Westminster Abbey Guides: Inside, History and Services
These guides cover what you are looking at once the ticket question is settled. There are 27 of them, grouped by what you want to know: how to plan the visit and find your way round, how the building came about, who is buried or remembered here, the royal ceremonies held under its roof, the services and music you can attend for free, the chapels, cloisters and galleries beyond the nave, and the shop. Every fact comes from Westminster Abbey's own pages or a reference work, and the Abbey's own ticket is named wherever it is the better choice.
Plan your visit
Start here if you have not been before. The visit guide covers tickets, hours, bags and the best time of day; the interior guide walks through what you will see in about two hours. The map guide lays out the floor plan and the Abbey's suggested one-hour and two-hour routes from the North Entrance on Parliament Square. If you are deciding whether to go at all, the virtual tour guide shows what you can see online first, and the photos guide explains where photography is allowed and the three places where it never is.
Visit Westminster Abbey: What to Know Before You Go
How a visit to Westminster Abbey works: which door, the security check, bag limits, the route, toilets and café, re-entry, and why there is no parking.
Inside Westminster Abbey: What You Will See
Westminster Abbey inside, stop by stop: the nave, the Unknown Warrior, the Coronation Chair, royal tombs, Poets' Corner, the Cloisters and the Galleries.
Westminster Abbey Map and Floor Plan: The Visitor Route
The layout of Westminster Abbey: the floor plan, the visitor route from the North Entrance, where the sights, Galleries, café and shop are, and printable maps.
Westminster Abbey Virtual Tour: The Official Online Options
Is there a virtual tour of Westminster Abbey? Yes: the Abbey's own 360-degree tour, made with Google Street View, and themed school tours. What they show.
Westminster Abbey Photos: Inside, Outside and the Rules
What Westminster Abbey looks like inside and out: the west towers, the nave, the Lady Chapel vault and the cloisters, plus the photography rules inside.
History and the building
How a Benedictine monastery became the coronation church, and what the centuries left behind. The history guide runs from the first church to today; the architecture guide explains the Gothic church Henry III began rebuilding in 1245, the nave vault 102 feet up and the west towers finished in the 1740s. The Cosmati pavement guide covers the 1268 mosaic floor in front of the High Altar, with its inscription that predicts the end of the world.
Westminster Abbey History: What It Is and Why It Matters
What Westminster Abbey is and how it came to be: the Benedictine monastery, Edward the Confessor, Henry III's Gothic church, the royal peculiar, and today.
Westminster Abbey Architecture: Gothic Style Explained
Westminster Abbey's architecture: French Gothic, the 102-foot nave vault, rose windows, the Henry VII fan vault, the Cosmati pavement and Hawksmoor's towers.
The Cosmati Pavement at Westminster Abbey
The Cosmati pavement: the 1268 mosaic floor before Westminster Abbey's High Altar, its end-of-the-world inscription, the 2010 restoration and how to see it.
Burials and memorials
Kings, queens, poets, scientists and one unnamed soldier. These guides separate the people who are buried in the Abbey from those who only have a memorial, a difference that matters for names such as Shakespeare. The royal tombs guide covers the monarchs around the Shrine of St Edward and in the Lady Chapel; the Unknown Warrior guide explains the grave in the nave that no one walks on; the Poets' Corner guide covers the writers in the south transept.
Who Is Buried in Westminster Abbey? Kings, Scientists, Poets
Who is buried in Westminster Abbey: the monarchs, Newton, Darwin and Hawking, the writers of Poets' Corner, who has only a memorial, and how to find the graves.
The Royal Tombs of Westminster Abbey: Who Lies Where
Which kings and queens are buried in Westminster Abbey and where: Edward the Confessor, Henry III, Henry VII, Elizabeth I and Mary I, Mary Queen of Scots.
Tomb of the Unknown Warrior, Westminster Abbey
The Tomb of the Unknown Warrior in Westminster Abbey: how he was chosen in 1920, the inscription, why no one walks on it, royal bouquets, and where it is.
Poets' Corner, Westminster Abbey: Who Is Buried There
Poets' Corner in Westminster Abbey: how it began with Chaucer, who is buried there (Dickens, Hardy), who has only a memorial (Shakespeare, Austen), and where.
Coronations, royal weddings and funerals
The Abbey is where English and British monarchs are crowned, and where some of the best-known royal ceremonies of the last century took place. Read about the Coronation Chair, used at nearly every coronation since 1308; the coronations themselves, including Charles III's in 2023; the royal weddings; and the funerals of Diana, Princess of Wales, the Queen Mother and Elizabeth II, none of whom is buried in the Abbey.
The Coronation Chair in Westminster Abbey: 700 Years Old
The Coronation Chair in Westminster Abbey: made for Edward I in 1300, the Stone of Scone, schoolboy graffiti, coronations since 1308, and where to see it.
Coronations at Westminster Abbey: Why Monarchs Are Crowned Here
Why every coronation since 1066 has been at Westminster Abbey: the ceremony step by step, Elizabeth II in 1953, Charles III in 2023, and what you can see today.
Royal Weddings at Westminster Abbey: Who Married Here
Who got married at Westminster Abbey: royal weddings from 1100 to 2011, Prince William and Catherine, who may marry there, and the Unknown Warrior bouquet.
Westminster Abbey Funerals: Diana, the Queen and More
Which royal funerals were held at Westminster Abbey: Diana in 1997, the Queen Mother in 2002, Elizabeth II in 2022, why none is buried there, and the routes.
Worship, music and events
Westminster Abbey is a working church, and its services are free and open to everyone. The Evensong guide explains the usual pattern of sung evening prayer and when to arrive; the services guide covers the daily round from Morning Prayer to Holy Communion; the choir guide introduces the boys and Lay Vicars who sing them. The events guide covers what happens beyond daily visiting: Easter, evening Lates, concerts, talks and special tours sold on set dates.
Westminster Abbey Evensong: Times, Free Entry and Etiquette
How to attend Choral Evensong at Westminster Abbey for free: usual times, which door to use, where it is held, what to wear, and how it compares with a ticket.
Westminster Abbey Services: Times, Sundays and Who Can Attend
Anyone can attend a service at Westminster Abbey, free. The daily Morning Prayer, Communion and Evensong, Sunday services, what to expect, and service days.
Choir of Westminster Abbey: Where to Hear It, Organ and Carols
The Choir of Westminster Abbey: choristers and Lay Vicars, hearing them free at Evensong, the 1937 Harrison organ, organists, recitals and carol services.
Westminster Abbey Events: Easter, Lates, Talks and Tours
What events are on at Westminster Abbey: Easter services, evening Lates and concerts, free talks and organ recitals, special tours, and where to find them.
Chapels, cloisters and galleries
The parts of the visit beyond the nave and quire. The Lady Chapel guide covers Henry VII's fan-vaulted chapel and the RAF Chapel; the cloisters and Chapter House guides cover the monks' walks, the oldest door in Britain by the Abbey's account, and the room where Parliament once met. The Galleries guide explains the museum in the triforium, which needs its own £5 timed ticket. St Margaret's Church, next door, is free to enter.
Westminster Abbey Lady Chapel: Henry VII's Tudor Chapel
The Henry VII Lady Chapel at Westminster Abbey: built 1503 to 1516, its fan-vaulted roof, the Order of the Bath banners, the royal tombs and the RAF Chapel.
Chapter House Westminster Abbey and the Pyx Chamber
The Chapter House at Westminster Abbey: an octagon of about 1250 with medieval tiles and paintings, where Parliament once met, plus the Pyx Chamber next door.
Westminster Abbey Cloisters: Walks, Garden and Café
Can you visit the Westminster Abbey cloisters? Yes, on the Abbey ticket: the four walks, College Garden, step-free entry from Dean's Yard and the café.
Queen's Diamond Jubilee Galleries, Westminster Abbey
What is in the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Galleries: the Abbey's museum 16 m up in the triforium, with effigies, Mary II's chair, a £5 timed ticket and a lift.
St Margaret's Church Westminster: Beside the Abbey
St Margaret's Church, Westminster: the free church beside the Abbey, the parish church of the House of Commons, Churchill's wedding, its windows and hours.
The shop and souvenirs
Something to take home. The shop guide covers the Abbey shop on Broad Sanctuary, open 9:15am to 6:30pm on visitor days and Sundays, what it sells, and the online shop's delivery terms. The brass rubbing guide answers a question many visitors ask: the Abbey does not allow its brasses to be rubbed, but you can see them on a visit and make a rubbing from a replica at St Martin-in-the-Fields on Trafalgar Square.
Westminster Abbey Shop: Where It Is, Hours and Online
Where the Westminster Abbey shop is (Broad Sanctuary, by the visitor exit), its 9:15am to 6:30pm hours, what it sells, and the online shop's delivery terms.
Westminster Abbey Brass Rubbing: Where to Do It Now
Can you do brass rubbing at Westminster Abbey? No: the Abbey forbids rubbing its brasses. See them on a visit, then rub replicas at St Martin-in-the-Fields.
Frequently asked questions
Which Westminster Abbey guide should I read first?
The visit guide if you have not booked yet, then the interior guide and the map. Between them they cover the route most visits take, from the North Entrance to Poets' Corner and the cloisters.
Do these guides tell me what ticket to buy?
They point to the ticket and tour pages rather than selling. The Abbey's own adult ticket is £32 (about $43); a guided tour adds a guide and the priority group entrance, and only one tour we list includes the Galleries.
Is any of this free?
Services, including Evensong, are free and open to everyone, and so is St Margaret's Church next door. Sightseeing visits to the Abbey need a ticket, and the Abbey is open for worship only on Sundays.