St Paul's Cathedral: sightseeing ticket, Dome Galleries and services

The short answer

St Paul's draws a clear line between sightseeing and worship. Its visit page puts it in one line: it is free to attend the Cathedral for services, "but if you want to explore the building, you will need a sightseeing ticket".[1] The ticket is for Monday to Saturday sightseeing and, according to the ticket page, includes the Cathedral Floor, the Crypt and the Dome Galleries, with multimedia guides.[2]

So the decision is simple in outline. To see the building, the Crypt and the Dome Galleries, buy the ticket. To hear the choir and take part in worship, come to a service. According to the Cathedral's FAQ and service pages, the daily services are free, ticketed services are listed in its calendar, and worshippers are asked to stay in their seats once seated.[5][4]

What the sightseeing ticket includes

Three areas are covered, by the ticket page's own list: the Cathedral Floor, the Crypt and the Dome Galleries.[2] Multimedia guides are included; the tours page says they come in English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Mandarin, Japanese and Korean, with family, audio-description and British Sign Language versions.[6]

Two guided tours cost nothing extra for ticket holders, according to the tours page: a short Highlights tour and a longer Cathedral floor and Crypt tour that also takes in the Geometric Staircase and the Quire, areas not usually open to visitors. Both are booked on the day, subject to availability, at the Guiding Desk.[6]

The Treasures tour is the one that costs extra. It goes up to the Triforium, around the top of the building, for the 18th-century Library, Wren's Great Model in the Trophy Room and a view down the Nave from above the Great West Doors; the tours page says it is pre-booked online with a ticket, involves 141 steps, and is ideally suited to those over 12.[6]

The Cathedral explains why it charges sightseers at all: it is a registered charity that receives no regular state funding, and while its services are free, it asks sightseers "to contribute a small entrance fee".[2]

The Dome Galleries: three levels, all by stairs

The dome has three galleries, and the planning page gives the climb to each: 257 steps to the Whispering Gallery, 376 steps to the Stone Gallery, and 528 steps in total to the Golden Gallery. The same page says the galleries can be reached by stairs only, and recommends that people with pre-existing medical conditions, mobility difficulties or concerns about heights and confined spaces do not try the climb; the multimedia guide carries a video fly-through of the gallery levels and their views instead.[3]

Two rules attach to the galleries. Under the Cathedral's entry terms, a child ticket holder aged 6 to 17 must be accompanied by an adult aged 18 or over at all times in the Dome Galleries.[8] And photography is not permitted on the Whispering Gallery, for health and safety reasons, although it is allowed on the Stone and Golden Galleries.[7]

XTOUR does not publish the Cathedral's accessibility arrangements beyond what is quoted here; its accessibility page is the place to check.

Sundays

The Cathedral is open for sightseeing Monday to Saturday. Sunday is different: the planning page said that between 15 March and 25 October 2026 the three Dome Galleries opened on Sundays,[3] and the booking FAQ refers to "Dome Sunday tickets".[4] XTOUR's reading is that a Sunday visit in that window was a gallery climb, not a full sightseeing visit. The pages XTOUR read on 11 October 2026 did not say whether Sunday gallery openings will return in 2027, and XTOUR does not guess.

Attending a service

Services are free. The booking FAQ says the daily services are "always free to attend and you do not need a ticket".[4] The service page adds that there are around thirty services a week, that regular services such as Evensong are free of charge, and that ticketed services are listed in the Cathedral's calendar. You do not have to be a Christian to attend, and for most services you do not need to book.[5]

The service page is direct about how a service differs from a visit. Most services happen under the Dome, seating is generally unreserved, and once seated, worshippers are asked to stay in their seats and not to wander around the Cathedral, which is also why photography and filming are not permitted during services. It says there is no dress requirement beyond clothing appropriate for a place of worship, and that everyone arriving passes a security check.[5]

For private prayer, the FAQ says St Dunstan's Chapel is open whenever the Cathedral is open to the public, with no charge and no ticket.[4] Photography is not allowed in that chapel.[7]

Booking, passes and offers

According to the booking FAQ, sightseeing dates can usually be booked six months ahead and on the day itself, and walk-up visitors are welcome. Bookings can be amended up to 24 hours before the visit; tickets are non-refundable. Holders of a London Pass or a tour operator's entrance voucher do not need to book.[4]

The National Rail two-for-one offer works the opposite way here to Westminster Abbey. St Paul's says it "can only be pre-booked online", applies to Monday to Saturday sightseeing only, and does not accept BritRail passes.[4] Westminster Abbey's prices page says the opposite for its version: tickets for the offer "cannot be pre-booked via our website and must be purchased on the door".[10] The Westminster Abbey guide covers the Abbey's tickets in full.

St Paul's no longer sells an annual pass to new buyers. The FAQ says that scheme closed for new orders on 31 December 2023 and points repeat visitors to Friends of St Paul's membership.[4]

The planning and visit pages both say bags above a set size cannot be brought into the Cathedral and that there is no cloakroom.[1][3]

Photography

St Paul's welcomes non-flash still photography for personal use on the Cathedral Floor, in the Crypt and on the Stone and Golden Galleries during sightseeing hours. It does not allow video recording by visitors anywhere, or flash, tripods, monopods, gimbals or selfie sticks, and it asks that no one take photographs during services.[7]

A short history, as the Cathedral tells it

The Cathedral's timeline starts in AD 604, when Mellitus was consecrated Bishop of London.[9] The medieval cathedral, Old St Paul's, was consecrated in 1240 and destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666. The first service in the new building was held in the Quire in 1697, and Parliament declared it complete on 25 December 1711. Christopher Wren is buried in the Crypt, beside the Latin inscription his son added, which translates as "Reader, if you seek a monument, look about you".[9]

Two dates for Wren's appointment sit on that timeline. Its heading says Wren was appointed to rebuild St Paul's in 1668, while the entry beneath says Charles II appointed him architect on 13 November 1673, and that his role until then had been advisory, with no official status.[9] XTOUR gives both, as the Cathedral does.

St Paul's is in London. XTOUR does not publish its opening hours or ticket prices; the Cathedral's calendar and ticket page carry them.