Guards Museum
A military museum inside Wellington Barracks near Buckingham Palace, telling the story of the five Foot Guards regiments (Grenadier, Coldstream, Scots, Irish and Welsh Guards) from the 17th century to today.
- Museum
- Price: £ · Budget
Did you know
It opened in 1988 originally as a training tool for new Guardsmen to learn their own regiments' history, only later being opened up to the general public. Wellington Barracks itself was deliberately built in 1833 just 300 yards from Buckingham Palace so the guard could reach it quickly in an emergency.
Local tip
It's a genuine working barracks, not a static heritage site, so it pairs naturally with watching the Changing of the Guard nearby. Check uniforms spanning 350 years of continuous regimental history while you're there.
Finding it
- Address
- The Guards Museum, Petty France, Westminster, Victoria, City of Westminster, Greater London, England, SW1H 9HF
- Nearest station
- St. James's Park (Tube), 173 m away
Details change, so check with the place before you set off.
More places nearby
- Buckingham ArmsA late-Victorian Young's pub between Buckingham Palace and Westminster Abbey, popular with civil servants and MPs.
- St James's ParkThe oldest royal park in London, a 58-acre garden between Buckingham Palace and Whitehall with a lake known for its pelicans.
- Buckingham Palace and Royal MewsThe monarch's official London residence, with the working stables of the Royal Mews next door housing the royal carriages and horses.
- Westminster CathedralThe red-and-white striped Neo-Byzantine Catholic cathedral just off Victoria Street, with a mosaic-lined interior and a tower with a lift up to a viewing gallery over London.