London Parliament Tickets

Tour times, entrances and access verified by the London Parliament Tours team — last checked August 25, 2026

You do not need a guided tour to get inside the Houses of Parliament. A timed entry ticket puts you in the same rooms, on your own schedule, for a fraction of the fare. Here is what that buys you and when it is the wrong choice.

What a Parliament entry ticket actually is

It is a reserved slot, not a queue-and-hope. You book a time, a host meets you outside, you clear security and you walk the standard route with an audio handset. Two hours inside, at whatever pace you set.

The route is the same one every visit takes. Westminster Hall first, then St Stephen's Hall, Central Lobby, and both debating chambers. Nobody hurries you through any of it, and you can double back if you want to.

You can book entry this way here. The Vox City ticket is entry plus a handset in nine languages and a second audio walk outside. The Amigo listing offers a Parliament-only option alongside its Abbey combinations, which is useful if you have already seen the Abbey.

Why choose a ticket over a guided tour

It costs a great deal less

Entry starts at $42 against $165 for the fully guided combination. Parliament's own audio tour is cheaper still at £31, with one child free for every adult who pays.

You set the pace

Twenty minutes under the hammerbeam roof if that is what you want, or thirty seconds through Central Lobby. A guided group moves at the speed of twenty people; you move at yours.

It works in nine languages

English, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Chinese, British Sign Language, Welsh and Brazilian Portuguese. No live guided visit inside the chambers is offered in anything but English.

It is the step-free option

The ticket states wheelchair access, and the route inside is mostly level with a lift bypassing the steps at St Stephen's Hall. The fully guided combination cannot take a wheelchair at all.

You can sit down

Not in the chambers, where nobody sits, but you control when you stop. On a guided combination you are upright for close to four hours.

Tickets vs a guided tour: which gets you more?

The rooms are identical. What changes is who is talking, how long you are there and what you pay. Read the "inside" column first.

Official prices are set by Parliament and were checked in August 2026; the listed fare is the operator's own starting price.

Book a timed entry ticket

Put simply: a handset describes a room and a guide explains it. In Westminster Hall the handset is arguably better, because the room rewards standing still. In the House of Commons the guide wins, because almost everything interesting there is a convention rather than an object.

What you get, and what you do not

You get reserved entry, a host at the meeting point, the audio guide, both chambers, Westminster Hall and any applicable fees. On the Vox City ticket you also get the Political London app, which covers fifteen landmarks outside including Downing Street.

You do not get a live guide, headphones or a device for the outdoor app, Westminster Abbey, or Big Ben. The Elizabeth Tower is sold separately by Parliament at £55, is for ages eleven and over and involves 334 steps. Nothing on this list includes it.

Planning a ticketed visit

Tours run on Saturdays throughout the year and Monday to Saturday during recess, so check your date against the calendar before anything else. Book early: Saturday slots and recess weeks sell out.

Bring photo identification and nothing larger than 60 by 40 centimetres. Arrive ten minutes before your slot; security averages up to thirty minutes and runs longer on Monday to Wednesday afternoons. Photography is limited to Westminster Hall, St Stephen's Hall and New Palace Yard.

One thing to read carefully at checkout: the Vox City listing shows two different cancellation windows on its own booking page. Check the terms you are agreeing to before you pay.

Who should choose something else

If you want somebody to answer your questions in the chambers, book the guided visit instead. A handset cannot tell you why the mace matters, and that is most of what makes the Commons interesting.

If you want Westminster Abbey on the same morning, a combined Abbey and Parliament tour handles the sequencing for you and finishes inside four hours. If you live in the UK, ask your MP for a free tour before you pay for anything — visiting Parliament for free explains how. And if your date falls on a sitting day, no ticket exists: the public gallery is open instead, and it is free.

For the practical detail either way, visitor information covers the entrance and the queue, and London Parliament building tour compares every bookable option.

Frequently asked questions