Buckingham Palace - Take a tour or just buy tickets and wait??

hmm. we just walked up to the ticket booth on a Friday morning at 9:30am and bought our tickets, and were able to get the 9:45am tour of Buckingham Palace. Really enjoyed it! You can see the changing of the guard for free most days in summertime. Didn't know there were special tickets for it. I seem to recall that tours begin at 9:30am, so just show up early and no line to wait in possibly.

Hi Kris, yes it is worth it. The 19 state rooms will be open even tho the wedding dress will be one exhibition. Kris, I looked at the ticket information on the offical Royal website and neither said anything about the changing of the guards being included. For August and September there are tickets....(1) State Rooms only (2) State Rooms, Royal Mews and Queen's Gallery then in Sept there is one for the State Rooms and Royal Gardens. I'm really puzzled when you mention the changing of the guards...it has always been free. If you want to see a changing of the guards see the Horse Guards and/or at Windsor Castle is much better.

We decided to keep the tour after learning that a record crowd is expected due to the "increased popularity" of the Royals after the wedding, which has already resulted in a 107% increase in advance ticket sales over last year!! Plus our tour includes a visit with the Royal Guard, even if no "changing" happens. So that's nice. AND we avoid all lines.

The guard does change on some Sundays, don't know about August 7. With timed entry tickets there should not be much in the way of lines. What tour company are you using?

We are going with City Discovery Tours. According to the Buckingham Palace website, the changing of the guard in August is every other day (odd numbered days) with a note saying "no change on Sundays." The tour also does a quick bus tour in the AM, hitting highlights before coming back to BP.

Kris....this is what I found on Buckingham Palace website...... so according to this changing of the guards does take place on Sundays if the Sunday is on a odd number Buckingham Palace Changing the Guard takes place at 11:30 daily from May until the end of July and on alternate days for the rest of the year, weather permitting. Provisional Schedule for 2011 (please note that this schedule is set by the British Army and is subject to change. Please check this site prior to a visit) July - daily August- odd numbered dates (1, 3, 5, etc. (1st,3rd,5th,7th,9th,11th,13th,15th,17th,19th,21st,23rd,25th,27th29th,31st September - even numbered dates (2, 4, 6, etc.) October - even numbered dates (2, 4, 6, etc.)
November - odd numbered dates (1, 3, 5, etc.)

Robyn - You are right! I just noticed that the "no changing on Sundays" is for Windsor Castle! I was also told by a friend that, without a tour, actually SEEING the guard change was not easy due to the pack of people there. I appreciate ALL of your kind responses and remarks. Thank you SO much!

Just a follow up - We DID take the tour, which was great! It started with a bus tour around the city (with lots of photo stops). Then we visited the Royal Cavalry museum in time to see the new guards and their horses take their place. There was no Changing of the Guard that morning - for some reason it was "postponed" until 4 pm that afternoon. Getting past the queue in order to enter the Palace was the best thing ever! The line to enter on a standard ticket was HOURS long! BTW, Kate's dress is beautiful, but the headless mannequin left much to be desired (I hear that both Kate and the Queen were displeased).