St Paul’s Cathedral

St Paul's Cathedral tickets: which one to buy

One ticket covers the cathedral floor, the crypt and all three galleries in the dome, and it includes a multimedia guide; buying online is a little cheaper than at the door and lets you skip the ticket line, though not the security check. Free guided tours led by volunteers run several times a day and are included, which makes paying extra for a commercial guide unnecessary.

What is not included is attendance at services, which is free: Evensong at five on most weekdays puts you in the quire under the dome with the cathedral choir, the single best value in London for anyone who wants the building rather than the climb. Combination tickets with river cruises or bus tours cost more than the sum of the parts. The crypt cafe and the shop are accessible without a ticket. Photography is not allowed inside at all, which surprises many visitors and is enforced.

Visiting St Paul's Cathedral: what to see

Wren's cathedral was built between 1675 and 1710 to replace the medieval church burned in the Great Fire, and its dome, 111 metres to the cross, dominated London for 250 years. The interior is English Baroque at its most confident, with mosaics added in the nineteenth century glittering in the quire vaults and Grinling Gibbons's carved stalls below. The climb is done in three stages. At 257 steps the Whispering Gallery runs round the inside of the dome, where a murmur against the wall carries to the far side.

At 376 the Stone Gallery steps outside. At 528 the Golden Gallery circles the lantern with the whole city below. In the crypt lie Nelson in a sarcophagus made for Cardinal Wolsey, Wellington under a porphyry block, and Wren himself beneath the plainest of slabs bearing the line that tells visitors to look around them for his monument. The Blitz photographs of the dome above the smoke are part of why the building matters here.

St Paul's Cathedral opening hours and the best time to go

Open to sightseeing Monday to Saturday from mid-morning to mid-afternoon, with last entry well before closing; the cathedral shuts to visitors on Sundays and during special services, which are frequent and announced at short notice. The galleries close earlier than the floor, so climb first. Mornings are quieter than afternoons. The dome climb is 528 steps with narrow sections and no lift above the cathedral floor, and it is not suitable for anyone with limited mobility;

the crypt and the main floor are step-free. Allow two hours with the climb, an hour without. Dress is not policed but the cathedral asks for respect during services. Outside, the steps facing Ludgate Hill are the classic view, and the Millennium Bridge on the south side gives the postcard angle across the river from the Tate Modern. The cathedral's own cafe in the crypt is open to anyone without a ticket and is a reasonable place to wait out London rain.