St. Paul's Cathedral Tour - Guided Tour of St. Paul's Cathedral

The St. Paul's Cathedral Tour

"Afloat upon ethereal tides St. Paul's above the city rides"

"St. Paul's is much more than a place of worship. It is a specific against grossness, brutality and despair." And "to set foot into St. Paul's is to experience that cold shock straight from the past, beauty as a genius conceived it, grace that we had forgotten." Now some practical matters. There's an admission charge to St. Paul's, but there is a Group Rate. More to the point is your other "spend": your time. To refract it through a great guide will "buy" you inestimable riches in St. Paul's. Knowing where to look and what to look for – and seeing these things through the translucent integument of their "stories" – well, it's like going from blurry near-sighted to 20:20. What's more, the new Churchill Gates are in place; centuries-old Temple Bar has come home; and, most important of all, St. Paul's hasn't looked this good – inside and out – for 300 years. In short, the wraps are finally off – the restoration work's done – and our much loved old cathedral is radiant and pristine. Indeed, we'll show you some thrilling "rediscoveries" – wonderful features that were so begrimed they were lost and forgotten.

The St. Paul's Cathedral Tour takes place every* Tuesday at 10.30 am. Meet Judy, Helena or Margaret just outside exit 2 of St. Paul'sTube.

And a look behind-the-scenes (for anybody who's interested in what "informs" our thinking about the shape of the London Walks programme). Prior to the Summer 2010 London Walks programme the St. Paul's Cathedral Tour always took place on a Friday afternoon. The Summer 2010 move to Tuesday morning was a very good one. For a couple of reasons. 1) because the morning start gives people more time – if they want it – for a visit to the Whispering Gallery. Or more time in the crypt. Or whatever. And 2) because these days lots of London Walkers are thinking about "sets" of walks on any given day – about "fits" between morning and afternoon walks. And putting the St. Paul's Cathedral Tour on on Tuesday morning gives us – well, gives you – a perfect Tuesday "fit" with the Christopher Wren's London Walk on Tuesday afternoon. Put those two together – as some people will do – and you've got yourself A Christopher Wren Day in London! It's one of those combinations that was meant to be. One of those the-whole-is-greater-then-the-sum-of-the-parts jobs. And you want the clincher? Some of the walkers who do the "set" will crown the day by attending the Evensong Service at St. Paul's after the Christopher Wren's London Walk. Can't say better about that than these three lines from one of my favourite poems:

A broad white shell of completeness

Has widened and cracked:

I'm open to sweetness.

*N.B., very very very occasionally there's a special service on at that time on a Tuesday morning and when that happens the Cathedral is "not open for tourism" (in that ungainly phrase). It goes without saying that we flag those "closures" up just as soon as we get wind of them.