Royal Mews

It’s not easy to get an invitation to Buckingham Palace—most visitors are thrilled to see the Changing of the Guards out front—but it is possible to go just around the side of the palace and visit the stables, or Royal Mews. The visit begins with an introduction to some of its royal residents, the Windsor Greys and Cleveland Bays, the horses bred on the Queen’s Studs to pull the state carriages. (If you are lucky, you may even see some of them at work pulling the cart that delivers mail between Buckingham Palace and Clarence House, where Princes Charles resides.) As you continue through the stately stable building, which was designed by the architect John Nash, you will visit the harness room, learn about the staff who lives on premises and see various carriages and limousines that the royal family rides in. (The vehicle the late Prince Philip was known to drive himself around London—a London taxi cab—is not on display, but vintage Rolls-Royces are.)