The Abbey is a place that's touched the lives of kings, queens, statesmen and soldiers, poets, priests, heroes and villains since 960AD. Westminster Abbey has been the coronation church since 1066 and is the resting place of more than 3,000 great Britons.
Why visit the Abbey
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Why visit the Abbey
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Welcome to the Abbey
We warmly welcome many visitors each year to discover over ten centuries of British history in this remarkable building.
Plan your visit
Virtual tours
Experience 1,000 years of history and find out more about the Abbey without leaving home.
Take a virtual tour
General information
Opening Times and Ticket Prices | Plan your visit | Buy tickets
We’re open to visitors most days, but as Westminster Abbey is a living working church, we may need to close some areas off to the public at times and offer reduced opening hours.
General opening times
Monday - Friday: 9.30am - 3.30pm (last entry)
Saturday: 9.00am - 3.00pm (last entry)
Sunday: Open for services
Verger-guided tours
For 90 minutes, you'll be personally guided by one of the Abbey’s vergers. This tour includes a visit to the Shrine of St Edward the Confessor (not open to general visitors) as well as the royal tombs, Poets’ Corner, the Lady Chapel and the Nave.
Verger-guided tour information
Group visits
We currently welcome guided tour groups of up to 20 visitors when accompanied by a Blue Badge Tourist Guide. Find out more about our current group visit arrangements.
Group visits
How to get to the Abbey
The Chapter Office, Westminster Abbey, 20 Dean’s Yard, London, SW1P 3PA
Underground
Westminster (Jubilee, District & Circle Lines)
St. James’s Park (District and Circle Lines)
National Rail
London Victoria (0.8 miles)
London Waterloo (0.8 miles)
Buses
Find your best journey via theTransport for London website
Plan your visit
Our plan your visit page has everything you need to know about visiting the Abbey.
Plan your visit
Attend a service
For a unique experience, attend one of the Abbey’s daily services – check the listing to find one that suits you.
Service listings
Inside the Abbey
At the heart of the nation
A place for worship, celebration and ceremony, many of Britain’s most significant historic moments of the past one thousand years have happened here. Since 1066, the Abbey has hosted every coronation, and is the final resting place for the great kings, queens, poets, musicians, scientists and politicians of our past. We’d love you to come and take a look.
Our history
The Coronation Chair
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The Coronation Chair
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Poets' Corner
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Poets' Corner
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Top things to see and do at the Abbey
The Lady Chapel
Its glorious late medieval architecture, spectacular fan-vaulted ceiling and high stained glass windows continue to inspire wonder amongst those who visit it today.
The wonderful Lady Chapel
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Top things to see and do at the Abbey
Coronation Chair
One of the most precious and famous pieces of furniture in the world, and the centrepiece of coronations for over 700 years - it’s on display for all our visitors to see.
The precious Coronation Chair
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Top things to see and do at the Abbey
Poets' Corner
A place of pilgrimage for literature lovers, over 100 poets and writers are buried or have memorials here including William Shakespeare, Thomas Hardy, Charles Dickens, Ted Hughes, CS Lewis and Philip Larkin.
More than 100 great writers remembered
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Top things to see and do at the Abbey
The Queen's Window
David Hockney's first work in stained glass is a colourful country scene, commissioned to mark the reign of Queen Elizabeth II.
A Royal celebration
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Top things to see and do at the Abbey
Pyx Chamber
One of the oldest surviving parts of Westminster Abbey, this low vaulted room off was built about 1070. The chamber still possesses its medieval tiled floor - and was once used as a treasury.
A medieval must-see
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Top things to see and do at the Abbey
Royal tombs
Westminster Abbey is the final resting place of seventeen British monarchs, including King Edward the Confessor, King Henry V and Queen Elizabeth I.
The resting place of royalty
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Top things to see and do at the Abbey
The Quire
Come to one of the daily choral services at the Abbey and you will hear our Choir singing from their stalls in the quire - continuing a tradition dating back to the plainsong chanted by the monks of the 10th-century monastic foundation.
Choral music at the centre of the church
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Top things to see and do at the Abbey
The Cloisters
One of the busiest parts of the Abbey in medieval times and where the monks spent much of their time. The Cloisters weren't just a route to the main buildings, but a place for meditation, exercise and annual rituals.
More than a thoroughfare
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Top things to see and do at the Abbey
Chapter House
Once a meeting place where monks gathered, this 13th Century building is covered with murals showing scenes from the Book of Revelation and the Last Judgement.
A meeting place with a long history
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Top things to see and do at the Abbey
Modern Martyrs
Above the Abbey's Great West Door stand ten statues to modern martyrs - Christians who gave up their lives for their beliefs. Among them are Dr Martin Luther King Jr and St Oscar Romero.
The brave and heroic Modern Martyrs
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Kings, queens and royal visits
The Abbey has hosted many of Britain’s most significant historic events. It has been the coronation church since 1066, and we’ve held 16 royal weddings. 30 kings and queens are buried here.
Royalty
Famous names of the Abbey
More than 3,000 famous people are buried and many others commemorated in the Abbey, including kings and queens, writers, musicians, scientists, politicians, and noblemen and women.
See them all
- Charlotte, Emily and Anne Brontë
Poet and Novelist
- Sir Isaac Newton
1642-1727
Scientist, Mathematician and Astronomer
- Jane Austen
1775-1817
Writer and Novelist
- Sir Christopher Wren
Architect
- Aphra Behn
d.1689
Writer and Poet
- Nelson Mandela
1918-2013
Statesman and Lawyer
- Jenny Lind
1820-1887
Musician
- Stephen Hawking
1942-2018
Physicist, Scientist and Writer
- Sir John Gielgud
1904-2000
Actor
See them all
Support Us
Support from our visitors and donors helps us care for the Abbey and keeps us open as a living working church. We are independent and receive no funding from the Church, the Government or, the Crown. So, your help really counts.
How you can help
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Having a daily relationship with a 1000 year old garden is a joy.
Jan - Head Gardener
