My boyfriend and I will be in England for six weeks this summer. We will be living in Cambridge, so we have no problem going to London anytime for the evening. We would like to go to the Ceremony of the Keys, but I'm a little worried about getting tickets --not because we don't have enough time once we're there, but because we don't have enough time before we go!

I've been reading the threads and see that it takes up to two months to receive your tickets, and we leave in four weeks to the day. Should I try to have them forwarded to our address in Cambridge, if I can figure out what it is? (We are staying in a dorm -- we think.) Should I try to have them sent here before we leave? Will we even be able to receive them before we leave the first week of August? Not to mention, International Reply Coupons seem to be a nonentity around here.

I think this would be a great experience, if we can pull it off. If anyone who has is willing to share their advice, I'd really appreciate it!
Many thanks,
Heather

Heather, I think you will have enough time before you go.....but if you're concerned then wait till you get there. I wanted to get the tickets and when I looked into it, they request that you send some international reply postage (I think) and I don't know where to get those. The Postal Service used to have them, but they do not sell them anymore, so I didn't know what to do. We are visiting family in England, so I had my husband's aunt send off for them and she received them in about a week. I would just wait till you get there,IMO.

I just sent away for my ceremony tickets, and got them back in about 10 days. We live in California, and my husband went to the post office, and they very quickly provided him with the two international reply coupons.

In all it was a very painless experience, and the response from London was astonishingly fast!

I got mine very quickly too. It is an awesome experience. You'll love it!

Mine took about 10 days to 2 weeks to arrive. I went to the local post office (the one by work is a larger PO than the one near my home, so I went there) and asked for the International Reply Coupons.

If you're worried they won't arrive before you leave, you could request a date right before you're 6 weeks are up, and have someone here send them to you in the UK once they arrive in the States.

Seems like a long way around it, but it would work.

We were very impressed with the Ceremony of the Keys, it's absolutely worth it to get the tickets, even if it might seem like a hassle of sorts.

Thanks for your help, everybody! How reassuring that they arrived so quickly. I think what I might do is request them now, and have them sent to my parents' address. We're stopping there on our way out of the country, so I could pick them up then, or have them send it if the tickets arrive after we leave.

I really hope we get to go -- from all accounts it sounds as though it's worth the trouble.