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Changing of the Horse Guard

Posted by (Lewes, DE ) on

After reading several of the recent recommendations re: visiting London, it seems the Changing of the Guard is considered to be a waste of time, and Changing of the horse guard is less crowded. We will be in London April 26 (arriving at Heathrow at 8:05 am) and leaving at 9 am on Thursday April 28.
1. Is there actually a street named "Horse Guards Parade"? I guess the location will be obvious based on the crowd size?
2. Are the times listed below (from the website: https://changing-guard.com/queens-life-guard.html) accurate for April 2022:
Timings
Monday -Saturday
10.30 New Guard leaves Hyde Park Barracks
10.45 New Guard passes Buckingham Palace
11.00 New Guard arrives at Horse Guards Parade
11.30 Old Guard leaves Horse Guards Parade
11.45 Old Guard passes Buckingham Palace

Sunday
09.30 New Guard leaves Hyde Park Barracks
09.45 New Guard passes Buckingham Palace
10:00 New Guard arrives at Horse Guards Parade
10:30 Old Guard leaves Horse Guards Parade
10:45 Old Guard passes Buckingham Palace
3. After walking in St. James Park, we will go to Churchill War Rooms or British Museum in the afternoon.
Where do you recommend for lunch?

Posted by
24 posts

This may be a bit out of date, but when visiting in the '80s I happened upon Her Majesty's Royal Water Keeper (the garbage collector), Dennis, riding about in his Cushman. When I asked him the best location for viewing the "changing", he recommended St. James Palace... It was free, and I literally stood feet away from the guard mounting their horses. Got the full effect of the pomp and circumstance without spending a lot of time... left for a stroll past 10 Downing Street, to a nearby vendor cart for a cup of tea (with cream) before taking in a self-guided tour of Westminster. And that was only the morning!
I'm looking forward to my return trip this fall.

Posted by
14580 posts

" a waste of time"....another reason to see this event. When I am in London which always in the summer, I attend this event at least once. It's not exactly the same every day.

Posted by
8724 posts

Its Horse Guards Road. Its between Birdcage Walk and The Mall. If at Parliament Square, follow signage toward the Churchill War rooms and walk past the entry to the War Rooms. You can easily see the Horse Guard Parade.

I always recommend standing on the corner of Horse Guard Road and the Mall. There’s a memorial to the South African Royal Artillery OR go stand on the steps of the Duke of York monument. The Riders will leave the Parade Grounds and be escorted up the Mall to the Palace.

For lunch try the Two Chairman Pub.

Posted by
1045 posts

Horse Guards Parade is field where they do the Changing of the Guard, it runs between Horse Guards Road (on the St James's Park side) and Whitehall. We watched it from Horse Guards Road, and it is a much better experience than the one at Buckingham Palace.

Posted by
26 posts

Thank you for your thoughtful responses! We are so excited to be going to London in 3 weeks.

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