The Houses Of Parliament

In true tourist-style, I visited The Houses of Parliaments over the weekend and got as far as getting a guide! Well worth it though: anecdotal stories, hidden chambers and amazing adornments all way through. A great historical monument not to be missed if you’re in London.

Great place to visit. A palace after all : get out your history
book before you go, to ensure you see it all.From the Great Hall (the oldest building where you enter, following the security check)
where monarchs & Heads of State lie before burial, to the inner Halls & upper chambers this place is a gold mine. If you can, make an appointment with
your Member of Parliament & you can sit in & watch a debate.
The walls are lined with paintings,busts of the great & the good,tapestries,carved wood & stone & stained glass windows
Antiquated, our attempt at democracy but I love it for its history

Key attraction in London and worth the while! The tours are also great. The interior is facinating. Thumbs up!

This is my favourite building in the world , its the one thing that makes me feel proud to be British . The best views of this are from the South Bank , walk over Westminster Bridge and away from the city to see it at its best . There are even those telescopes you put 20 p in and bang your head on to help you see the details .

While uniquely ornate and impressive a moment itself, I love the Houses of Parliament for its quirks.

Gems such as no eating in the chamber unless you are the Chancellor of the Exchequer, delivering the budget when clearly you will need an alcoholic beverage!

One of my most favourite places in London, everything about these buildings are magical, the tour of the house of commons and lords are very interesting, a worthwhile visit for anyone in London that has a spare hour or so, highly reccommended.

Summer Opening 2009 Houses of Parliament. Travelled up by train and tube, making final part of journey by taxi. Drove by Buckingham Palace just on Changing of the Guard, generated massive crowd on all vantage spots. On entrance to Houses of Parliament your photo is taken and you wear on a string around your neck (which you get to keep). Usual body scanner and bag scanned like at the airport. Chance to visit Jubilee Cafe before and after tour. Entrance to Westminster Hall where tours are split into language of choice, English, French, German, Spanish and Italian. Blue Badge Guide then takes you on a 75 minute tour starting with the Queen’s Robing Room, Prince’s Chamber, before you reach the House of Lords with the Royal Throne. Then via the Central Lobby, Division Lobbies into House of Commons. We had an excellent guide who brought humour to the tour as well as the history behind many of the customs parliament keeps today. Tour does say accessible to wheelchair users, but we negotiated serveral staircases, so not sure how different their tour would be.

These buildings are really cool, the vast size of them is just amazing. Once you step into it’s view you will see its wow factor, it shines in the light of the sun. At night it looks really good it glows against the river Thames. You can also go inside the Houses of Parliament in August and September, another must see it is just as good inside as it is outside.

Open for internal viewing in August and September, whilst Parliament is not in session, this makes an interesting day out.

The buildings themselves from the outside are very interesting, and look impressive from the banks of the river when lit up at night - especially the Bell Tower.

The guided tour of the interior is informative and interesting - see where Parliamentary debates take place, rub Churchill’s boot, and post a letter from the special House of Commons mailbox.

If you want to visit the internal of the Houses of Parliament, remember to visit there on August and September.

The Houses of Parliament will only open during that two months when there is no meetings held.

You can have a look of how the government officials held in the meeting and the places that those meetings held.

this is yet another of londons fine land mark buildings. even if you arent into arcitecture or anything politically related it is worth making the effort to visit the buiding as it is very striking and the entourage of a variety of visitors makes the hussle and bussle outside a welcoming atmosphere.

Took the tour one day and ended up in the House of Commons and tried to sit in Tony Blairs seat and almost got thrown out. Is such a beautiful building that goes back centuries. A must see when your in London.

One of the most iconic landmarks in London. Definately a must see for any tourist. Located on the southbank and easy acces via waterloo.

Beautiful on the inside and out, the Houses of Parliament should definitely be visited.

If you don’t have the time or inclination to take a proper tour, just attend a public session of either of the Chambers.

Remember there is a very thorough security check at the entrance! So leave your swiss army knives at home.
Also, you will need to leave absolutely everything at the coat check outside the Chambers (no phone, no pens, no note-taking, no drawing, no music. Nothing.) so don’t carry too much stuff.

I’m lucky enough to work in the Houses of P, as they’re fondly known amongst Whitehall insiders. I think the thing that strikes me most about the Houses of Parliament is not all of Pugin’s architecture, not the grand gilding, nor the plush carpets, but just the sheer size of the place in relation to the teeny tiny chambers for both the Commons (where there are not enough benches to allow every MP to sit down) and the Lords. You will be very surprised, and even disappointed, by how small those chambers are, when they seem so enormous on TV.

If you do a tour of the Houses of Parliament, please please do it in flat shoes. Not only will you be exhausted after walking around in heels, but there are some very old stone stairs leading down to Westminster Hall, some very shiny marble floors, and some very thick carpets that it’s all so easy to trip on. I’ve done so, more times than I care to remember.

Another top tip if you’re buying souvenirs is that the House of Lords gift shop sells much the same things as the House of Commons gift shop, but more cheaply. The champagne is a good £4 cheaper, and comes with a free gift box, for example, whereas in the Commons you have to pay £1 for the box.

Oh and finally - do be prepared for the interior to resemble a grand cathedral, rather than a place of politics. It seems more like it should be called the Basilica of Westminster rather than the Palace of Westminster!

The houses of parliament are spectacular to look at. Very picturesque and brilliant in photos. My best advise is to get a tour around the place, even if it is the only time you ever do it, it is something you have to experience. Although I believe they mainly do this in summer. There is now a lot of security protecting the houses of parliament which is clearly noted by the guards and bollards that are visible outside. It is part of London’s history and every wall has a story. Definitely worth a look, even from the outside.

The Houses of Parliament is also known as The Palace of Westminster, and for good reason, as it looks just like one!
Located on the banks of the River Thames, it was designed in a gothic style & is brightly lit up each night - making it a fantastic sight to witness @ nightime & to photograph!
The clock tower housing the massive clock & bell is known as 'Big Ben’, whilst Wesminster Abbey is just across the street.
There’s also a small green/pavement area opposite the Houses, that is often used by Protestors for numerous causes that are current to the time.
They do have tours of the interior during summer months for tourists & the public, however any other time during the year you must be a UK resident to gain access.
Spectacular exterior architecture to marvel at both day & night is free to all & that’s what counts! ;)

I have never done the tour of the building but am a great fan of the architecture. From the bridge you can get a wonderful photo of Big Ben and the end of the Houses of Parliament; at early evening, if the light is just right, the ambience of the colours is fantastic. The Houses of Parliament is also of huge significance in terms of what goes on inside; protesters have frequently made their pitch just outside the entrance to the Houses, making their stand on all sorts of issues from anti-war to anti animal experiments. From across the river you can get a great view of the Houses and appreciate the full scale of the building. This is one of the iconic buildings on the skyline of not only London but the world.

You can never get board looking at this building, the architecture is amazing and good job guy forks never blew it up as he had planned all those years ago. Big Ben to me seems so much bigger on the TV! If you are visiting the capital this is a must see place. River tours along the Thames gives you a great view of the south side of the building facing the Thames. The tube station to get here is Westminster. Outside the building you will see the war protestors that reside permanently outside of the premises.