route is step-free, and the Cromwell Green ramp is wide enough for a large motorised wheelchair. There are steps at either end of St Stephen's Hall and a lift bypasses them. Wheelchairs can be borrowed on the day, thirty induction loops are kept for visitors, and an accessible Changing Places toilet sits off Central Lobby. The tour-by-tour detail is on accessible visits.
What to do with the rest of the day
Westminster Abbey is ninety seconds across Parliament Square and wants two hours of its own. The Churchill War Rooms are five minutes up King Charles Street and want at least two and a half. Both are ticketed separately, and both fill up, so decide before you arrive rather than at the gate.
If you want the cheapest good afternoon in Westminster, walk. St James's Park is at the end of Birdcage Walk, Buckingham Palace closes the view at the far side of it, and Horse Guards Parade and Downing Street sit between the two. Several of the listed walking trips cover exactly that ground with a Blue Badge guide, which is the highest qualification a guide can hold in Britain.
How long to allow altogether
Ninety minutes inside, twenty for security, and a few more to find your meeting point. Two hours door to door for an official tour; closer to four if you take one of the guided trips that adds Westminster Abbey. If you are trying to fit the Churchill War Rooms in as well, you are looking at a full day rather than a morning, and the questions page covers the sequencing.
For the practical reference before you travel, Houses of Parliament London tour sets out the entrance, the queue and the calendar in one place. Entry tickets compares the timed-entry options, the questions page answers what comes up most, and traveller reviews say what each morning was actually like.
Tours that fit this trip
Chosen for what this post covers rather than for what sells.
