Westminster Abbey, Big Ben and Buckingham Palace Tour

The 3-hour and 4-hour options are different tours

Read the option before you book. The 4-hour tour, at a higher price shown for your date, includes skip-the-line Abbey tickets through the priority group entrance and a guided visit inside. The 3-hour tour is the from-$44 price: a guided walk past the outside of the Abbey, Parliament and Big Ben to Buckingham Palace, after which the guide leaves you at the Abbey to attend a service, Evensong or an organ recital on your own. That is worship, not a tour: you sit for the service and do not walk the sightseeing route.

• 4-hour option — Guided tour inside the Abbey with skip-the-line entry, plus the walk
• 3-hour option — Walk with outside views; free independent entry to a service, no sightseeing

What you see of Big Ben and Buckingham Palace

Both are outside views only, and the listing says so plainly: entry to Big Ben and Buckingham Palace is excluded. You see the Elizabeth Tower and the Houses of Parliament from Parliament Square and walk through St James's Park to the palace gates. If you want to go inside Parliament, the Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey tour takes you into Westminster Hall and both chambers; climbing Big Ben is sold only by UK Parliament (can you tour Big Ben?).

The walk itself

The route is about 3.2 km on foot with a Blue Badge guide, the professional qualification for London guides, in groups of up to 20. The guide speaks one language chosen at booking: English, French, German, Italian or Spanish. The Changing of the Guard is not part of the tour, but the operator says you may catch it on mornings when it runs. Arrive 10 minutes early: late arrivals are not refunded.

Value against doing it yourself

The 3-hour option costs about the same as the Abbey's own £32 ticket, about $43, but it does not take you round the Abbey; its value is the guided walk and a free seat at a service. The 4-hour option is the better deal if you want both the Abbey interior with a guide and the royal sights outside. All 10 of the latest reviews praise the guide; one notes the guide had no microphone and one found it expensive next to other tours.

What to leave behind

Large bags, backpacks, extra clothing and baby carriages are not allowed and there is no storage on site. The Abbey is a working church, so keep noise down, and access for prams is limited. Wear shoes for walking.