ok this is a crazy question i am sure. are there are days of the week that are preferable for buckingham palace and the tower of london? in august? i am thinking its crowded no matter what i was trying to find out what days the changing of the guard is in aug since its every other day but i can't find out. so we are going to go ahead and book our palace tickets. we plan to get there early. any suggestions...or is this just a silly question? thank you!

Not Silly, the Tower is a Must the oldest Castle in London. We saw the Changing of the guard, we thought is was no big deal. If you want a nice museum see the Sir John Soane house, it is a special place left intact when he died to the city. Go to evenging song at Westminster, it is special. All the museums are great. Must see the Brittish Museum at Russell Square.
emilyandjim.info

I have to agree that the changing of the guard is overrated. If you insist, get there very early and be prepared to wait for what seems like forever.The schedule is sketchy at best.The best viewing, if you're not in the front row, would probably be at the top of the Queen Victoria Memorial, directly across from the palace.

I'd avoid the Tower on the weekends. Monday/Tuesday may be the best. Go early.

I meant to add that the best times for Tower visits is either early morning or a couple of hours prior to closing.

just two quick comments:

Since you will be in LOndon when Buckingham Palace is open to the public (mainly just Aug/Sept) why not tour the Palace instead of hanging around for teh changing of the Guard outside?

And one hint where you can actually see the guard change w/o hanging around for 2 hours - facing the Palace, off to the left is a short road called Spur Rd. which merges into Birdcage Walk. If you get there after the Guard/band has gone into the courtyard there will be almost no one in this area since everyone else will try to get along the fence or on the Victoria memorial. Leaving, the troop will walk right past you if you stand over there (Spur/Birdcage) So show up 30 mins after the scheduled tiem and you will have a front row view.

About when to visit the Tower - I would avoid Sundays if possible - it is open one hour less and the crowds are the largest of the week so it is even more zoo-ish than usual on Sundays.

oh we defintely plan to tour the palace. i thought we'd be able to combine the change with the tour of the palace. thanks for all the input!

In that case, I'd try to book the first tour of the day (9:45) and you will exit just about midway through the changing of the Guard - so by walking up Buckingham Gate to Spur Rd/Birdcage Walk you will be in perfect position to see the Guard up close and personal - and all w/o standing there killing time.

When we did a Globus tour of Italy, I think we crammed many cities in. I know its doable if we plan well enough and schedule guides. It would be nice to stay at hotels that are within walking distance of the sights or train stations. And I plan on packing very light. It would also be nice to have an extra day in Prague or Vienna to just shop and people watch. Thanks for all of your input!

amberkat: Are you sure you meant to post on this thread?? Doesn't seem to have anything to do w/ sites in London.

Perhaps you meant to post it here http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=35017263