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For the first time ever, Queen Elizabeth II is opening the private 39-acre garden in her official residence, the Buckingham Palace, to the paying public.

Due to the health restrictions imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic, the usual tours of the Buckingham Palace will be temporarily canceled for a second year.

However, there's a delightful alternative on offer that'll surely please tourists and locals alike.

The paying public can now have access to the Buckingham Palace Gardens from July 9 to September 19.

Plus, there are also small guided tours of the State Rooms and the gardens available until September.

The Queen Victoria memorial in front of the Buckingham Palace, surrounded by beautiful blooms / Source: @Lorena R (Tripadvisor)

A spokesperson from the Royal Collection Trust said, “We anticipate that social distancing will still be in place this summer and that visitor numbers to London will be low for some time yet due to the uncertainty around domestic and international travel.

“The costs incurred opening the palace to the public in the usual way would be far greater than the visitor admissions and retail income that we could expect.

“However, we are delighted to offer unique access to the Buckingham Palace garden this year as an alternative.”

Flowers abloom at the Buckingham Palace / Source: @Rita_G_64 (Tripadvisor)

The sprawling lawn at the Buckingham Palace bordered with trees/ Source: @Babita Huria (Tripadvisor)

What to see and do

Summer in London run from June to August, so it's the perfect time to visit the Buckingham Palace Gardens, so you could see the breathtakingly beautiful meadows that abound with primroses, bluebells, and flowering shrubs like camellia, magnolia and azalea.

Aside from the wildflower meadows, you can also take a guided tour of the rose garden and the summer house.

You can also explore the landscape grounds on your own and connect with nature amid the wildlife-rich oasis, which boasts of having more than 1,000 trees.

Some interesting must-sees at the gardens of Queen Elizabeth II's official residence are a 19th century lake and a mulberry tree, which dates back to the time of James I of England.

There's also the amazing views of the island and the beehives across the 3.5 acre lake, and plane trees planted by and named after Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.

And what's a better thing to do in the sprawling lawns of Buckingham Palace than to have a picnic, right?

You can do just that when you visit Buckingham Palace Gardens until September this year.

For more info and ticket reservation, head on over to www.rct.uk or contact +44 (0) 303 123 7300.

For more lifestyle content, head out to GMA's Lifestyle page.

Speaking of London, you might want to check out the pre-pandemic Europe travel photos of Camille Prats and husband VJ Yambao in the gallery below.