St. Paul’s Cathedral
St. Paul's underground station, London (exit 2)
Guided by Isobel or Judy or Karen or Mary or Tom
Walk Times
| Day | Walk Type | Start Time | End Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tuesday | Weekly | 10.30 am | 12.30 pm | Winter Summer | Reserve Online |
| 14 May 2024 | Special | 2 pm | 4 pm | Summer | Reserve Online |
NB On May 14th the walk will take place at 2pm and NOT at 10:30am
Short read: “Afloat upon ethereal tides St. Paul’s above the city rides”
Long read: “St. Paul’s is much more than a place of worship. It is a specific against grossness, brutality and despair. To set foot into St. Paul’s is to experience that cold shock straight from the past, beauty as a genius conceived it, grace that we had forgotten.”
Now as to practicals. There’s an admission charge to St. Paul’s, but there is a Group Rate. More to the point is your other “spend”: your time. To refract it through a great guide will “buy” you inestimable riches in St. Paul’s.
Knowing where to look and what to look for – and seeing these things through the translucent integument of their “stories” – it’s like going from blurry near-sighted to 20:20.
The St. Paul’s Cathedral Tour is guided by award-winning guides Mary (“Best Practical” – guiding equivalent of Baseball’s Triple Crown), Isobel and Judy, winner of the London Tourist Board’s Guide of the Year Award. Afloat upon its golden reputation – Winner, Best Tourism Experience in London Award – London Walks above the knock-offs glides.
MEET YOUR GUIDE
Here’s Mary getting her St. Paul’s Tour Underway. She’s setting the scene. It’s an admirably clear crash course in the history of London.
ST. PAUL’S TOUR – THE PRACTICALS
The St. Paul’s Cathedral Tour takes place at 10.30 am every* Tuesday. The meeting point is just outside exit 2 of St. Paul’s Tube. N.B., the St. Paul’s tour ends – where else? – at St. Paul’s Cathedral, right by St. Paul’s Tube Stop.
*But please always check the calendar and/or – should one be showing – pay heed to any Click to check dates this walk isn’t taking place announcements.
LONDON WALKS REVIEWS
“Best Tourism Experience in London” Gold Medal Winner, Visit London
“London Walks puts you into the hands of an expert on the particular area and topic of a tour…” The New York Times
“The original and best – there are several companies offering walking tours of London but London Walks (London’s oldest) is easily the pick of the bunch” London, Cadogan Guide
LONDON WALKS PRIVATE WALKS
If you can’t make one of the regularly scheduled Secrets of St. Paul’s tours do think about booking one as a private tour. If you go private you can have the Secrets of St. Paul’s Tour – or any other London Walk – on a day and at a time that suits your convenience. We’ll tailor it to your requirements. And – always with private London Walks and tours – we go to great lengths to make sure the guide-walker(s) “fit” is well-nigh perfect.
Ring Fiona or Peter or Mary on 020 7624 3978 or email us at [email protected] and we’ll set it up and make it happen for you.
A private London Walk – they’re good value for an individual or couple and sensational value for a group – makes an ideal group or educational or birthday party or office (team-building) or club outing.
GIVE THE GIFT OF LONDON WALKS
A private London Walk makes a fab present – be it a birthday or anniversary or get-to-know-your-new neighbourhood gift or Christmas present or whatever. Merchandise schmerchandise (gift wrapped or not) – but giving someone an experience, now that’s special. Memories make us rich.
MIND THE GAP
LONDON WALKS – STREETS AHEAD!
IT ALL COMES DOWN TO THE GUIDING
“If this were a golf tournament every name on the Leader Board would be a London Walks guide”
Tod Speddong –
Ann provided a comprehensive overview of St. Paul’s. She was good-natured, engaging, and clearly knowledgable. With her orientation, I was then able to go on and dig deeper. Thank you, Ann.
Derek Kruizenga –
Wonderful tour of both London’s architecture and history! One piece of trivia: the 1941 movie about Admiral Nelson and Lady Hamilton starred Laurence Olivier and Vivian Leigh – the movie was a favorite of Winston Churchill, also honored at St. Paul’s. Don’t miss the climb to the top at the end for great views of London!
Jason Griner –
Ann was awesome!! What an enlightening tour and wonderful experience. Ann’s knowledge of St. Paul’s was impressive. Thanks Ann for a wonderful tour!
Brett M Sommer –
I did this tour in late July and even though I have been to St. Pauls before this tour was an added value for this history teacher.
David Tucker –
But Sally, it is on the website. Prominently so. It’s just four short sentences in and it’s highlighted (in red). Hard to miss. Here it is, here’s what we say on the website: “Now as to practicals. There’s an admission charge to St. Paul’s, but there is a Group Rate. More to the point is your other “spend”: your time. To refract it through a great guide will “buy” you inestimable riches in St. Paul’s.”
Furthermore – and this is a big furthermore – it’s not an extra £30, it’s an extra £15 and that is a great saving on the normal admission price of £21. For concessions it’s an extra £13, which is also a sensational saving (the normal concessions entrance price is £18.50). If I say so myself, London Walks comes through for its customers “big time” in so many ways, and the admission price to St Paul’s is a classic case in point.
That said, ever so sorry that you missed that, yes, important information, Sally. We’ll bang heads here and maybe add it into the confirmation email. A second bite of the cherry as it were.
Sally –
Unfortunately my group was late to start, however I didn’t realise that there was an extra cost £30 pp which was not clear on any emails or website when booking. Which led us to not completing the walk, it would have been nice to have some notice as to the extra cost.
Frank –
Isobel is a most knowledgeable guide and it was a pleasure to spend over two hours with her exploring St. Pauls, both outside and inside.
As we were a small group, it was a most personal tour with Isobel fielding our many questions about the history and current position of St. Paul’s as one of Britain’s most iconic cathedrals.
St. Paul’s was Wren’s most celebrated creations and Isobel started our tour introducing us to Wren, his keen interest in geometry and astrology and how these interests were incorporated into the design of St. Paul’s. We spent about 30 minutes outside where Isobel brought us to various spots to capture great shots for photographs of the cathedral; it’s fascinating to see how the current city planners ensure that ‘sight lines’ are maintained notwithstanding all the new construction in the immediate area.
Once inside, one is struck how serene the cathedral actually is; unlike Westminster Abbey, this is a less-visited site and visitors are welcome to stay as long as they wish. Westminster Abbey is more of a tourist experience where visitors are usually herded out after two hours.
Inside, Isobel explained the style of decoration around the cathedral from the ‘understated nave’ to the more ornate ‘quire’ area. It was also fascinating to see how St. Paul’s make itself relevant to the 21st century with modern artworks by Henry Moore, Bill Viola, Hughie O’Donoghue and many more.
Moving downstairs, we ventured into the extensive crypt, an even more serene place where Isobel e showed us the burials of Nelson, Wellington and others.
With there being such a depth of architectural, historical and artistic treasures in St. Paul’s, Isobel was a super guide helping us to interpret and understand this most iconic cathedral.
Tim Gifford –
Excellent and informative tour of St Paul’s cathedral. Considerable background knowledge and anecdotes made Mary’s presentation most interesting. Do it!
Wendy Marshall –
Wow, Isobel knows everything! Also she had the app so we could use contactless payments, and (I found out at the later walk) had the frequent walker cards. She maneuvered us to great photo ops, tidbits of history and commentary, brought the cathedral to life. She was terrific. Thank you, Isobel.
Mark Walker –
Yesterday was another brilliant walk with Mary at St Paul’s!