Free. A great opportunity to see the horse guard working. A gentle reminder to be respectful and stay outside the box (lines on the ground) to not crowd the horse. Obviously no touching the horse or the guard. The guard may choose to make exceptions for small children and/or the disabled. You may ask the guard if it is ok to put money in their boot for charity. I did this and they agreed that I could lean in and tuck into the boot that they had on. I spoke quietly to the horse from a distance. It is not encouraged to bring food for the horses. read more

Horse Guards Parade - Majestic - Police Departments Near Me - London, XGL

Great cultural experience and less crowded than the changing of the guards. Go through the front gates to the courtyard, and you will get to see the horses entering the area. read more

- Friendly guards ‍, they even let the kids pet the horses .. - Not truly stroller friendly as the whole thing was on pea gravel but we were able to roll the stroller without the kids in it just fine - great activity for kids - fun walking distance from parliament and war rooms etc. read more

"If you are not too long, I will wait here for you all my life" - Oscar Wilde in London LOCATION: Westminster, London, England I was headed to Buckingham Palace, but took a detour when I followed my wanderlust and stumbled upon Horse Guards Parade, quite literally! Horse Guards Parade wasn't even on my bucket list, but it certainly should be on yours. What a magical experience I'll never forget! As I circled St. James Lake I noticed a ceremonial guard, on a ceremonial horse, prancing around, and headed to a ceremonial place, maybe? I immediately followed this living fairytale as my curiosity craved for a happy ending.. Suddenly we enter a large parade ground near Dover House and No. 10 Downing Street. I am standing quite literally with the entire Calvary Mounted Regiment. In between the immaculately groomed horses with breastplates glimmering in the sun... police and military are roaming the grounds with automatic weapons, yet not for a second did I feel threatened. Instead I felt at peace. Horse Guards is the building with a clock tower over an archway, and still is the official entrance to St James's and Buckingham Palace. Horse Guards dates from the 18th century and was designed by William Kent, the Chief Architect to King George II. And before I could count to 10 Downing... the ceremony begins. The crowd starts to magically form behind me. Indeed this bloke had front row seats to a tradition older than the New World! The pomp and circumstance is everything you'll find at the more famous Buckingham Palace changing of the guards ceremony. To me, being up close and personal, dodging horse poo, and not being shot made it even that much more real. No peeking behind the Buckingham Palace gates here. Yet, don't get carried away as one eager gent was yanked by the armed guards... I mean the idiot did walk into the path of the Calvary, so yeah lol. Fun Factoid: The guards are not permitted to smile or giggle while on duty. The punishment is £200 if one breaks the honor code. So not smiling is good here! :D In the end, I really enjoyed my time at Horse Guards Parade. The ceremony was off the pages of a storybook. And yes, this is the same regiment that performs the Trooping of Colour for the Queen's birthday in June. It's all about history! I was so up and personal here... and it's not only because I'm Duke of York or a crowned Knight... read more

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This is a pretty neat thing to watch. I highly recommend sticking around to watch the changing of the guards. It's not super long and you can look up the times in advance to plan to be around during that time. read more

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I actually prefer the Changing of the Guard ceremony here than the more popular one at Buckingham Palace. This one doesn't get as much hype as that one. But it's just as impressive a sight to see. read more

This is something I have never seen before!! When people see the Horse Guards on the street, people (majority tourists) start gather around on the side walk. Cameras everywhere... taking down the special moment. The horses are beautiful and elegant. When they pass by me..... naturally want to be respectful. ABSOLUTELY a must see when you are in London!! They only do that once a day so definitely check the time (around 11ish) and location where they will pass by. I bought Big Bus hop-on hop-off tour bus and they include 3 free walking tours with local tour guide. One of the tours is called "Royal London". We saw the Horse Guards Parade and Changing of the Guard. The tour guide knows the time and location. So we were very lucky to see them up close. read more

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Wow! Hubby and I had an unexpected surprise at the Horse Guards Parade while visiting the Household Calvary Museum. The military pageantry is stunning and the horses are beautiful. We were able to get very close to the action. Free to watch and wonderful treat! read more

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One of the nicer changing of the guards location in London. The crowds are reasonable although be prepared for a lot of "downtime" when nothing happens. read more

What an amazing venue. It's hard to beat a beach volleyball sand pit in the middle of the historic Horse Guards parade. Yes, the same venue where the Queen celebrates her birthday is now the Olympic venue for beach volleyball, bikinis and all. For those not distracted by the parade of dancing cheerleaders (Yes, this is the one Olympic event that has many scantily clad dancers in various forms of "beach wear" to entertain the crowd), the venue itself is beyond stunning. You have a great view of the historic Admiralty and even a decent view of the London Eye ferris wheel. Only in a city like London, could you stage beach volleyball in such a venue. It's so worth getting tickets...besides beach volleyball is a lot of fun too, and the crowd definitely gets into the game. The only down-side to the very centrally located venue (and sadly most of the other 2012 venues is a lack of sufficient food and beverage stands. Expect to queue and queue and queue to get a refreshing beverage or a a meal), on a positive the airport-like security to enter the venue was comparably a breeze. read more

Horse Guards Parade - Police Departments Near Me - London, XGL

This was my 4th time to London. I usually find myself missing the entire Changing of the Guard process or running after the Guards for a photo. I decided to splurge and booked a very reasonable tour ($25 per person) hosted by a Guide to see the Changing of the Guards. It was the BEST $25, I spent. My Mum and I pre-booked a private tour on Viator, 15 people max. We departed from the Duke of York Statue (which is a little hard to find cause you are looking down and not up at the staircase for the statue & Londoners have never heard of the statue). The day we went we were the ONLY people on the tour! So a semi-private tour turned into a private tour! Phil was our tour guide and he was extremely knowledgeable about London, Buckingham Palace, the Changing of the Guards, Sherlock Holmes and all things London. Phil knew exactly were to take us during the entire 1 1/2 hours Changing of the Guards, who knew there was so much involved? He explained everything that was happening, described what the white and black color Queen's uniforms symbolized, how to detect when the Queen was at Buckingham Palace, where to be and at what time! These are details which we never would have known. Instead of the quick 3 or 4 blurry photos, I managed 54 photos! read more

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Every day at 11.0am (& 11.30 at Buckingham Palace) people come to see the Queen's Guard change. In full dress uniform it is an amazing sight : but come early it is very popular read more

Horse Guards Parade - Horseguards from the air over the Royal Wedding coach - Police Departments Near Me - London, XGL

You're reading this, so you're most likely a tourist. So is this something that you must see? Well it's a part of the London culture. So if you're into culture and want to see something that has been a part of their history then I say yes, go for it. You have to go at a certain time and after the summer it's not an everyday event so just check the schedule. I think the best way to get here is to go on a tour that includes this place as a stop. You will be able to stop here as well as some of London's other great landmarks. read more

Be here before 11 am, if you want a great vantage point. Especially on holidays and weekends. The horse guards change duty from blues to reds and its quite impressive in its own right. Lots of photo ops with great buildings in the background. You can have your picture taken with the horseguards on duty, anytime on Whitehall road if you like (or if you miss the parade). Be careful if you are scared of animals though, some of those horses get a bit nibbly. Had to give my jacket to the cleaners to get all that equine saliva out. read more

Beach Volleyball! We applied for these tickets (and luckily got them) during the first round of the Olympics tickets fiasco. I'm not the biggest sports fan, but it's the Olympics, and how many times would I get to go? The area is nice. It seemed well organized to get into. The queue for the security was pretty quick. The holding area was alright, the food options seemed a bit lackluster, and we were on the hunt for the champagne and seafood place (which it turns out was near the area). There were people doing sand-sculptures, and we watched one guy doing the horse guards parade area out of sand! The area near the arena was better! There were tons of toilets (although most were women's), and we finally found the champagne and seafood! After the champagne, oysters, and shrimp, we decided to get some beverages to take into the area, so we bought some London 2012 white wine. (Which turned out much better than anticipated.) There were also the same food stalls as in the holding area, and a few more which looked good: rotisserie chicken and barbeque (which smelled amazing). The arena itself is quite cool. Good spacing for the seats (we were lucky and had front row behind one of the teams and next to Olympic coaches/family members). The DJ kept things interesting between the points and there were scantily clad dancers (male and female!) to entertain during the short breaks. I even got to witness a beach volleyball proposal between games. Unfortunately, you are shuffled quite quickly out of the area after the game, as they need to get it read for the next group coming in, so you have to make any purchases before the end of the second game. The men's toilets were also designed a bit strangely, as two of the hand dryers were in the corners right next to the urinal trough, so basically no one could use it without snuggling up next to someone peeing (which I'm pretty sure some people might freak out about). All in all though, a good time was had by us, more than expected. I wish we could have stayed longer for another two games! read more

It's ok Not great , the guards are VERY rude, but I believe this is the way it's supposed to be , but be aware not to be in their path , otherwise they will run you over and they do NOT care if you get hurt , saw it happen right in front of me. read more

Horse Guards Parade - Police Departments Near Me - London, XGL

Classic touristy fun! My recent visit was a quick stop with my mother (who was in town for a bit) and we just got the usual photos of the guards. I've never checked out the museum, but have heard good things. Horses! Guards! Big point headgear! Wins all around. read more

Horse Guards Parade is a large parade ground off Whitehall in central London, the main entrance to which is part way between Downing Street and Trafalgar Sqaure. It is the site of the annual ceremonies of Trooping the Colour, which commemorates the monarch's official birthday, and Beating Retreat read more

Horse Guards Parade - Police Departments Near Me - London, XGL

We were walking up Whitehall when we came across tourists posing with horse guards. Aha! It was the Guards. We went in. It was about 10:45 and we'd read the changing of the guard happens at 11:00. About 10:55 we heard the clip clop of horses behind us. They were coming back from Buckingham Palace. Meanwhile the new guards had come through the portico from their barracks. Right at 11:00 the changeover happened. Video it if you can. You can leave then and you won't miss much. But stay till 11:30 and you can see the second half of the ceremony. The new guards head up to the palace. You can walk with them. The horses are beautiful. The riders look like toy soldiers. Perfect intro to London pomp and ceremony. read more

Horse Guards Parade - Police Departments Near Me - London, XGL

We went to The Changing of the Guard as part of a sightseeing tour of London, so we were guided to a corner near the corner where we could get a good view without too much crowding. It is amazing and humbling to see such tradition in real life, and to be part of the atmosphere. The colour, richness and dignity of the parade is moving. While we were there, our guide pointed out a couple of gentlemen who were standing quietly watching. These gentlemen are veterans who were at Suez in 1956, and who make a point, virtually every day, to have a respectful moment of watching the parade in hnour of their comrades. read more

We went to the changing of the horse guards as our 6yr old daughter loves horses and it was a great experience for her: get close to the horses, take a picture nxt to the guards. definitely worthwhile to do if you have time. Lovely walk from Embankment tube station on a sunny day! read more

It seems small because it is so nicely laid out, the atmosphere was great with the DJ playing tunes keeping the crowd involved even if the teams were from any of the fans. Night matches can get pretty chilly or wet. read more

I love it. There is a parade on the weekends which attracts tourists from all over the world - the changing of the guard. The grandeur and professionalism is spectacular! read more

If you find the Royal Guard exchange is too crowded in Buckingham Palace and you are not insist to watch it at there, you can choose the Horse Guard exchange here. Personally speaking, I think this one is better as you can see the guard on the horse which you rarely see at other parts of the world. And you can take the photo which them closely. And you can even try to feed the horse with mint candy. Of course, you need to be fast and careful!! ^_^ read more

This was a fun and fascinating event for both my 8-year-old son and me. We caught the new guard riding in at Buckingham Palace and Constitution Hill, and little did we know we were in the perfect spot for great views and photos. We followed the parade all the way to Whitehall and watched the entire ceremony. This does not take place behind a gate and it's not a crowded event, which allows for a closeness that isn't possible with Changing of the Guard at BP, for example. There's some action when the new guard arrives, salutes are sounded, motions made, and unintelligible words exchanged, but after that, both old and new guards sit on their horses for about 20-25 mins doing seemingly nothing. Many people left, which freed up even better, closer photo ops. At the end, the old guard leaves and the new guard rides into Whitehall, dismounts with military precision, and walks their horses inside. read more