The Houses of Parliament have developed audio tours that help bring to life the history, architecture and pieces of art in the House of Commons and the House of Lords. Some of the highlights include the Queen’s Robing Room, the Royal Gallery, Lords Chambers, Central Lobby, Members’ Lobby, Commons Chambers and Westminster Hall.
Visitor Assistants are on hand all along the tour route to answer questions you may have so don’t hold back.
The family version of the audio tour, which is aimed at children aged 7 to 12, is available in English and the normal audio tour is available in English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Russian and Mandarin.
The commentary for the family version is extremely engaging and is set in the style of a ‘live’ news broadcast with reporters that travel through time and ‘report from the scene’ on stories that are connected to the Houses of Parliament.
For visitors who may be deaf or have a loss of hearing, there is a screen-based version of the audio tour on offer in British Sign Language.
You’re only a stone’s throw away from Big Ben, the London Eye and the Southbank Centre.
I’ve never given much thought to the Houses of Parliament but actually seeing the inner workings of everything was really interesting. I especially enjoyed seeing the architecture of the whole building and also finding out about the Queens Robing Room. Also because of the great location of the site, we had a really nice stroll along the Thames.
You can find loads more information by Laura Porter at aboutlondonlaura.com
I took the audio tour with my two daughters aged 11 and 9 and we had a great time. The girls were engaged throughout and could skip the bits that didn’t interest them. It’s a fascinating place with lots of British history the kids learn about at primary school.