Palace of Westminster

It depends on whether you're interested in Victorian neo-Gothic. If you are it's a great example; if not, spend the time somewhere else. Neither House will be sitting on a Saturday, but even if they were they don't make rivetting viewing, apart from the panto of PMQs.

I love history and this place just has so much of it. If I go it means cutting a day off my time in Athens. Which ends up being 2 full days and one half.

My history interest is Tudor period, War of the Roses and Westminster does have a lot of it.

If you are interested in the Tudor period, occasionally London Walks does a Tudor focused walk. Not sure if they will have anything on when you are there, but you might look at their website to see if there is anything of interest. If you are not familiar with them, they last about 2 hours, cost is 10£, no booking needed.

www.walks.com

If you do decide to go there, be sure to see if you can get into Westminster Hall - a truly old and historic part of government. The Houses of Parliament are under repair in many parts, including Elizabeth Tower (most people call it by the name of its biggest bell - Big Ben) so Big Ben is currently silent. It was only built in the mid-19th century so is by no means Tudor.

Personally, I really enjoyed it. We got to see the Commons and Lords chambers, the Central Lobby, and ended in Westminster Hall.

I'd go. Eventually, it will have to undergo a massive refurbishment. so it might be closed for several years if that happens. Even if they decide for the Parliament to stay during the renovations, there will be extensive work being done on weekends so you'd likely miss a lot of it on tours in the future.

The former Black Rod gave an extensive interview on BBC Radio 4, going into some of these details.

Thanks everyone. I think I will go.

Now to fly out of Greece the night before at 9pm or the next morning at 8am?

As a history and politics buff I found Westminster Palace fascinating and inspiring, including Westminster Hall and the two chambers. But, honestly, as a tradeoff for a whole day in Athens, I'd say no. If I understand your post, you have 2 1/2 days in Athens and could make that 3 1/2 days by skipping Westminster -- correct? There's a lot to see in Athens and it's harder to get there and back than Britain is, assuming you're from North America.

Look at it this way -- the parliamentary institutions Westminster embodies originated with the goings-on in the Athenian Agora. Drink fully from the upstream source before you head downstream.