Buckingham Palace Gardens: How to Visit, and What You'll See

Have you ever sat on the lawn behind Buckingham Palace with a picnic?

In the summer of 2021 I did, along with hundreds of other people, looking up at the palace's garden front. It was the first summer the garden opened for self-guided visits. By 2026 it hadn't been offered again, but there are still ways in.

How Big Are Buckingham Palace Gardens?

Buckingham Palace Gardens cover 39 acres, or 16 hectares. They are the largest private garden in London, and they are on Historic England's Register of Parks and Gardens at Grade II*.

There are more than 1,000 trees, including 85 kinds of oak, and over 300 species of wild plants. For a garden behind a palace in the middle of the city, it feels surprisingly wild at the edges.

Can You Visit Buckingham Palace Gardens?

Yes, but only as part of a paid visit, and only in summer. From July to late September, when the King is away, Royal Collection Trust opens the State Rooms, and the garden comes with them in two ways.

A standard State Rooms ticket ends with a walk through part of the garden, past the lake, to the exit. For more than that, you add the Garden Highlights Tour.

What Is the Buckingham Palace Garden Highlights Tour?

A guided walk of about 45 minutes, booked together with the State Rooms. It starts about two and a quarter hours after your State Rooms entry, so the whole visit takes three to three and a half hours.

In 2026 it ran from 11 July to 27 September, and a combined adult ticket cost £48. Photography is not allowed on the tour, and it goes ahead in any weather. Royal Collection Trust calls the garden “a walled oasis”.

Can You Picnic in Buckingham Palace Gardens?

You could in 2021. With the State Rooms closed by the pandemic, Royal Collection Trust opened the garden for self-guided visits from 9 July to 19 September. Adults paid £16.50, and you could spread a picnic on the lawns. That is when I took these photos.

By 2026 the picnic visits hadn't returned, and the spring guided garden tours had last run in 2022. If either comes back, it will appear on the Royal Collection Trust website first.

What Will You See in Buckingham Palace Gardens?

The lake is the heart of it, with an island and a waterfall. It was dug in the 1820s and first fed from the Serpentine. The island has beehives, which make around 160 jars of honey a year.

The Herbaceous Border runs for 156 metres. The Rose Garden has 25 beds of roses. There is a summer house covered in wisteria, and a tennis court where George VI played Fred Perry in the 1930s.

The strangest thing is the Waterloo Vase. Napoleon commissioned it in 1812 from a single block of Carrara marble. After Waterloo it was given to the Prince Regent, the future George IV, who had battle scenes carved on it.

It was too heavy for Windsor, spent years at the National Gallery, and Edward VII had it moved into the garden in the early 1900s. The garden also holds the National Collection of Mulberries, about 40 varieties, kept here since 2000.

Who Designed Buckingham Palace Gardens?

The land was once a mulberry garden, planted by James I in 1608–09 for a silk industry. George III bought Buckingham House in 1761 for Queen Charlotte. His son, George IV, had John Nash turn it into a palace in the 1820s.

The garden took its present shape from 1825 under William Townsend Aiton, who also worked at Kew, and he made the lake. Capability Brown had proposed a lake scheme in the 1760s, but that was never built.

Queen Victoria was the first monarch to live here, from July 1837.

How Do You Get Invited to a Buckingham Palace Garden Party?

You can't apply. Guests are nominated by sponsors such as Lord-Lieutenants and government departments, usually for public service. There are three garden parties at Buckingham Palace each summer, and the gates open at about 3pm.

What Is Near Buckingham Palace Gardens?

Green Park runs up to Piccadilly, where Fortnum & Mason and Hatchards, London's oldest bookshop, stand side by side.

Belgravia is ten minutes the other way. On Belgrave Square I went inside the Argentine Ambassador's Residence, where Florence Nightingale's Crimea mission was planned.

Visiting Buckingham Palace Gardens: Practical Notes

📍 Where: Buckingham Palace, London SW1A 1AA. Summer visitors go in by the Visitor Entrance on Buckingham Palace Road.

📅 Open days: The summer opening, from July to late September. In 2026 the Garden Highlights Tour ran from 11 July to 27 September.

🎫 Admission: In 2026, the State Rooms cost £33 for adults. The State Rooms with the Garden Highlights Tour cost £48 for adults, £31.20 for ages 18–24 and £24 for ages 5–17, with under-5s free.

⏳ How long: Three to three and a half hours for the State Rooms and the garden tour.

🚇 Getting there: Victoria, Green Park, St James's Park and Hyde Park Corner stations are each about ten minutes' walk. Victoria Coach Station is ten minutes away.

📷 Best time: July, for the roses and the Herbaceous Border.

🗺️ Nearby: Green Park, St James's Park, the Royal Mews and the Queen Victoria Memorial.

Photography: Not allowed on the Garden Highlights Tour.

Have you been inside the palace garden, on a tour or at a garden party? What surprised you most?

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All photos were taken by Ina/WithinLondon, unless stated otherwise.