📌 Westminster Abbey, London
📆 Monday – Friday: 9.30am – 3.30pm (last entry), Saturday: 9.00am – 3.00pm (last entry), Sunday: Open for services only
💳 Admission Fee (free for disabled visitors AND their carer)
♿️ Accessible
First. Westminster Abbey is a working church, and sometimes needs to close at short notice to allow services to take place. Make sure to check the Westminster Abbey opening times shortly before your visit, at:
https://www.westminster-abbey.org/visit-us/prices-entry-times
Although the Abbey itself is not open to visitors until 9:00/9:30 am, the Cellarium Café and Terrace is open from 8:00am for a pre-visit breakfast (from 9:00am on Saturdays).
So, I would recommend an opening-time visit to Westminster Abbey, as it’s on both the London Thames DIY Walking Tour and the circular London West End DIY Walking Tour, and after your visit you will then have the whole day to enjoy your stroll along either route.
Plus, every Tuesday and Thursday, at 10:30am, you can join a member of the Abbey staff for a 10-minute talk about one of the thousands of memorials or graves that can be found around Westminster Abbey.
So in this case, I would still arrive at Westminster Abbey at opening time; visit the Abbey first, and THEN join in the talk.
Wednesday Lates:
The last entry to Westminster Abbey is at 18:00 on Wednesdays. This is handy to know, as it may help if you decide to do the circular London West End DIY Walking Tour later in the day (or do the London Thames DIY Walking Tour in an east-west direction).
Multimedia guides are not available for Wednesday Lates though.
The Westwinster Abbey “Must See”:
The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Galleries. Set in the beautiful 13th century triforium, the Galleries display the greatest treasures of Westminster Abbey, and tell the story of its thousand-year history.
Verger Led Guided Tours:
Guided tours, led by the Westminster Abbey vergers, are a great way to see the Abbey (as no one knows the ins and outs and history of Westminster Abbey better).
On a verger-led guided tour, you’ll get to see special parts of Westminster Abbey which are not accessible to general visitors (such as the Tomb of St Edward the Confessor). The verger will also take you to see royal tombs, Poets’ Corner, the Lady Chapel and the nave. Always providing an expert commentary.
Tours are for a maximum of 20 visitors, last approximately 90 minutes, and commentary is in English only.
A verger-led tour can only be booked when you arrive at the Abbey. The tours cost an additional £10 (after you have first obtained your general entry ticket, in advance, via the Westminster Abbey online ticketing system).
Accessibility at Westminster Abbey:
The main entrance to Westminster Abbey is via the North Door, which has a small ramped step.
For step-free access to the Cloisters or Abbey gardens, use the Dean’s Yard/Cloister entrance, where staff are available to assist with ticketing and access.
Tickets.
Tickets for BOTH the disabled visitor AND their carer are free of charge. But you still need to book a ticket.
Previously, you just had to turn up on the day and obtain your ticket in person. However, the facility for booking accessible tickets has now been automated, and has been added to the general online ticketing system, and should be done in advance.
There is an additional fee for accessing the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Galleries. As these visits/your tickets are for a specific time slot, and as access to the Galleries is more limited than general Abbey access, my advice, if you do indeed want to visit the Galleries too (you do!), is to book your ticket as far in advance as you can.
If you have indeed availed yourself of a free ticket, please note that Westminster Abbey is almost entirely dependent on visitor income for its survival. There is a donation option during the booking process.
Accessible toilets.
There are two accessible toilets (located in the cloisters and in the lobby of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Galleries).
Further Details are available on the Westminster Abbey Official Website: https://www.westminster-abbey.org/
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Westminster Abbey is a stop on the routes of both the free, and step-free, London Thames DIY Walking Tour and the London West End DIY Walking Tour,
