Historic house · Westminster · London

Buckingham Palace

Buckingham Palace is an official London residence and principal workplace of the British monarch. It stands inside Westminster’s built-up area. Its status is a Grade I listed building.

Photo: Buckingham Palace, Diliff (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Where

In Westminster

inside the built-up area

How well known

Top 1%

#3 of 8,556 places we list

Warmest months

May–Sep

highs of 19–24°C

In brief

Historic house in Westminster

One of the best-known places to visit in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland

#3 of the 8,556 museums, castles, gardens and other attractions we list, by how widely it is covered (95 Wikipedias). About ↓

Inside Westminster

Buckingham Palace is inside Westminster’s built-up area, with 383 more places to visit within 5 km. Towns near it ↓

Grade I listed building

On the official list of protected heritage; Westminster has 3,887 listed buildings in all, on its History page. About ↓

Written from OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, the ONS built-up areas and Met Office 1991–2020 averages.

When to go

Which month to go

For warmth, aim for May to September (19–24°C highs in Westminster).

Jan9° / 3°60 mm

Feb9° / 3°45 mm

Mar12° / 4°38 mm

Apr15° / 6°44 mm

May19° / 9°46 mm

Jun21° / 12°51 mm

Jul24° / 14°46 mm

Aug23° / 14°56 mm

Sep20° / 12°53 mm

Oct16° / 9°68 mm

Nov12° / 6°68 mm

Dec9° / 3°60 mm

Green months are the warmest. Typical afternoon highs and night lows in Westminster, and rain in a month. Met Office HadUK-Grid 1991–2020 averages for Westminster. Opening times change through the year: check before you go. Westminster’s full climate →

About

Buckingham Palace

Articles on it exist in 95 languages. A short trip away is British Museum, 2.3 km off, the first of 607 within 15 km.

Westminster’s listed buildings and monuments →

Type: Historic house
Listed: Grade I listed building
Wikipedias: Covered in 95 languages
Town: in Westminster
Official site: royalcollection.org.uk/visit/the-state-rooms-buckingham-palace

Facts: Wikidata (CC0) and OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors).

The map

Its place on the map

Spot Buckingham Palace in orange, then follow the numbers to the places below.

Towns near it

Towns near Buckingham Palace

The largest of the 8 towns is Wandsworth, with 326,725 people. Every one of these towns counts it as a place to visit.

1 · It’s in town

Westminster

203,571 people · 461 places to visit

2 · 1 km west of it

Kensington and Chelsea

143,348 people · 399 places to visit

3 · 1.4 km south of it

Lambeth

317,108 people · 450 places to visit

4 · 1.6 km north of it

Camden

209,342 people · 458 places to visit

Compare the 8 towns

Town	Where Buckingham Palace is	People	Places to visit
Westminster	It’s in town	203,571	461
Kensington and Chelsea	1 km west of it	143,348	399
Lambeth	1.4 km south of it	317,108	450
Camden	1.6 km north of it	209,342	458
Wandsworth	1.9 km southwest of it	326,725	442
Southwark	2.3 km southeast of it	307,076	471
City of London	2.4 km northeast of it	7,820	432
Islington	3.3 km northeast of it	216,309	425

Make a day of it

Worth adding to a visit

Also close at hand are 2 museums, 2 attractions and a cathedral, among 607 within 15 km.

Big drawMuseumBritish Museum2.3 km away · 5.8M visitors a year (2023)2

Cathedral · English HeritageWestminster Abbey1.1 km away 3

AttractionElizabeth Tower1.2 km away 4

Big drawArt galleryNational Gallery1.3 km away · 709K visitors a year (2021)5

AttractionLondon Eye1.6 km away 6

Historic house · Historic Royal PalacesSaint James's Palace500 m away 7

Big drawMuseumVictoria and Albert Museum2.1 km away · 858K visitors a year (2021)8

Big drawCastleTower of London4.6 km away · 2.7M visitors a year (2016)

Within 15 km, close and well known first. Numbers match the map.

Asked about Buckingham Palace

Where is Buckingham Palace?

Buckingham Palace is in Westminster, London, inside the town’s built-up area.

What is Buckingham Palace?

Official London residence and principal workplace of the British monarch.

When is the best time to visit Buckingham Palace?

May to September are the warmest months in Westminster, with afternoon highs of 19–24°C (Met Office 1991–2020 averages).

Is Buckingham Palace a listed building?

Yes: Grade I listed building.

What else is there to see near Buckingham Palace?

Within 15 km: British Museum (2.3 km), Westminster Abbey (1.1 km), Elizabeth Tower (1.2 km) and National Gallery (1.3 km).

Places: OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, Open Database Licence) and Wikidata (CC0), placed in the ONS 2022 built-up area (Open Government Licence v3.0). Visitor counts are the latest Wikidata gives, with their year.

Photos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).

Photo credits (9)

Buckingham Palace: Diliff, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
British Museum: Ham, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
Westminster Abbey: Σπάρτακος, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
Elizabeth Tower: Christian David, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
National Gallery: Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
London Eye: Christian David, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Saint James's Palace: Steven Brown, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
Victoria and Albert Museum: Diliff, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
Tower of London: Bob Collowan, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.