Palace of Holyroodhouse + Queen's Gallery

Save on Sightseeing in London with The London Pass! With a wealth of history, culture and exciting attractions, London always has plenty to offer the visitor. However, sightseeing in London can sometimes not be the easiest or cheapest experience! We at London Pass have spent years understanding the needs of our customers and have ensured that the Pass provides the value and convenience that visitors to our great city demand! The award winning London Pass has been delighting our customers for over 10 years. It's simply the best way to see all that London has to offer while saving both money and time! How You Benefit from The London Pass: Free entry to your choice of over 80 Attractions; including the The View from The Shard, Tower of London, Windsor Castle, HMS Belfast and many more. A free 128 page Guidebook; available in 7 different languages containing a wealth of detailed information including maps and directions as well as great tips on how to make the most of the city. Skip the Queue at Top London Attractions, save Time and make the most out of your sightseeing trip by skipping the long queues at Tower of London, London Zoo, Windsor Castle, Kensington Palace and Hampton Court Palace. Added Travel Option add a London Travelcard to your Pass which enables you to use all public buses, the London Underground and trams ensuring that you make the most efficient use of your time Save up to a pound on £420 worth of entrance fees that's the aggregate price of all Adult entrances to Attractions contained within the 6 day Pass. Other Special Offers along with the Guidebook, we will provide you with access to other great offers available to visitors to London, including discounted prices on West End theatre tickets, restaurant discounts and much more! You can visit as many attractions as you want - even more with the time saved with fast track entry. You don't need to carry too much cash and the London Pass keeps control on your spending. How Does The London Pass Work? The London Pass is a smart card - like a credit card with a computer chip inside - which allows you completely cash free entry to your choice of 56 London tourist attractions. It's a bit like an all you can eat buffet - once you've bought your London Pass you don't have to pay to get into any of the attractions covered by the pass and the more sights you see, the more money you save. Simply show the attendant at a London Pass attraction your card, they will swipe it through a special machine and you will be allowed entry. For the full list of London attractions where you can get in free with the London Pass. Activating The London Pass: The smart card records when and where you first use your London Pass, as well as how long the pass will remain valid for. This means that regardless of what start date you give when you buy the pass, your London Pass is activated the moment that you first use it at an attraction or service. Your London Pass is then valid for the number of days that you purchased - be it 1, 2, 3 or 6 days and is subject to the purse value of maximum gate prices related to the number of days. It is important to note that any day is based on a calendar day, so should you first use your pass at 4pm on Monday, Monday is counted as day one of your pass usage. You will need to present your voucher at the exchange point to receive your London Sightseeing Pass(es) as well as comprehensive details concerning all the attractions that may be visited. Your London Sightseeing Pass(es) will be activated at the first time of use. All customers collecting Passes must provide the following documentation to the house security staff: - Photo Identification (Passport or Driving License). - Credit Card used to purchase the Pass(es). Under no circumstances will any Passes be issued without the above documentation. *Exchange point: 11a Charing Cross Road, London, WC2H 0EP. Please note that the Centre is a redemption point only and any queries regarding your purchase must be referred to 365 Tickets on 0203 540 7707. INCLUDES TRAVELCARD: Travelling in and around London can be fun with transport services that take you to London Sightseeing Pass attraction. When you choose your London Sightseeing Pass with transport, all of your journeys within Zones 1-6 are paid for. You can get to all of The London Sightseeing Pass attractions using the Travelcard, even Windsor Castle, with First Great Western Link Trains. To use your travel, The London Sightseeing Pass and Travelcard must be valid, signed and ready to travel. Purchasers of a 6 day London Sightseeing Pass including travel receive a 7th day of travel FREE! What you get with your Travelcard: Unlimited travel on London's Buses, Underground Trains, Overground Trains, Docklands Light Rail and Tramlink, for the dates and duration you require. Additional travel to Windsor Castle on First Great Western Link Trains with a valid Zones 1-6 Travelcard and a valid London Sightseeing Pass. 1/3 discounton Riverboat services. Travelcard Restrictions. One Day Travel Card: The One day Travelcard (off-peak) can only be used after 9:30am Monday-Fridays (from 00:01 Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays) on the day of validity and for any journey that starts before 04.30 on the following day. Multi-day travelcards incur no restrictions and are valid for use on consecutive calendar days. The following validity rules apply:
1 day Travelcards (off-peak) can be used from 9.30am Mondays to Fridays, all day Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays, on each day of validity and for any journey that starts before 4.30am on the day following the expiry date.
2 and 3 day Travelcards (off-peak) have the same rules as 1 day Travelcard and can only be used on consecutive days.
7 day Travelcards can be used at any time during the period of validity and for any journey that starts before 4.30am on the day following the expiry date.
Children under 11 years of age may travel free of charge on the tube, buses, DLR and London Overground if accompanied by an adult holding a valid travelcard. Children travelling on National Rail services are required to pay extra.
Please note: Delivered Visitor Travel Cards are date stamped on issue. Please ensure you have selected the correct start date when ordering as your Travel Card will have the date you selected. The transport network is closed on Christmas Day and limited services may be running around this time. Travelcard and London Pass days are still consecutive and days cannot be carried over even if the Travelcard or London Pass are unable to be used.  This is also the case during transport strikes.

The Queen's Gallery was built in the shell of the former Holyrood Free Church and Duchess of Gordon’s School at the entrance to the Palace of Holyroodhouse. The buildings were constructed in the 1840s with funds from the Duchess of Gordon, but fell into disuse in the late 19th century. Benjamin Tindall Architects were appointed project architects for the new Queen’s Gallery in October 1999. Their central visual theme was a celebration of The Queen’s Golden Jubilee, expressed through a series of arches and screens that lead visitors from the Gallery entrance to the exhibition spaces beyond. Their design complements the original 19th-century architecture, elements of which were incorporated into the new spaces. Unsympathetic later internal alterations were removed, and a new exposed steel and concrete floor inserted to reflect the original ‘gallery’ of the Church.   A new stone arched entrance was created at the centre of the Horse Wynd frontage, opposite the new Scottish Parliament building. The use of a stone archway, with a courtyard beyond, is a traditional entrance device in Scottish architecture. The main walling is of Catcastle stone, the dressed work and lettering is of Stainton stone and the base is of Kenmay granite. ‘THE QUEEN’S GALLERY’ lettering above the entrance is the work of John Neilson, a calligrapher and carver. The letters were cut from single pieces of stone. Above sits Scotland’s heraldic lion, designed by Jill Watson. The lion sedant is based on a small red lion that sits at the feet of Mary, Queen of Scots on her tomb in Westminster Abbey. (The Palace of Holyroodhouse was once home to Mary, Queen of Scots.)   The monumental entrance doors of oak have gilded bronze hinges by Jill Watson. Continuing the heraldic theme, the main hinges are decorated with the Scottish lion and unicorn. The beasts are set against the adjacent urban scene of Edinburgh’s Royal Mile and the rural scene of Arthur’s Seat and Salisbury Crags. The upper hinges are made as golden boughs of flowering native trees – chestnut and laburnum, oak, rowan and hawthorn. The stone archway is decorated with a carved and gilded garland of Scottish flowers, including daisies and thistles, created by Graciela Ainsworth, an Edinburgh-based sculptor, carver and conservator. Over the old entrance to the former church is a stained-glass window by Christian Shaw.  The design shows a perspective drawing of the interior of a gallery. At night, the shape of the archway is reflected by the glass lights by Keiko Mukaide set into the paving. The artist has given the tiles a water flow pattern, mirroring the stream of visitors walking in and out of the Gallery. Inside, the reception desk by Hamid van Koten is made from curved pieces of Scottish elm with kilned glass and patinated copper. The pendant lights were designed and made in Edinburgh by Ingrid Phillips. Dividing the reception from the main Gallery area is a patterned glass screen by Jacqueline Poncelet. The screen’s bronze handles by Jill Watson incorporate figures looking at art in a gallery.   The dramatic central stair of native timber leads to the Gallery spaces above. The complex shape was designed by the architects with Charles Taylor Woodwork, who were responsible for the construction. Lights set into the first floor illuminate the curved balustrading.