Houses of Parliament, London

The building you see from Westminster Bridge is not medieval. It is Victorian. The original palace burned down on the night of October 16, 1834, after two cartloads of medieval tax-receipt tallysticks, made from wooden notched sticks, were incinerated in the basement furnaces. The fire got into the floor of the House of Lords and spread from there, destroying most of the complex. Westminster Hall, the oldest surviving part of the site (built in 1097 and roofed in its present form in 1394), was saved by luck and the fact that firemen focused their effort there.

The architectural competition that followed specified Gothic Revival style as a political statement: Gothic represented English tradition, and the committee wanted nothing that recalled the classical architecture of France or Rome. Charles Barry won with a design produced with the ornamental genius of Augustus Welby Pugin. The House of Lords chamber opened in 1847, the Commons in 1852. The building you are looking at is almost entirely the product of a 19th-century design competition, not centuries of organic growth.

Visiting in 2026: What to Book and What It Costs

The Palace of Westminster is an active working parliament, which means public access depends on when you go and what you want to see.

Guided tours of the interior (House of Commons, House of Lords, the Robing Room, the Royal Gallery) run throughout the year when Parliament is in recess, and on Saturdays year-round. A 90-minute guided tour costs around 40 pounds for adults, with lower rates for children, seniors, and concessions. Book through the official UK Parliament website.

Watching live debates in the House of Commons or House of Lords is free, but you will queue in a line outside and admission is not guaranteed on busy days. UK residents can arrange visits through their MP. Non-residents should arrive early for gallery access. Checking the parliamentary calendar beforehand is worth the five minutes it takes.

Big Ben and Elizabeth Tower tours are a separate booking. These tours run on selected dates and allow you to climb 334 steps to stand next to the actual bell as the mechanism strikes. Tickets for 2026 tours cost 55 pounds for adults and 35 pounds for children (ages 11 and over; younger visitors cannot enter). Tickets release every second Wednesday at 10 am for dates three months ahead, and they go quickly.

The tour lasts about 90 minutes and includes ear defenders for the bell strike, which is significantly louder at close range than any description prepares you for.

What Is Worth Your Time

The House of Lords chamber is the more visually impressive of the two debating rooms by a wide margin. The Lords chamber is all red leather, gilt, and Victorian ornamentation at its most confident. The Commons chamber is comparatively austere: green leather, compact, and designed so that the two opposing rows of benches are exactly two sword-lengths apart (a design detail from when that kind of spatial formality had practical applications).

Westminster Hall is the single best space in the building for understanding what it actually is. The 14th-century hammerbeam oak roof, spanning 21 meters without any internal columns, was an engineering feat that still impresses structural engineers who visit. The hall has been the site of coronation banquets, the lying-in-state of monarchs and prime ministers, and the trial of Charles I. It is included on guided tours.

Around Westminster

Westminster Abbey, two minutes’ walk from Parliament Square, is a separate admission (29 pounds for adults, less for students and children). This is where British monarchs are crowned, married, and buried, and where Poets’ Corner holds the memorials of writers from Chaucer to Ted Hughes. Allow two hours minimum. The Abbey closes at varying times depending on services, so check before you go.

St Margaret’s Church, directly next to the Abbey in the square, is the parish church of the House of Commons. Admission is free. It receives a fraction of the foot traffic of the Abbey and rewards the detour, particularly for the stained glass.

The Jewel Tower, across the road from the Houses of Parliament on Abingdon Street, is a 14th-century structure that formed part of the original medieval palace. English Heritage maintains it and charges modest admission. Almost no one goes in. The building itself is small but one of the rare genuinely medieval survivals in central London.

Where to Eat and Drink

St Stephen’s Tavern on Bridge Street, directly opposite the Elizabeth Tower, is a Grade II listed Victorian pub established in 1875. It serves classic British pub food (fish and chips, steak and ale pie) and has a set of division bells that ring to alert any MPs drinking there when a vote is called in the chamber. They actually get used.

The Westminster Arms on Storey’s Gate reopened in March 2025 after a 1.2 million pound refurbishment. The ground-floor bar retains the traditional feel while the basement wine bar is a better option for an actual conversation. Near Westminster Abbey, convenient, solid.

The Red Lion on Parliament Street has been serving the Westminster crowd for a long time. The building is properly Victorian. The fish and chips are reliable. The proximity to Downing Street means you occasionally see a face you recognize.

For dinner with ambition, The Cinnamon Club is set inside the former Old Westminster Library on Great Smith Street. It does upscale Indian cooking that uses British ingredients as a base, which sounds like a concept-restaurant gimmick and turns out to be genuinely good. Expensive, but the room, with its soaring library shelves, justifies the occasion.

If you want to eat with a view: Gillray’s Steakhouse in County Hall on the South Bank, just across Westminster Bridge, looks directly back at the Palace of Westminster and Big Ben. The steak is secondary to the setting, but both are decent.

Where to Stay

Park Plaza Westminster Bridge sits on the South Bank and offers rooms with direct river and Parliament views. Upper floors on the correct side are genuinely impressive and worth asking about specifically when booking.

Premier Inn London County Hall is the budget-conscious choice with roughly the same view situation and significantly lower prices. Book ahead; it fills early.

If you are willing to walk 15 minutes or take the Tube, accommodation in Victoria or Pimlico is considerably cheaper for the same central London access.

Getting There

Westminster Underground station (Jubilee and Circle/District lines) exits directly onto Parliament Square. The journey from central London is 10-15 minutes from most interchanges. No need for a taxi. The South Bank walk from Waterloo station, crossing Hungerford Bridge, takes about 20 minutes and provides one of the better approach views of the Houses of Parliament from across the river.

Photography from Westminster Bridge and from the South Bank near the ITV building gives the classic angles. Early morning before 8 am significantly reduces the number of people in your frame and the light from the east is worth the early alarm.