Audio Guide Tour

Hold the stories of Kensington Palace in your hands

Explore the history of Kensington Palace through the centuries. Dive deep into stories from the Georgian Court to the Victorian era. Hear from curators, historians and other palace staff as they share captivating stories and hidden secrets of this spectacular royal residence, once home to Queen Victoria.

Highlights of our audio guide tours

Discover how the Georgian Court hosted special guests in the King’s Apartments.
Listen to curators explain the complex imagery seen throughout the palace.
Discover the real characters in the paintings with the audio guide image recognition available.
Learn about England’s only joint sovereigns, William III and Mary II.
Hear from curators and other staff members on the palace's origins as a small villa to home of the modern royals.
Explore Mary II’s personal rooms in the Queen’s Apartments.
View dazzling tiaras in the Jewel Room, including Queen Victoria’s emerald tiara.
See the rooms where Queen Victoria spent her childhood, and step back in time to where she and Price Albert first met.

Languages

Available in the following languages:

English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Mandarin, Portuguese, Spanish and British Sign Language (BSL).

When

Available

Ticketing information

Collect your audio guide in the Hub, next to the ticket scanning desk. Audio guide hand out closes at 17:00.

Access all the tours on our visitor guide on your own device.

Included in palace admission (Members go free)

Buy Kensington Palace tickets

Tours and talks

How to use our audio tour

On your own device

Access our visitor guide, which includes all the audio tours along with information about events and facilities, on your device.

Save the link to your home screen for a seamless experience while using the guide on-site during your visit. For the best experience, remember to bring your headphones and a portable charger.

Audio tours with step-free routes are clearly marked on the device.

Use one of our audio guide devices

Alternatively, you can borrow an audio guide device, which are included in the price of your ticket. These are available on a first-come, first-served basis. At peak times there may be a short wait to pick them up.

Collect your audio guide from the Hub, next to the ticket scanning desk.

Using headphones with our devices

You are welcome to bring your own headphones for our audio guide.

Headphones need to plug into the handset. Bluetooth headphones are not compatible with audio guide handsets.
Our audio guide handsets will accommodate most common types of headphones with a classic jack connection.

Plan your day

Use the guide to see what's on, where to eat and shop, and scroll through a timeline of the palace to discover more about its history. Navigate around the residence with your digital map, included on your handset.

Audio guide tour transcripts

Please visit the Kensington Palace Audio Guide transcripts page for transcripts of each tour.

Visitor using the audio tour guide at Kensington palace

Available audio tours

Explore the rooms Queen Victoria once spent her young life, and step into the world of Mary II and William III in the Queen’s State Apartments. Then take a walk through the Georgian Court.

All tours are accessible and available in main and step-free routes.

Welcome to Kensington Palace

This tour provides a brief introduction to Kensington Palace. Find out more about the different audio tours available and learn how to use your guide. The recommended time to complete this is three minutes.

The King's State Apartments

These luxurious apartments offer a grand experience and feature the glittering court of George II and Queen Caroline in the early 1700’s. This takes around 25 minutes to complete.

The Queen's State Apartments

The intimate Queen’s State Apartments take you into the private world of Mary II and her husband William III. Learn more about their lives as joint monarchs in this 20 minute tour.

Victoria: A Royal Childhood

This exhibition takes you behind the scenes to discover the extraordinary story of Queen Victoria’s childhood in the early 1800s, a place where family feuds took place during her teenage years. This lasts around 25 minutes.

Conclusion

This concludes the tour, provides instructions on how to return your device and lasts one minute.

Time Explorers at Kensington Palace

Families can explore Kensington Palace by completing challenges and quizzes using the Time Explorers game. Meet characters from history, learn about life at the palace, test your knowledge and win badges!

It's 1735 and Queen Caroline has asked an unknown German artist, Anton Wolf, to create the perfect painting of the royal court for her husband King George II. Poor Anton has no idea where to start! He needs your help to explore the King’s State Apartments, learn about the Georgian court and discover the King and Queen’s favourite things so he can paint the perfect picture.

Time Explorers is available to play on selected audio guides and subject to availability. Please ask a member of staff when collecting your guides from the audio guide stand.