London Guide
Westminster
Houses of Parliament
The Palace of Westminster, better known as the Houses of Parliament, is London's best-known monument. The city's finest Victorian Gothic Revival building and symbol of a nation once confident of its place at the centre of the world, it is distinguished above all by the ornate, gilded clock tower popularly known as Big Ben, after the thirteen-ton main bell that strikes the hour (and is broadcast across the world by the BBC).
The original Westminster Palace was built by Edward the Confessor in the first half of the eleventh century, so that he could watch over the building of his abbey. It then served as the seat of all the English monarchs until a fire forced Henry VIII to decamp to Whitehall. The Lords have always convened at the palace, but it was only following Henry's death that the House of Commons moved from the abbey's Chapter House into the palace's St Stephen's Chapel. The medieval palace burned down in 1834, but Westminster Hall survived, and its huge oak hammerbeam roof makes it one of the most magnificent secular medieval halls in Europe – you get a glimpse of the hall en route to the public galleries.
To watch the proceedings in either the House of Commons or the Lords, simply join the queue for the public galleries outside St Stephen's Gate. Sessions run on Monday and Tuesday 2.30–10.30pm, Wednesday 11.30am–7.30pm, Thursday 10.30am–6.30pm and on Friday 9.30am–3pm. The public are let in slowly from about 4pm onwards on Mondays and Tuesdays, from around 1pm Wednesdays & Thursdays, and from 10am on Fridays. If you want to avoid queueing, turn up an hour or more later, when the crowds have usually thinned. Phone 
020/7219 4272 or visit 
www.parliament.uk for more information. In August and September, there are also public guided tours of the building (Mon– Sat; £7), lasting an hour and fifteen minutes. Visitors can book in advance by phoning 0870/906 3773, or simply head for the ticket office on Abingdon Green, opposite Victoria Tower.