Tours of the Houses of Parliament

von

I was interested in a Houses of Parliament tour and dragged my husband and son with me, they were fairly unenthusiastic to say the lease. They, and I absolutely loved it and intend to go again as we couldn't take it all in. The tour guide was very informative and I'm sure you get a different perspective from each tour guide.

I've recommended it to other people as well and without exception they've all come back and said it was one of the best things to do in London.

Pipkin

agrinnall wrote: »

It may well be very good, but the eye-wateringly expensive entry price put me off going (I must find some rich Americans to act as a tour guide for).

Depending on the time of year you visit, if you travel to London by train there is a 2 for 1 entry offer to various places, including the War Rooms on production of your train tickets. We visited last year and used this offer, the War Rooms were fabulous! We also used it on the London Eye, Tower of London and somewhere else I can't remember. We also did the HOP tour with our MP, on the day of Margaret Thatchers funeral.

UKParliament

Hi von

We are glad you enjoyed your visit to Parliament - thank you for letting us know.

Thanks,
DOT

Acc72

Hi House of Commons Rep (DOT),

I am planning a trip to London in September for my in-laws to celebrate their anniversary.

Having done most of the usual touristy stuff, a tour of the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben sound amazing.

In order to arrange this, do I just write to my MP making a request and including details (hopefully as we are just over 4 months away the dates would be available ?) - or is there a specific request form that I need to complete ?

Sorry for what is probably an obvious question !

1DayAAT

Yep - you just have to get in touch with your local MP and they will arrange a free tour for you with them. They try to group a few people together but I believe will help suit the dates you can do the best they can, even if its just for you alone. I went last year with my MP and had a really interesting day!

Acc72

1DayAAT wrote: »

Yep - you just have to get in touch with your local MP and they will arrange a free tour for you with them. They try to group a few people together but I believe will help suit the dates you can do the best they can, even if its just for you alone. I went last year with my MP and had a really interesting day!

Great, thanks for that.

did you literally just write a letter to "Joe/Joanne Bloggs MP, House of Commons, London" ?? !! ........

p00hsticks

Acc72 wrote: »

Great, thanks for that.

did you literally just write a letter to "Joe/Joanne Bloggs MP, House of Commons, London" ?? !! ........

Yes, the full address including postcode is

Joanne Bloggs MP
House of Commons
London
SW1A 0AA

Note that the tours of the House are separate to the tour of the Elizabeth Tower (Big Ben) so make sure you specify if you want to go on both. Note that you need to be reasonably fit to do the latter. details here

http://www.parliament.uk/visiting/visiting-and-tours/tours-of-parliament/tours/
http://www.parliament.uk/visiting/visiting-and-tours/tours-of-parliament/bigben/

If you're thinking of staying in London overnight, or can travel back late, then another interesting thing to do is attend the Ceremony of the Keys to see the Yeomen closing up the Tower of London for the night - again, tickets are free (although they do ask for a donation) but need to be booked in advance

http://www.hrp.org.uk/TowerOfLondon/WhatsOn/theceremonyofthekeys

The Tower Hill Travelodge is close by if you needed somewhere reasonably inexpensive to stay....

Acc72

p00hsticks wrote: »

Yes, the full address including postcode is

Joanne Bloggs MP
House of Commons
London
SW1A 0AA

Note that the tours of the House are separate to the tour of the Elizabeth Tower (Big Ben) so make sure you specify if you want to go on both. Note that you need to be reasonably fit to do the latter. details here

http://www.parliament.uk/visiting/visiting-and-tours/tours-of-parliament/tours/
http://www.parliament.uk/visiting/visiting-and-tours/tours-of-parliament/bigben/

If you're thinking of staying in London overnight, or can travel back late, then another interesting thing to do is attend the Ceremony of the Keys to see the Yeomen closing up the Tower of London for the night - again, tickets are free (although they do ask for a donation) but need to be booked in advance

http://www.hrp.org.uk/TowerOfLondon/WhatsOn/theceremonyofthekeys

The Tower Hill Travelodge is close by if you needed somewhere reasonably inexpensive to stay....

Brilliant, thank you.

I will look at the Tower of London as well.

UKParliament

Acc72 wrote: »

Hi House of Commons Rep (DOT),

I am planning a trip to London in September for my in-laws to celebrate their anniversary.

Having done most of the usual touristy stuff, a tour of the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben sound amazing.

In order to arrange this, do I just write to my MP making a request and including details (hopefully as we are just over 4 months away the dates would be available ?) - or is there a specific request form that I need to complete ?

Sorry for what is probably an obvious question !

Hi Acc72

Everything the other posters have said is completely accurate - you just need to write a letter to your own MP and we don't need to add anything to what they said except we hope you get a chance to visit us during your required dates and that you enjoy your visit to the Houses of Parliament!

Also - The Elizabeth Towers tours do have some 'health and safety information' so please do read this to make sure you are happy with the requirements for climbing the tower: http://www.parliament.uk/visiting/visiting-and-tours/tours-of-parliament/bigben/health/

Do let us know how your tour goes

Best wishes
DOT

Acc72

Dear All,

Update further to my earlier posts.

I wrote to the Tower of London and within a few days received my tickets - thanks for the tip P00hsticks !

However, I am not having the same luck arranging the tours of the House of Commons and Big Ben ....

I e-mailed my MP on the 9th April, as I did not hear anything I e-mailed him again a week later.

It is now another 2 weeks - 3 weeks in total - and I still haven't heard anything back.

Not sure what / if I should do something next ? I am probably being impatient, but I understand that the tours are quite popular and I would like to confirm a booking.

I also understand that my MP will have more important things to sort out, however I am sure that in reality it would be one of their assistants who would make the arrangements.


Any advice on what to do next ? - any tips from House of Commons Rep (DOT) ?