The Guards Museum

The Guards Museum sits below ground beside Chapel Square at Wellington Barracks, the Birdcage Walk home of the five regiments of Foot Guards. It opened in 1988 at basement level and tells 380 years of the Grenadier, Coldstream, Scots, Irish and Welsh Guards through uniforms, mess silver, paintings and personal effects. Buckingham Palace is a short walk away, and the Guards form up on the parade ground next door three times a week with a regimental band.

The museum takes one guest list at a time. Hire is exclusive use of every gallery with a museum event manager, and the galleries are laid for a reception of 100 or a dinner of 60 among the cases. Drinks are poured in the royal gallery, and a smaller gallery can be set aside for a group that wants one. Catering comes through the museum's trusted partners, as do a DJ, lighting and flowers; a piper at the door or a uniform try-on is offered as an extra.

Access is the thing to settle first. The museum is at basement level, reached by two flights and 33 steps, and building works mean there is no step-free route at present. There are no toilets on site; the nearest are a ten-minute walk into St James's Park. Once inside, the galleries run on one level with no stairs and the floors are carpeted. Wellington Barracks is a working barracks and the parade ground above is in ceremonial use, so fix the date with the museum before anything else.