Touring Parliament: free for UK residents, £40 for everyone else

The Palace of Westminster is open to visitors, and there are two ways in: pay for a tour, or go for free. The free route is open to UK residents specifically, and very few people know it exists.

Free: through your own MP

The "Inside UK Parliament" tour is free for UK residents. To book it you contact your own Member of Parliament, or any Member of the House of Lords. You do not need to know your MP personally, and you do not need to share their politics.

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The tour runs 75 minutes. Shorter versions run on some mornings, skipping the House of Commons Chamber.

The timetable: Monday from 9am to 12 noon; Tuesday and Wednesday from 9am to 9.50am and from 10.15am to 12 noon, which are the shorter tours; Friday from 3.30pm to 5pm. There are no free tours on Thursdays, Saturdays, Sundays or public holidays.

You can book up to six months ahead, and you should: places are limited and go quickly. During a General Election period, bookings through MPs are paused, and you go through a Member of the Lords instead.

Paid: £40 for an adult

If you are here briefly, or do not want to wait for an MP's office to reply, tickets are on general sale. Guided tour prices: adult aged 25 and over, £40; young person 16 to 24, £30; child 5 to 15, £20; UK Armed Forces, £30. Under-fives go free but still need a ticket.

Disabled visitors are entitled to a free essential companion ticket. A guidebook is £7, or two for £12.

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The tour lasts 90 minutes and is delivered in English. The route covers Westminster Hall, Central Lobby, the House of Commons Chamber and the House of Lords Chamber. Big Ben is not included — that is a separate tour, a climb of 334 steps to the belfry beside the bell.

When tours run

Paid guided tours run on Saturdays throughout the year, and Monday to Saturday during parliamentary recess. There is also an audio tour: a multimedia device in several languages, with extra content for children in English.

What to know before you go

Arrive at least 20 minutes before the time on your ticket — security at the entrance is airport-style. Parliament is a working building, and tours can be cancelled or re-routed at short notice if the business of the Houses demands it.

Children are recommended from age five. Westminster Hall is the oldest part of the palace and the part that leaves the strongest impression on most visitors: its fourteenth-century timber roof survived both the fire of 1834 and the bombing.

One practical note for anyone living here: start by writing to your MP. Even if the reply takes a month, the tour costs nothing instead of forty pounds a head — which saves a family of four well over a hundred.