All in all, it’s a bit of a ballache. In Australia, you just arrive sometime before 4pm and you get a nice, free guided tour for about 45 minutes. In the UK, there are different rules depending on where you come from, when you visit, what you want to see and whether you’re buddies with a Lord or not.
Non-UK citizens can only visit (for a fee) during the summer period. UK people, however, can visit all year round at no cost… but have to have their visit arranged by their MP or a Lord. Because we all know the local Lord, don’t we? And our MPs really do have nothing better to do than sort out day trips. No, really. They don’t.
My problem is that I want to go in about a week and a half, which could be short notice. Also, I want to go with a foreigner. So can they get in now it’s not summer even though I’m accompanying them? And do they have to pay if they can? And who is my MP seeing as I don’t have a residential address in the UK?
