Westminster Abbey Map and Floor Plan: The Visitor Route

Short answer: Westminster Abbey is a cross-shaped church. The long nave runs west to east, the transepts cross it, and the quire and High Altar lead to the royal chapels and the Lady Chapel at the east end. The cloisters lie to the south. Visitors enter at the North Entrance on Parliament Square, follow a route that takes about one to two hours, and leave by the west end, where the shop is.

The floor plan

The Abbey’s plan has five main parts. Read it from west to east:

Part	Where	What is there
Nave	The long west arm, from the Great West Door	Grave of the Unknown Warrior, Coronation Chair, Scientists’ Corner
Quire	East of the nave, through the screen	Choir stalls where daily services are sung
Transepts	The two arms of the cross	North: the visitor entrance side. South: Poets’ Corner
Sanctuary and east end	Beyond the crossing	High Altar and Cosmati pavement, Shrine of St Edward, royal tombs, side chapels, Lady Chapel and RAF Chapel
Cloisters	South of the nave	Four walks, Chapter House, Pyx Chamber, College Garden

Wikipedia gives the nave vault as 102 feet (31 metres) high. The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Galleries run around the church above all this, in the triforium more than 16 metres (52 feet) up.

The visitor route

You enter through the North Entrance on Parliament Square, through a walk-through security check. The Abbey publishes two suggested routes.

One hour, main highlights: the nave for the Coronation Chair and the Grave of the Unknown Warrior; through the quire to the High Altar; past the Shrine of St Edward the Confessor to the tombs of the Tudor queens; the Lady Chapel; and Poets’ Corner to finish.

Two hours: the same route plus the side chapels, the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Galleries, the cloisters and Chapter House, and the gardens.

The multimedia guide, included with every ticket, takes you round in order. Abbey Marshals and Guides in red or blue gowns can point the way.

Where the main sights are

• Coronation Chair and Unknown Warrior: in the nave.
• Scientists’ Corner: in the nave, with Isaac Newton’s grave.
• High Altar and Cosmati pavement: at the east end of the quire. The pavement is usually seen from the foot of the High Altar steps.
• Shrine of St Edward the Confessor: behind the High Altar, up 10 steps. It is not open to general visitors except for worship and some tours.
• Tombs of Elizabeth I, Mary I and Mary, Queen of Scots: in the side aisles of the Lady Chapel, up 12 steps and then 3 more.
• Poets’ Corner: in the south transept, with over 100 writers buried or remembered.

For what each of these looks like, read inside Westminster Abbey.

Where the Galleries, café, toilets and shop are

• Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Galleries: entered through the Weston Tower at the south-eastern corner, next to Poets’ Corner. A lift or 108 steps; separate £5 timed ticket.
• Cellarium Café and Terrace: at the end of the West Cloister, reached by lift.
• Kiosk: outside the West Doors.
• Toilets: in the Cloisters (with accessible toilets and baby changing) and in the Galleries lobby.
• Shop: on Broad Sanctuary, by the visitor exit at the West Towers.

Steps to plan for: 5 steps into the cloisters from Poets’ Corner or the nave, steps into the Chapter House, and one step into each side chapel. The step-free way into the cloisters is from Dean’s Yard. Free manual wheelchairs are available on arrival. See Westminster Abbey accessibility for the full detail.

A printable route

The Abbey publishes free downloadable trails, each with a numbered site map. Its Abbey Highlights trail has 12 stops, from the Coronation Chair and the Unknown Warrior through the quire, the High Altar, the Lady Chapel and Poets’ Corner to the cloisters. The Abbey also offers a sensory map that marks the quiet, loud, crowded and dim areas, and its schools pages offer a route map download.

You can also download a shortened version of the multimedia guide to your phone before you go.

If you would rather not navigate at all, a guide can lead you round: a guided tour of Westminster Abbey costs from $100 and uses the priority group entrance. To find the Abbey itself, see how to get to Westminster Abbey: Westminster Underground station is about 300 metres away, a 4-minute walk.