Houses of Parliament

On 16 October 1834, a clerk ordered the burning of a large collection of old wooden tally sticks in the furnaces beneath the House of Lords. The fire got out of control. By the early hours of the following morning, most of the medieval Palace of Westminster had burned to the ground, watched by a large crowd on the Thames bridges. Turner was in the crowd and painted it twice. The outcome of this accident was the building you see today: a competition-winning Gothic Revival design by Charles Barry, decorated in obsessive medieval detail by Augustus Pugin, built over 30 years between 1840 and 1867 on the footprint of what had burned. Westminster Hall, the largest medieval timber-roofed hall in Northern Europe, built by William Rufus in 1097 and famously given a new hammerbeam roof by Richard II in 1393, survived the fire almost untouched and stands at the north end of the complex.

The Building Itself

Barry won the 1835 design competition by proposing a Perpendicular Gothic scheme, the style parliament had specified. He was a classical architect by training and delegated the Gothic detailing entirely to Pugin, then 23 years old. The partnership was productive and uncomfortable. Pugin later wrote privately that the building was “All Grecian, sir; Tudor details on a classic body,” which was a fair architectural criticism: the symmetrical plan is classically rational while the surface ornament is medieval. Barry chose Anston limestone from Yorkshire for the stone. The limestone proved porous and began deteriorating within decades, initiating the cycle of repair work that continues today under the Parliament’s Restoration and Renewal programme.

The Elizabeth Tower, popularly called Big Ben after the bell inside it, completed its multi-year conservation project in early 2024 and now shows its original Victorian colours more accurately than it has in over a century. The gilding on the clock faces was restored, the stonework cleaned, and the scaffolding removed. Climbing the Elizabeth Tower’s 334 steps to the belfry is permitted only for UK residents; international visitors must be content with viewing it from street level or from the Westminster Bridge, where the proportions read best.

How to Visit

The Palace of Westminster operates as a working parliament; when it is in session, public access is structured. When parliament is in recess, guided tours run Monday through Saturday. Year-round Saturday tours are available throughout the year.

Guided tours in 2026 cost around £34 per adult; audio-guided tours start from around £27. Both include access to the House of Commons Chamber, the House of Lords Chamber, and Westminster Hall. The tour takes approximately 75 minutes. Book online through the UK Parliament website (tickets.parliament.uk) rather than third-party resellers; the official site allows advance booking, which matters in summer when Saturday tours sell out days ahead.

Watching a live debate in the House of Commons or House of Lords is free and does not require a tour ticket. Queue at the visitor entrance on St Margaret Street; wait times during key votes can be long but the experience is worth it for anyone with an interest in British political history. The public gallery above the Commons has excellent acoustics.

What Parliament Square Holds

The area immediately surrounding the palace repays an hour of slow walking. Westminster Abbey, directly across Parliament Square, has been the site of every English and British coronation since 1066 and contains memorials and tombs from across a thousand years of national history. Entry costs £29 for adults in 2026. The Jewel Tower, a small 14th-century building across the road from the palace’s south end, is one of very few surviving parts of the medieval palace complex and costs £5.80 to enter. It is almost always quieter than the abbey, and the exhibits on the medieval palace are more detailed than you would expect.

The Supreme Court, in the former Middlesex Guildhall at the northwest corner of Parliament Square, is free to enter and allows public seating in the courtroom when hearings are in session.

Getting There

Westminster Underground Station (Jubilee, Circle, and District lines) exits directly opposite the Elizabeth Tower. The walk from the station to the main visitor entrance takes under five minutes. From London Bridge, the Thames Clipper river bus stops at Festival Pier, a short walk across Waterloo Bridge; the approach to Westminster from the river is probably the most photographed angle of the building and well worth the slightly longer route.

Where to Eat

The Cellarium Cafe inside Westminster Abbey (open to visitors without an abbey ticket during limited hours) serves coffee and light meals in the original 14th-century vaults. For something more substantial nearby, Cinnamon Club in the old Westminster Library building on Great Smith Street has built a long-standing reputation for high-end Indian cooking at around £30 to £50 per person; it has fed politicians and civil servants for decades without becoming a tourist trap. The Red Lion pub on Parliament Street, a 19th-century drinking house that saw generations of MPs cross the road between votes, serves standard British pub food and pints; arrive before 13:00 on weekdays to avoid the lunchtime civil service rush.

Where to Stay

St Ermin’s Hotel on Caxton Street, a five-minute walk from Parliament Square, occupies a late-Victorian building with an ornate lobby that has been sensitively preserved. Rates start around £250 per night; the location for Westminster sightseeing is difficult to improve on. The Park Plaza Westminster Bridge, directly opposite on the south bank, is larger and has river views from the higher floors at similar prices. For budget travellers, the area around Pimlico (two stops south of Westminster on the Victoria line) has several well-reviewed guesthouses in the £80 to £150 range within 15 minutes walk of the palace.

A Practical Note

The Restoration and Renewal programme for the Palace of Westminster itself, distinct from the completed Elizabeth Tower work, is the largest heritage restoration project in the UK. The parliamentary authorities have been discussing whether to vacate the building for a decade-long comprehensive restoration or to work around MPs in occupation. As of mid-2026 no final decision has been made, but the building shows its age in places: the scaffolding that appears periodically on various sections is ongoing maintenance rather than the comprehensive project. Visit before the full restoration begins, when access will almost certainly be restricted for years.

The palace faces the Thames. The best single viewpoint remains the Albert Embankment on the south bank, opposite, where the whole river frontage is visible without buildings blocking the sightlines. Go in early morning before the tourist coaches arrive.