Kensington Palace: Historic Royal Palaces

Overall rating

4.45

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Kensington Palace has been the elegant home to generations of stylish royal women: where Queen Victoria was born and raised; Queens Mary, Anne and Caroline held court; and the royal style-icons Princess Margaret and Diana, Princess of Wales lived in the 20th century. Each year there is a new exhibition looking at more specific parts of the palace history which can vary from photographs to fashion to paintings.

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Overall rating

4.45

(11 reviews)

Overall rating breakdown

5 8
4 2
3 0
2 0
1 0

Access (avg.)

2.59

Parking (avg.)

1.95

Toilets (avg.)

2.45

Staff (avg.)

4.5

May 2025

Describer's Tour

I am a London Tourist guide and I was working with a blind teenager. The Describer's Tour with Julian was great for my client. We explored the rooms that dealt with the life of the Young Victoria.

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tinahodgkinson

Jul 2023

4.5

WOW An Amazing Experience, Staff are Outstanding

Kensington Palace is a royal residence located inside Kensington Gardens. Part of the Palace is open to the public and is home to the Royal Ceremonial Dress Collection. In 1689, William III and Mary II purchased Nottingham House, which would become Kensington Palace, in the hope that the area’s clean, fresh air would help the king’s chronic asthma. It was also the birthplace of the future Queen Victoria in 1819. Today, the palace is home to members of the Royal Family, most notably the London residence of the Prince and Princess of Wales. This review is primarily for the Crown to Couture exhibition which is on until 29 October 2023. The exhibition occupies the magnificent State Apartments and the Pigott Galleries. However, we did not visit Queen Victoria: a Royal Childhood exhibition rooms. However, I have included general information about access in the palace, which I hope will be helpful.

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charlotte570

Jun 2023

0.5

Not worth the hassle

I’d booked tickets and disabled parking For the Crown to Couture exhibition, and was really looking forward to it. Booking tickets online was really easy as was booking disabled parking on site. All the staff were lovely and helpful, but…

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Disabled Access Information for Kensington Palace: Historic Royal Palaces

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There is level access from Kensington Gardens to the palace, a lift to all floors and wheelchairs to borrow during your visit inside the palace. Until Covid we offered Describer Tours for blind and partially sighted visitors as well as facilitating British Sign Language tours - please note that these are not currently available. However we are working on this and BSL tours will be coming back this year and this site will be updated as soon as we have confirmation of dates. See more at: https://www.hrp.org.uk/kensington-palace/visit/accessibility/#gs.d7sjwb Describer Tours are now back on offer! These are offered for either the King's State Apartments or the Victoria: A Royal Childhood routes in the palace and are included in the ticket price. Please see https://www.hrp.org.uk/kensington-palace/whats-on/describer-tours/#gs.lpsz67 for more details or email kensingtontours@hrp.org.uk

Seating at regular intervals

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https://www.hrp.org.uk/kensington-palace/visit/accessibility/#gs.k8rngv Accessible parking may be booked at least seven days in advance - please use the link above for further information. The parking is close to the palace and visitors will be met by a member of the security team who will assist them through to the start of the palace visit.

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By London Underground Nearest stations: Use District or Circle lines to High Street Kensington (10 - 15 minutes walking time to the palace, more for those with limited mobility) Use Central Line to Queensway (10 - 15 minutes walking time, more for those with limited mobility) or Notting Hill Gate (20 - 25 minutes walking time, more for those with limited mobility). By bus Bus routes: 70, 94, 148 to Bayswater Road or 9, 49, 52, 70, and 452 to Kensington High Street.

Toilets features at Kensington Palace: Historic Royal Palaces

Accessible toilets are provided both in the Palace Café and within the palace itself. We do not currently have a Changing Places toilet facility although that will be coming with our new build area behind the Orangery so watch this space for updates.