Downton Abbey Tour in London – Locations Guide

Perhaps the most famous of Downton Abbey’s London locations, Bridgewater House is a grand palazzo-style townhouse built in Bath stone, and has been an eye-catching highlight of Cleveland Row since the early Victorian era. Downton fans will recognize its striking facade as that of Grantham House, the Crawleys’ grand London residence, which makes its first appearance in season two and remains a regular fixture throughout. Alas, as Bridgewater/Grantham House is, in real life, a private residence, it’s not possible to get inside. However, you can enjoy some rather excellent views (and photo opportunities!) from the leafy environs of Green Park (pictured).

Just a hop and a skip from Bridgewater House, Lancaster House is a similarly splendid 1840s mansion, a grand neo-classical confection on The Mall that was once part of St James’s Palace. Indeed, so elegant is Lancaster House that film-makers have selected it as a suitable stand-in for Buckingham Palace several times over. Downton Abbey aficionados will know it best as the scene where Lady Rose was presented to the King and Queen in the 2013 Christmas special. Again, you can’t go inside, but proximity to that other most regal of London attractions, Buckingham Palace itself, more than makes up for it.

The timeless glamor of London’s most famous hotel made for an ideal Downton Abbey location. It’s where Lady Sybil and Tom Branson made plans to elope in season two, and also puts in a rather grand appearance in the final episode of the series. You can of course go inside the Ritz, and those with deep pockets may even wish to stick around for classy cocktails, Michelin-starred dining or traditional afternoon tea.

Downton sleuths will know this one as the Lotus Club, favorite haunt of Lord Grantham and his aristo pals, as well as providing that memorable moment when jazz singer Jack Ross first sweeps Lady Rose off her feet on the dancefloor. In real life, this exclusive private gentlemen’s club has been operating on Mayfair’s posh Brook Street since 1868, and has counted Henry James, Charlie Chaplin, Stephen Fry and Andrew Lloyd Webber among its members. Alas, once again, unless you’re elected as a member and can afford the eye-watering annual subscription fees, this is another you’ll probably have to admire from the outside.

Home of Lady Rosamund Painswick, the Crawley family’s wealthy and rather meddlesome relative, 35 Belgrave Square is an exquisite Georgian mansion in ultra-posh Belgravia. Grab a selfie or six outside (pulling your sourest Lady Rosamund expression, natch) before strolling to nearby Hyde Park for…

On the north bank of the Thames, just south of Sloane Square station, lies the Royal Hospital Chelsea, a stunning retirement home for British Army veterans. The iconic building featured in the show’s finale, when Lady Edith got her happy ending by marrying Bertie Pelham, the Marquess of Hexham. The epic grandeur of the hospital lent a sense of occasion that was truly befitting of Lady E finnaly getting her moment in the sun. And there was not a dry eye in the house.

Pick your ladylike way through street urchins and scruffy tourists on a pilgrimage to Rules, London’s oldest restaurant and the scene of several crunch Crawley pow-wows. Set in the heart of Covent Garden, the restaurant has been plying it's oh-so-British trade – all dark wood paneling, leather banquettes and a menu that includes Gressingham duck and sticky toffee pudding – since 1798. Book a table and limber up to unleash your best Lady Edith impersonations over dinner.

Dominating the north edge of Trafalgar Square, the National Gallery is home to some of the most celebrated European art from across the centuries. We’re talking no less than da Vinci, Turner, Cézanne, Rembrandt and Gainsborough. It’s where you can view iconic masterpieces including van Gogh’s Sunflowers, Constable’s The Hay Wain, Botticelli’s Venus and Mars, and Raphael’s Madonna of the Pinks. A suitably grand venue, in other words, for the season five meeting of minds that is Lady Cora and art historian Simon Bricker, who are seen together admiring The Nativity by Piero della Francesca. You too can ogle this and many other masterpieces: entry to the National Gallery (as with most of London’s top museums) is gratis.

Queen Victoria’s lavish memorial to her beloved Prince Albert is one of London’s most ornate monuments. This towering Gothic Revival confection comes complete with glittering gemstones and an imposing gilt bronze statue of ol’ Albert himself, and can be found on the southern edge of Kensington Gardens opposite the iconic Royal Albert Hall. It is, of course, right here that Bertie proposed to Lady Edith in season six of Downton Abbey. The old romantic.