St Paul's Cathedral
#5of 10 places to visit in LondonLondon, England, United Kingdom
Also known as Cathedral Church of St Paul
Quick answer
Opening hours: 08:30–16:30 and 10:00–16:30, Monday 08:30–16:30, closed Sundays, last entry 16:00. Entry: £27. Allow 2 hrs. Best time: 08:30.
Updated · Compiled by Traveliac, AI-assisted · 5 min read
- Opening hours
- 08:30–16:30
- Closed Sundays
- Entry fee
- £27
- Ticket from
- Time needed
- 2 hrs
- Best time of day
- 08:30
- Best months
- May – Jul, Sep
- Address
- St Paul's Churchyard, London EC4M 8AD
About St Paul's Cathedral
St Paul's Cathedral rises 111 metres to the cross atop its dome, completed in 1710 under the sole direction of architect Sir Christopher Wren over 35 years, unusual for a cathedral, which typically outlived several architects. The dome is in fact a triple-shell construction: an inner brick dome visible from inside the Cathedral, a hidden brick cone that bears the structural load of the lantern above, and an outer timber-and-lead dome shaped for exterior appearance — a solution that let Wren balance visual proportion against structural physics. Built largely from Portland stone quarried on the Isle of Portland in Dorset, the Cathedral replaced a Gothic predecessor, Old St Paul's, destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666. The Whispering Gallery, 30 metres up inside the dome, is named for its acoustic property: a whisper against the curved wall carries audibly to the opposite side, 34 metres away, a function of the dome's concave geometry rather than any deliberate design feature.
Best time of day: 08:30. At opening on a weekday other than Wednesday, before tour groups arrive; the 528-step climb to the Golden Gallery is least congested in the first hour.
St Paul's Cathedral timings
- Opening hours
- 08:30–16:30
Monday 08:30–16:30 Tue–Sat 08:30–16:30 and 10:00–16:30 Sunday Closed - Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday 08:30–16:30 (last entry 16:00); Wednesday 10:00–16:30
- Closed on
- Sunday (sightseeing)
Good to know: Sunday is reserved for worship; the Cathedral is open for services only, with no general sightseeing admission.
Opening hours compiled from stpauls.co.uk and public records, last updated . They change without notice — confirm before you travel. How we write these guides
St Paul's Cathedral ticket price
| Ticket | Price |
|---|---|
| Standard ticket | £27 |
| Concession (student / senior) | £24.50 |
| Children | £10.50 |
Adult sightseeing admission is £27 as of 2026, covering the Cathedral Floor, Crypt, and Dome Galleries; children (6-17) are £10.50, with family and group discounts available. Entry is free for those attending services and free for registered disabled visitors and one companion. Multimedia guides are included in the ticket price.
Prices compiled from stpauls.co.uk and public records, last updated . They change without notice — confirm before you travel. How we write these guides
Best time to visit St Paul's Cathedral
- Quiet
- Moderate
- Very busy
08:30 – 10:00
Morning OpeningBest time to go
Fewest visitors of the day; dome climb staircases are clear and the Whispering Gallery is quiet enough to test the acoustics properly.
Quiet10:00 – 13:00
Late Morning Peak
Coach tours and school groups converge; queues form for dome access and the Crypt entrance narrows.
Very busy13:00 – 15:30
Afternoon
Crowd thins after lunch; still busy near the nave but the dome galleries are more comfortably paced.
Moderate17:00 – 18:00
Evensong
Free choral service on most weekdays; sightseeing tickets not required and the nave is calm.
Quiet
History of St Paul's Cathedral
St Paul's Cathedral stands on a site with a church history reaching back to at least 604 CE, when the first Anglo-Saxon cathedral was founded there under Bishop Mellitus; the medieval predecessor, Old St Paul's, begun after a 1087 fire destroyed an earlier Norman building, was one of the largest churches in Europe, with a spire exceeding 150 metres before it was struck by lightning and removed in 1561.
The Great Fire of London in September 1666 gutted Old St Paul's beyond repair, and Christopher Wren, already engaged to survey the building for restoration, was commissioned instead to design a replacement from scratch. Wren's accepted 1675 Warrant Design was modified substantially during construction — he retained a clause permitting ornamental changes, which he used to develop the dome closer to his preferred classical form. Construction ran from 1675 to 1710, funded partly by a coal tax, and Wren, by then in his late 70s, saw the building topped out in his own lifetime, a rarity among cathedral architects.
St Paul's became a symbol of national resilience during the Blitz: a photograph of the dome standing intact above smoke on the night of 29 December 1940 became one of the war's most reproduced images, though the Cathedral did sustain damage, including a direct hit on the north transept. State events held at St Paul's rather than Westminster Abbey include the funerals of Lord Nelson (1806), the Duke of Wellington (1852), and Winston Churchill (1965), and the 1981 wedding of Charles, Prince of Wales, and Lady Diana Spencer.
Rules & etiquette at St Paul's Cathedral
Photography is prohibited throughout the Cathedral interior, including the Whispering Gallery and Crypt, a policy enforced by stationed vergers; exterior photography of the dome and West Front is unrestricted. The 528-step ascent to the Golden Gallery has no lift access and is not recommended for visitors with heart or respiratory conditions; the climb narrows to a single spiral staircase near the top.
Silence is expected throughout, and the Cathedral periodically closes sections, or the whole building, for services, rehearsals, and state events without long advance notice — checking the site's daily hours before travelling is worthwhile.
Bag checks operate at the main west entrance. Shoulders and knees should be covered as a matter of courtesy rather than strict enforcement, in line with the Cathedral's status as an active place of worship.
Tips for visiting St Paul's Cathedral
- 1
St Paul's Cathedral's climb to the dome rewards effort in stages: the Whispering Gallery at 257 steps is the most physically manageable stop and delivers the acoustic party trick, while continuing to the Stone Gallery (376 steps) and Golden Gallery (528 steps) adds an open-air 360-degree view over the City of London, best on a clear morning before haze builds.
- 2
Evensong, sung most weekdays around 17:00 by the Cathedral choir, is free and open to the public without a sightseeing ticket, offering an unhurried way to experience the nave and dome from the choir stalls.
- 3
The Crypt houses the tombs of Nelson, Wellington, and Wren himself, whose memorial carries the Latin inscription Lector, si monumentum requiris, circumspice — Reader, if you seek his monument, look around you — a line best appreciated after seeing the dome above. The streets around Paternoster Square, immediately north, offer café stops with a direct sightline back to the dome.
How to reach St Paul's Cathedral
St Paul's Churchyard, London EC4M 8ADDirections in Google Maps
From St Paul's Underground Station
0.15 km · 2 min walk
£2.80 single Tube fare with Oyster/contactless (Zone 1)
From City Thameslink Station
0.4 km · 5 min walk
Free on foot
From Heathrow Airport (LHR)
27 km · 45–55 min
£13.90 off-peak Elizabeth line fare
Nearest airport
From London City Airport (LCY)
10 km, approximately 30 minutes via DLR.
Nearest station
From St Paul's Underground station (Central line)
150 metres, 2 minutes on foot.
St Paul's Cathedral FAQs
How much is entry to St Paul's Cathedral?
Adult sightseeing admission is £27 as of 2026, covering the Cathedral Floor, Crypt, and Dome Galleries. Children aged 6-17 pay £10.50, and entry is free for those attending a service.
How many steps are there to the top of St Paul's dome?
There are 528 steps to the Golden Gallery at the very top, with no lift access. Shorter stops along the way include the Whispering Gallery at 257 steps and the Stone Gallery at 376 steps.
Is St Paul's Cathedral open on Sundays?
Not for sightseeing. Sundays are reserved for worship services, which are open to the public to attend, but the Cathedral does not sell sightseeing tickets that day.
Can you take photos inside St Paul's Cathedral?
No, photography is prohibited throughout the interior, including the Whispering Gallery and Crypt. Photography of the exterior, including the dome and West Front, is unrestricted.
Compiled with AI assistance from official sources and public records, and published only after the checks in How we write these guides. Nobody from Traveliac has visited this place. Last updated . How we rank and check places
