WESTMINSTER WALK
Houses of Parliament → Big Ben → 10 Downing Street → Horse Guards → Admiralty Arch → Trafalgar Square and Nelsons Column → National Gallery → National Portrait Gallery → Pall Mall → The Mall → St James's Palace → Clarence House → Buckingham Palace → The Royal Mews → St James Park → Cabinet War Rooms → Westminster Abbey
WALK LONDON's Westminster Walk takes you past London's most important seats of Royal and Political power. You will see many of London's historic and prestigious landmarks, some dating back over a 1000 years. Most can be visited throughout the year.
Circular walkLeisure walker: 2 hours
Power Walker: 45 minutes
Starts: 
Westminster Underground:
District and Circle Lines
Ends: Westminster Underground:
District and Circle Lines
WHAT YOU WILL SEE ON THIS WALK
Houses of Parliament
and St Stephens Tower
Edward the Confessor the Saxon Monarch had the original Palace of Westminster built on this site in the
11th century. The palace consists of the House of Commons (elected) and the House of Lords (hereditary and nominated).
Big Ben is not the tower, but the thirteenth bell in the tower (St Stephens Tower) which strikes the hour.
No 10 DOWNING STREET
No 10 Downing Street is home and official office to the British Prime Minister. Headquarters to Her Majesty's Government it is a meeting place for the Cabinet and a venue for state events and visiting Heads of foreign Governments. The street is named after Sir George Downing, a diplomat and property developer who helped arrange the acquisition of New York from the Dutch.
HORSE GUARDS, THE HOUSEHOLD
CAVALRY
Horse Guards, built
in 1753, is the formal entrance to St. James's Palace via St James's Park and headquarters to the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment. Watch the changing of the guard, relieved every hour daily from 10 am to 4 pm.
Only the Monarch is allowed to drive through its central archway, but tourists can walk through into the exercise ground of Horse Guards Parade.
Banqueting House
Banqueting House, built in 1622 by Inigo Jones under the order of James I, is the largest surviving part of the Palace of Whitehall. The palace, which was initially developed in the 13th Century by the Archbishop of York and later expanded by King Henry VIII into largest palace in Europe, was destroyed by fire at the end of the 17th Century.
TRAFALGAR SQUARE
and NELSON'S COLUMN
The square had been the site of the King's stables since the time of Edward I. In 1826 the Prince Regent engaged the landscape architect John Nash to redevelop the area. The name commemorates the Battle of Trafalgar (1805), a British naval victory of the Napoleonic Wars, at the centre is Nelson's Column, guarded at its base by four lions. Heritage Wardens are on duty to provide help to tourists.
THE NATIONAL and
NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERIES
The
National Gallery houses one of the greatest collections of Western European painting in the world. From the Middle Ages to the early 20th century it includes work by Botticelli, Gainsborough, Turner, Renoir, Cezanne and Van Gogh and Leonardo de Vinci.
The National Portrait Gallery displays portraits of famous British men and women from the 16th Century to the present day.
ST JAMES'S PALACE
Built between 1531 and 1536, St. James's Palace was a residence of kings and queens of England for over 300 years. St. James's Palace today is the home of several members of the Royal Family. As it is often in use for official functions, it is not open to the public. Since the accession of Queen Victoria in 1837, the Sovereign has lived at Buckingham Palace.
THE MALL and CLARENCE HOUSE
The Mall is the coloured road which looks like a giant red carpet running from Admiralty Arch to Buckingham Palace. Clarence House was built to the designs of John Nash for Prince William Henry, Duke of Clarence. He lived there as King William IV from 1830 until 1837. Clarence House is the official London residence of HRH The Prince of Wales, The Duchess of Cornwall and Prince Harry.
BUCKINGHAM PALACE
Buckingham Palace has served as the official London residence of Britain's sovereigns since 1837. Although in use for the many official events and receptions held by The Queen, areas of Buckingham Palace are opened to visitors on a regular basis. From April until July the guard change is scheduled to take place daily at 11.30am, arrive early to get a good view.
THE QUEEN'S GALLERY and ROYAL MEWS
The Queen's Gallery exhibits items from the Royal Collection and is open to the public. The Royal Mews at Buckingham Palace is one of the finest working stables in existence and provides a unique insight into the department of the Royal Household that provides transport by road for The Queen and other members of the Royal Family.
Cabinet War Rooms and Churchill Museum
The Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms is an underground complex that had been used as an operational command and control centre by the British government throughout the Second World War. Abandoned in August 1945 after the surrender of Japan, the Rooms were opened to the general public in 1984 and include a biographical museum exploring the life of British statesman Winston Churchill.
Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey is steeped in more than a thousand years of history. Benedictine monks first came to this site in the middle of the tenth century, establishing a tradition of daily worship which continues to this day. The Abbey has been the coronation church since 1066 and is the final resting place of seventeen monarchs. The present church, begun by Henry III in 1245, is one of the most important Gothic buildings in the country, with the medieval shrine of an Anglo-Saxon saint still at its heart. Over 3,000 people are buried in the Church and Cloisters and there are over 600 monuments and memorials.
SECTION 1: PALACE OF WESTMINSTER to HORSE GUARDS
