St Paul’s Cathedral ticket prices: how the tiers work
What you are actually paying for
This is the thing half of my walking-tour clients get wrong before they arrive. St Paul’s is a working cathedral where prayers are said on the hour and visitors are asked to pause. Worship is free. Sightseeing — wandering the nave, reading the tombs in the crypt, climbing 528 steps to the Golden Gallery — is a paid ticket, and it has been for a long time. Nobody is going to stop you attending Evensong, but nobody is going to let you up the dome afterwards either. The distinction is set out properly on the free entry page.
The ticket buys the cathedral floor, the quire and its mosaics, the American Memorial Chapel, the crypt — the largest in Europe, with Nelson, Wellington and Wren himself in it — and all three dome galleries. A multimedia guide in nine languages is included. Free guided tours and talks run inside on limited spots that you register for on arrival rather than reserve in advance. That is a lot of building for one admission, which is my answer to Galip from Germany, who wrote that the view from the top was amazing and the price kinda high. Both things are true. Whether the trade is worth it is argued out on is it worth visiting.
The tier structure
There are five individual tiers and two family combinations:
The tiers you will see
- Adult — the standard rate everything else is measured against
- Senior — a concession rate
- Student — a concession rate, bring the card
- Child aged 6 to 17 — substantially less than the adult rate
- Child under 6 — free, no ticket needed
- Family, one adult — one adult plus up to three children
- Family, two adults — two adults plus up to three children
What the tier does not include
- A separate dome ticket — the galleries are in the standard ticket
- A guide walking round with you — that is a separate product
- Left luggage — there is none, and bags over 45cm × 30cm × 25cm are refused
- Re-entry on a different day — the ticket covers the date booked
The voluntary donation
Each tier appears twice in the cathedral’s own list: one version with a voluntary donation added on top and one without. The cathedral is upfront that the donation is optional and the admission is valid either way. Some people pay it because a Grade I listed building from 1710 costs a fortune to keep standing. Some people do not. Neither choice changes what you see, and no one at the door will comment.
Who pays less, and who pays nothing
What works
- Children under 6 come in free and do not need a ticket
- Disabled visitors are admitted free, and so is one accompanying carer
- UK residents receiving Universal Credit, Pension Credit or Employment Support Allowance can get a heavily discounted sightseeing ticket under the cathedral’s own scheme
- National Art Pass holders get a substantial discount on walk-up individual tickets
- The London Pass includes cathedral entry outright
Worth knowing
- The concession tiers need proof — a student card, a benefits award letter
- The National Art Pass discount applies to walk-up individual tickets, not to every route in
- A discounted ticket is still a ticket; none of these routes covers a guided tour
- Family combinations cap at three children, so a fourth child needs a child ticket
If any of those apply to you, check them before you book anything, because a discount claimed at the door is a discount you cannot claim on a ticket you already bought. The London Pass route is a different calculation entirely and I have worked it through on combos and passes.
Online or in the churchyard
Booking online is the normal route and it is what keeps you out of the queue outside the west front. That queue is worst between about ten and one, it is outdoors, and St Paul’s Churchyard catches the wind. Walk-up tickets exist. I would not plan around them, particularly not in July, and particularly not if you are arriving anywhere near the 4pm last entry.
Book the date, not the trip. The ticket is valid for the whole of the day printed on it, so an early slot costs you nothing in flexibility — you can leave, eat, and come back to do the crypt in the afternoon.
See the current price
Every figure on this site sits on the booking widget rather than in the copy, because ticket prices move and a number typed into a paragraph is wrong within a season. Pick your date below and the live price for each tier appears with it. The other ways in — guided walks, the private tour, the pass — are compared on the tickets and tours page.
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Frequently asked questions
How much are tickets to St Paul's Cathedral?
The cathedral sells by tier: adult, senior, student, child aged 6 to 17, and two family combinations, with under-6s free and an optional voluntary donation offered on top of each. Rather than print a figure that goes stale, this page sends you to the live booking widget above, which shows the current price for your date.
Is there a cheaper ticket for the dome only?
No. The three dome galleries are inside the standard sightseeing ticket, so there is no separate dome price to hunt for — the 257, 376 and 528-step climbs are covered by the same admission. What the climb involves is on the dome climb page.
Do I have to pay the voluntary donation?
No. Every tier is sold in two versions, with and without the donation, and the cheaper one admits you to exactly the same building. The donation is optional and it is stated as optional.
Can I get into St Paul's Cathedral free?
Attending a service is free, children under 6 are free, and disabled visitors plus one carer are admitted free. UK residents on Universal Credit, Pension Credit or Employment Support Allowance can buy a heavily discounted sightseeing ticket. The details, and the honest limits, are on the free entry page.