Visit to the Houses of Parliament, Afternoon Tea at The Park Plaza and River Cruise for Two
- Flexible Booking
- Instant Delivery
- Free Exchanges
Overview
Step inside the Government’s house for an audio tour covering a thousand years of history and more than a smattering of modern politics, then swing to Park Plaza for a filling afternoon tea with an unlimited hop-on, hop-off River Cruise to enjoy across the day too with this activity packed London day out for two.
The Houses of Parliament contains both the House of Commons and the House of Lords. You’ll get to see both houses through Westminster Hall, the Royal Gallery, Lords Chamber and more with an audio guide leading you from each point of interest to the next.
Along with your Houses of Parliament trip you can take a seat in the Park Plaza County Hall for an afternoon tea with all the trimmings. As if that wasn’t enough, over the course of the day you can enjoy an unlimited River Thames cruise (and all the sightseeing that goes with it) with a hop-on, hop-off ticket for two.
- SKU
- PHLPTC
- Locations
- 3 in the UK
- People
- For 2
- Validity
- 12 Months
- Rating
- 4.2 (65)
What's Included
- Entry for two to the Houses of Parliament in the Palace of Westminster
- An afternoon tea for two served at the nearby Park Plaza County Hall
- Includes sandwiches, pastries, scones and your choice of loose-leaf tea
- Unlimited day-long hop-on, hop-off sightseeing River Thames cruising
- Experience gift pack including personalised voucher and message card
What happens on the day?
On arrival at the Houses of Parliament simply present the entry voucher, that you will have received when you redeemed your gift experience in exchange for your audio guides before setting off around the House of Commons, House of Lords and all the interesting bits in-between. Your tour will take around 60 to 75 minutes, and is available in several languages should English not be your first choice.
At your chosen time you’ll also take a table at the Park Plaza County Hall for your pre-booked afternoon tea, including finger sandwiches, pastries, scones with cream and jam and your choice of loose leaf tea. You will be provided with a second voucher after making your booking which you will need to present to the restaurant.
For your unlimited day of river cruising, you’ll take the 3rd voucher, that you will have received when you redeemed your gift experience along to Westminster pier on the day you wish to take the cruise and exchange it with the booking staff for an unlimited River Red Rover ticket. You may embark and disembark from the piers at Westminster, London Eye, Tower and Greenwich, cruising between them as many times as you wish during one day.
Participant guidelines
- Under 16s must be accompanied by a full paying adult
- The experience content, equipment used and restrictions may vary
Availability
Vouchers are valid for 12 months from the date of issue. Please book and take your experience before the expiry date.
Houses of Parliament:
Every Saturday until 31 August
Monday to Friday between 1 and 30 August (except August bank holiday)
Every Saturday between 13 October and 15 December
Tours may occasionally have to be change or cancelled.
Hop on hop off cruise:
Tower Pier for ticket collection: Cruises depart every 30 minutes, every day of the week, all year round, giving you the chance to explore the many sights of the River Thames from four fantastic piers near popular attractions: Westminster, London Eye, Tower of London and Greenwich.
Actual times may vary depending upon the state of the tide and other river traffic. Always check with City Cruises staff for any changes to advertised services.
Afternoon tea is served at the Park Plaza County Hall 12.00 to 17.00 daily
We recommend you book at least four weeks in advance to ensure that dates are available. All bookings are subject to availability.
Please allow 1 hour 30 minutes at Houses of Parliament, 1 hour for your afternoon tea plus 10 to 15 minutes walking time between venues. The Thames cruise is hop on hop off all day. Please ensure you allow plenty of time for travelling between the different parts of your experience.
What about insurance?
The centres contracted with us hold public liability insurance. We also hold contingency liability cover. You will not be liable for accidental damage to equipment, except where damage has been caused as a result of recklessness or wilful negligence.
Please ensure you are familiar with the terms and conditions of the experience.
How it works
Customer Reviews
out of 5 stars
Based on 65 reviews
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5
Gill
16/09/2021
Finally used the voucher!
Initially planned this experience for 26.03.20 - Virgin kindly extended and extended the expiry date. Finally we used the voucher almost 18 months later and really enjoyed the whole experience. It would have been better to have had a guided tour of the Houses of Parliament but understand why it was an audio tour at this time.
out of 5 stars
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5
alan
05/09/2021
great day out
Very enjoyable day out the tour of the houses of parliament was the outstanding part to see where MP's work and the history of the building and its working
out of 5 stars
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5
Nick
30/08/2021
A great day out
The highlight for both of us was the Houses of Parliament which was a pleasant surprise as we managed se inside both the House of Lords and Commons. The 3 things included in the day out was well within walking distance. If we'd have realised this then we could have planned the day better to allow more time for the river cruise, spending more time at each of the stops. Our only comment is that I had to supplement Virgins info with an e-mail to the HOP to find out about entrance tickets.
out of 5 stars
Based on 65 reviews
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5
Robrrt
29/08/2021
London Experience
Travelled to London to visit the Houses of Parliament but we're unable to visit Parliament on the day because Parliament was recalled for an emergency debate so was closed to visitors. Thames Cruise was very good and full of interest. Afternoon tea at Park Plaza Hotel was superb and the best afternoon tea I have ever hsd.
out of 5 stars
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5
Adelle
15/03/2020
A fantastic tour
What a great tour. We chose the audio tour and it did not disappoint. Very informative with lots of optional extras we could listen to. A great experience and would definitely do it again.
out of 5 stars
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5
Kingfisher
08/03/2020
Brilliant Day!
A very interesting self guided tour of the Houses of Parliament, followed by the best afternoon tea I have ever had served by a lovely waitress. We finished the day by catching the boat to The Tower and had a look around St. Catherine’s Dock before returning by boat to Westminster at the end of a perfect day.
out of 5 stars
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5
Noel
02/03/2020
Houses of Parliament Tour
Really enjoyed this tour. The audio guide is very clear and informative, allowing ample opportunity to take in all the essential features of this historic place.
out of 5 stars
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5
Floss
08/09/2019
Value for money A great day out!
A great day.Tour of parliament very enjoyable.Afternoon tea delicious and a very entertaining ride along the river
out of 5 stars
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5
Dee
29/08/2019
Wonderful gift for my birthday!
This was a unique and exciting experience.
out of 5 stars
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5
Paul
12/08/2019
Great day, playing the tourist
Had a really great day seeing London, it's mad when it is on your doorstep and you just don't do it. Would recommend this day out, we did the Houses of Parliament tour, had afternoon tea then a boat trip up the Thames Leave yourself plenty of time to get on the City Cruise boat as it is quite slow to get your ticket
out of 5 stars
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5
Jo Powell & Brian Powell
10/08/2019
One of the best days
Our daughter bought me this experience for mother's day. It didn't disappoint. Palace of Westminster steeped in history and the audio guide was absorbing all the way around. We loved it all and found the history fascinating. The interiors were breath taking and I don't know how any work ever gets done in this magnificent place.
out of 5 stars
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5
Helen
08/08/2019
Super day!
We started with the Houses of Parliament, which was well worth the visit. Beautiful inside and full of amazing history as you would expect. Next we had afternoon tea at the Park Plaza, County Hall. We had delicious sandwiches, scones with jam and double cream and a variety of little cakes, which we couldn’t finish as we were too full. After that, we took the City Cruise boat from Westminster pier to Greenwich pier and back. Lovely trip, the commentary was funny and informative. enjoyed it!
out of 5 stars
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5
Steph
16/06/2019
Saw everything we wanted to
An Excellent Day out - tickets and vouchers were easy to obtain
out of 5 stars
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5
Nigel
10/06/2019
Great visit and tea
The Houses of Parliament tour was brilliant. Interesting, visually stunning, and very informative. Tea at the Plaza was just right. Food was great and the staff most helpful and obliging. The river cruise was very good; the only drawbacks were - waiting in a queue for the voucher to ticket exchange; the boat could have been cleaner inside; the staff on the quay did not let customers board in the correct positions they were queing in. I have given 5 stars because overall experience five star.
out of 5 stars
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5
Elspeth
20/04/2019
Brilliant day!
Had a brilliant day with a Houses of Parliament tour, afternoon tea and river cruise to Greenwich. It could not have gone any better - even the weather was good!
out of 5 stars
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5
Dave
07/04/2019
A marvellous day in London
Great value for money.
out of 5 stars
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5
Parliament and Tea
01/04/2019
Full day out
Well organised hassle free tours, cruises and finished off with afternoon tea.
out of 5 stars
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5
Gerry
17/12/2018
Pre-Christmas Birthday Treat
A terrific experience package; a fascinating tour of the Houses of Parliament to experience some of the history and atmosphere of the building at the end of the week of Brexit debates, followed by a lovely restorative afternoon tea at the nearby Park Plaza hotel, with delicious cinnamon scones and proper clotted cream, to digest what we had seen. To round everything off, a cruise along the Thames having first explored the Christmas Market on the Southbank. Wonderful memories of a great day.
out of 5 stars
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5
Shaun
02/09/2018
Magnificent day
Even if you have no interest in politics everyone should experience the houses of parliament, get to know the people past and present who made the decisions. The palace inside is outstanding, 600 years of history. Tea and cakes was very pleasant with extra tea to wash down all the goodies. Cruise and see all the historical landmarks and knowledge you never knew, given in a jolly voice by your cockney captain. If you done these separately it would cost much more. Well worth the price.
out of 5 stars
Based on 65 reviews
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5
Rachel
01/09/2018
Great day out
Houses of Parliament audio tour went smoothly. No excessive waiting about beforehand. Tickets issued promptly. I had to change the time of the tea at the hotel on the day and that was handled efficiently and with no problem. Day finished with sightseeing river trip to Greenwich from Westminster for which we had lovely weather. Super day out!
out of 5 stars
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5
Robert
30/07/2018
Fantastic
Houses of Parliament was well worth a visit and City Cruise boat trip was very good unfortunately there was not enough time to go on any more. Tea at Plazza Cakes and asandwiched where delicious
out of 5 stars
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5
Denise
23/04/2018
Absolutely Amazing
Would highly recommend the Houses of Parliament experience. The tour was fantastic, the afternoon tea at the Plaza was beautiful and the river cruise was spectacular.
out of 5 stars
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5
Malcolm osborne
15/04/2018
Spot on!
Could’nt have been better. Fantastic day from start to finish.
out of 5 stars
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5
Janice
11/04/2018
Superb day out
Would thoroughly recommend amazing Houses of Parliament Tour, food & service exceptional at Park Plaza County Hall where the chef specially prepared wonderful salads for us instead of afternoon tea & river cruise as always a great way to view our great city.
out of 5 stars
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5
Stephen Byrom
31/10/2017
60th Birthday Experience
An excellent way to celebrate your 60th (or any other milestone).....
out of 5 stars
Based on 65 reviews
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5
Heather
02/09/2017
Great Day Out
Was given a birthday present of a Tour around the Houses of Parliament, a boat trip and afternoon tea. We had an excellent day, the Houses of Parliament was very interesting, with plenty of time to look round at our leisure, we then walked to Westminster Bridge for our boat trip, again excellent, then took afternoon tea in Park Plaza which was just lovely. In all a thoroughly enjoyable day and would recommend it.
out of 5 stars
Based on 65 reviews
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5
Karen
26/08/2017
A wonderful afternoon out
The audio tour of the Houses of Parliament was the most amazing experience - so wonderful to be in a building with so much history. Doing the audio tour meant we could do it at our pace which was ideal. Really awe-inspiring. The tea was nice and relaxed and a nice treat. We thoroughly enjoyed our River Cruise - got on at London Eye pier and sailed all the way down to Greenwich and back - loved the onboard commentary. All in all a really lovely experience
out of 5 stars
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5
Martyn
14/08/2017
A great day out
Even though I am a Londoner and live in London it was great to be a tourist and to experience things I haven't done before in my 'own backyard '. A worthwhile and very enjoyable experience and all aspects of it were carried out with great professionalism.
out of 5 stars
Based on 65 reviews
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4
ron smith
18/11/2019
A Day In The Big Smoke
The whole experience was very good.The only very slight dissapointment was the boat trip which only went as far as Tower Bridge and back,but apart from that,super overall.Sorry,no pictures.
out of 5 stars
Based on 65 reviews
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4
Mrs C
17/11/2019
Almost the perfect day out
Booking process was very easy. Not sure why in this digital age we needed to print out all the vouchers ( 6 bits of paper for 3 of us) but we went ready with them. The Houses of Parliament Tour exceeded our expectations, so interesting and a must see. The river cruise was great, needed more time though to appreciate everything. The afternoon tea was the least enjoyable/value part of this experience - the venue could be anywhere and there were building works going on around us, food just ok
out of 5 stars
Based on 65 reviews
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4
Susan
22/10/2019
London trip
Really enjoyed the river trip and scrumpy afternoon tea. Unfortunate we couldn’t do Houses of Parliament due to MPs sitting to debate brexit but we will do that another day.
out of 5 stars
Based on 65 reviews
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4
Stephen
03/06/2019
4 dsy break
Really enjoyed the Tower of London. Afternoon tea at the Park Plaza County Hall was ok, not the best we have had. River cruise was really good Would recommend.
out of 5 stars
Based on 65 reviews
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4
Steve
27/05/2019
Houses of Parliament
Excellent gift experience - all went well and thoroughly enjoyable
out of 5 stars
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4
ann
13/05/2019
Timings
Timings crucial - earliest HofP visit was 10.20 - very interesting. Tried to get River Cruise for 1200 but queue for transferring voucher to ticket was too long so got the 1240hrs. Why can't Virgin issue tickets instead of voucher to save queueing. Return cruise to Greenwich 3.5hrs - very interesting inspite of bad weather. Returned at 1610 for Tea at Park Plaza 1630hrs. A bit disappointing and waiter had NO IDEA what was in 4 small sandwiches and he guessed wrongly. Overall a good day out.
out of 5 stars
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4
Keith
14/04/2019
Latest trip to London
We enjoyed the Houses of Parliament tour, although we took longer than the 1.5 hours predicted. We had booked the Afternoon tea for the latest slot to give us time to have a boat trip. Unfortunately we could only catch the boat as far as the Tower of London and didn't have enough time to catch the boat back. We were 15 mins late for our tea, but it didn't seem to matter. Ideally book the earliest tour of Parliament and the latest tea and you might be able to catch the boat to Greenwich/back.
out of 5 stars
Based on 65 reviews
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4
Rosaleen
18/02/2019
Very good day
Had a very enjoyable day and everything went according to plan.
out of 5 stars
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4
Robert
11/02/2019
Weekend in London
Houses of Parliament visit well organised though it takes a good half hour after you arrive to gain entrance (secty) so do arrive early, if you are booked in at a timed event subsequently. The afternoon tea was pretty poor and badly organised. We didn't appear to be expected and tea took 45 mins to arrive. Sandwiches on dry bread, no butter and very little filling. Dry cakes but scones good. Boat trip v.g - took 3 hours. You get a ticket valid for 24 hrs so could have taken it both days.
out of 5 stars
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4
Heather
28/01/2019
Great trip but wish we'd skipped the tea!
The Houses of Parliament was a great tour and the boat trip showed an amazing view of London. However, it would have been a lot nicer in the summer when they ran a bit later. The afternoon tea was a complete let down though; they hadn't remembered our booking and put us on a table upstairs, after which we had to wait nearly an hour for our food; a platter of dry, sparsely filled sandwiches and sickly, very dry cakes. Such a shame as we'd have gone straight to the boat if we'd known!
out of 5 stars
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4
Maureen
13/11/2018
Houses of Parliament Tour
Our tour of Parliament was first class. Audio tour with proper headphones allowed for extra info if you wanted it. allowed in Half an hour before booked time, which was great. River cruise with excellent commentary. The afternoon was a bit of a let down. Sat in the bar area of the hotel with a view of the passing traffic. Multi-coloured sandwiches were tasteless, but lovely cakes.
out of 5 stars
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4
Samantha H-C
05/08/2018
Friend day out
Our very hot day out was brilliant. We are aged between 25-35 and the houses of parliament is somewhere the four of us have always wanted to go and visit. The audio tour very informative. The river cruise was very informative, very friendly and helpful staff. We did have to wait for about 20 mins to get on the boat due to that amount of people there was but that can't be helped. The afternoon tea was very tasty. Very friendly staff. Great assortment of cakes. The sandwiches were dry but tasty.
out of 5 stars
Based on 65 reviews
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4
Isabel
20/05/2018
Houses of Parliament etc
A good day,the tea venue was not exciting! the tea served was good. Enjoyed the Thames cruise,but all on a Saturday made the day hectic with crowds every where,so tiring to navigate when you are in your 70’s.
out of 5 stars
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4
David
30/04/2018
Excellent Tour of the Houses of Parliament
The tour of the houses of parliament was excellent. We saw almost everything we wanted to and it was extremely well organised. Afternoon tea was a little disappointing as it was like being in a café rather than a luxurious setting we expected. Boat trip was fun and very easy to use. It would have helped if we had know timings of the boats and also how long the H of P tour would take as we ran out of time to do much on the boat before it finished for the day
out of 5 stars
Based on 65 reviews
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4
Alan
28/04/2018
Lords, laws and the common people.
Palace of Westminster was an excellent experience. The tour recording was very informative and well described, allowing you to tour at your own pace. Fabulous decor and long live the pomp and ceremony. The hop on/off boat trips and quality of boats were very good and the boatmen made each trip very enjoyable with their humorous commentaries. The afternoon tea was a disappointment. Sandwiches with very little filling, bread dry and cakes that were much too sickly sweet. Lost 1 star as a result
out of 5 stars
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4
William
15/04/2018
London baby!
Houses of Parmiament were interesting and worth it. Afternoon tea was nice thoughwe were put in a large restaurant on the first floor and were alone for most of it. River Cruise perhaps a bit boring if you know London already but good if you are new to the city and want some sightseeing.
out of 5 stars
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4
Martin
06/04/2018
Good day out: thanks for great weather!
City Cruise Westminster to Tower and return was fun and very informative (though they could have a quicker process for exchanging voucher). Parliament audio tour was excellent - better than the personal guided tour from what we saw. Park Plaza Afternion Tea: very good service. Tea was OK - tho sandwiches the least enjoyable as slightly stale. Overall a very good day - not least because the weather was so good!
out of 5 stars
Based on 65 reviews
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4
Conrad
05/04/2018
Parliament, Afternoon Tea & River Cruise
The visit to Parliament was excellent. The audio guides were great and the experience unforgettable. The Afternoon Tea at the Park Plaza was quite nice, but they seemed not to be expecting us and, because there was a pre-booked dietary request, there was less food for one member of the party. The River boat cruise was really entertaining.
out of 5 stars
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4
Patricia
12/03/2018
Houses of Parliament were amazing
Received as a present and a very enjoyable day
out of 5 stars
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4
David
14/02/2018
A nice day out
We took the boat from Greenwich to Westminster which is described as a cruise which explains the slow pace. The river is great for seeing the sites but we could have done without the commentary from the crew member filled with awful rehearsed jokes delivered in a dreary monotone. Disembarked at Westminster and toured the houses of parliament. This was very interesting. Finally a beautiful afternoon tea at the difficult to find Park Plaza. All in all very good.
Locations
Locations shown shouldn't be used for route planning
London
- County Hall, London
- Westminster, London