Visitor access

Kensington Palace welcomes all visitors and hopes to make everyone's day out enjoyable. However, as Kensington Palace is an historic building, there are some areas with difficult stairs and areas where wheelchair access is limited.

Please note:  Kensington Palace will be closed 8 to 25 March 2010 inclusive.  Please see the opening times page for more information.
The entrance to Kensington Palace

Detailed access around the palace

From 2010, Kensington Palace will undergo major building works as part of an ambitious project to increase accessibility for all. Find out more here.  As a result, areas of the palace may become inaccessible at short notice.  Please contact us for more information.

The State Apartments at Kensington Palace are on the first floor and unfortunately there is no lift available. Access to the State Apartments is by a shallow flight of 30 steps.  Most areas of the Royal Ceremonial Dress Collection are on a level access, as is the Orangery restaurant, which has a ramp.  There is limited access to Apartment 1a.   There are adapted toilet facilities next to the gift shop.

Scripts are provided in written form for all visitors, with a large-print version available in English.

Visitors with disabilities are admitted at a concessionary rate and their companion is given free entry. Please notify the admissions staff when purchasing your tickets.

Manual wheelchairs are available for use within the palace. Chairs are provided on a first come, first served basis and cannot be booked in advance.  Please note that for health and safety reasons, staff are unable to assist in carrying wheelchairs or pushchairs.

There is limited disabled parking next to the Orangery. As space is restricted, it is necessary to book in advance. Please telephone +44 (0)20 3166 6199.   Please note that during winter months cars need to be off site by 4.00pm due to park closure.

For more information about visitor access, please click here for an access guide.

Special tours

Kensington Palace offers special guided tours for visitors with disabilities.  Tours are included in your ticket price, although they do need to be booked in advance.


British Sign Language tours

A BSL interpreter will be at Kensington Palace from 2pm on the following dates to interpret Enchanted Palace. There is no additional charge - this is included in normal admission tickets.

Friday 23 April
Friday 21 May
Thursday 17 June
Friday 16 July
Thursday 19 August
Thursday 16 September
Thursday 21 October
Friday 19 November
Friday 17 December

Pre-booking is required. 

How to book
Telephone (18001) 0844 482 7777 with details of your preferred date or email kensingtontours@hrp.org.uk.


Describer escorted visits

Kensington Palace offers an escorted description service to take blind or partially sighted visitors around the palace.  Click here for more information.


Downloadable Resources

Some files are provided in PDF format - you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view these files.

  1. Click here to download Acrobat Reader
  2. Alternatively, Adobe offers a service for converting PDFs into HTML or plain text. Access this service here


    Access to Kensington Palace 2010
    (Adobe PDF, 107KB)

    Kensington Palace orientation leaflet 2010
    (Adobe PDF, 391KB)