Climbing to the top of St Paul’s Cathedral in London

Blue skies and sun shined down upon us as we stepped out of Waterloo Station for a day of sightseeing in London. Although still cold in the shadows of the buildings, out in the sun it was nice and warm and I removed my jacket, possibly for the first time since I landed in England. We walked the short distance to the banks of the Thames where we crossed the footbridge, walking towards downtown London. The river was busy with boats and locals and tourists wandered the banks of the Thames, enjoying the sunshine. We couldn’t have picked a better day to head into the city, and we decided to walk along the river and make our way to England’s most important (and largest) church – St Paul’s Cathedral.

St Paul’s Cathedral

St Paul’s Cathedral is one of the most important Christian churches in the world, and there has been a cathedral dedicated to St Paul in this exact location for over 1400 years. The current cathedral – one of the largest in the world – is thought to be the 4th cathedral to have been built here, this one dating back to 1675, completed in 1710.

Looking up at the facade of St Paul’s Cathedral from the entrance at the top of the steps.

Although St Paul’s is a popular tourist attraction in London, and rightly so, it is still a working cathedral and photography is not allowed inside. Many tourists ignore this rule, but being a place of worship, I prefer to be respectful, so you will have to take my word for it when I tell you that the interior of St Paul’s Cathedral is stunning. The architecture and artwork has to be seen with your own eyes to be truly appreciated.

Upon entrance into the cathedral, you immediately enter into the nave, where you view the entire length of the church. From here, you can walk down to the centre of the building, past hundreds of seats, where services are held underneath the huge dome, rising high above. At the back of the church is the quire and enormous organ, with the high altar at the very back. This part of the cathedral was damaged during the Second World War bombings. The dome and the quire contain some of the most spectacular artwork I have seen.

The dome of St Paul’s Cathedral is the second largest in the world (after St Peter’s in the Vatican), rising 111 metres above the streets of London. If you’re feeling energetic, you can climb almost all of the way to the top, and I wasn’t going to pass that up. The dome actually consists of three separate domes – the inner dome being what you can see from the cathedral floor, the larger outer dome which you can see from outside, and a separate brick dome in between the two to provide strength for the entire dome.

There are three different parts of the dome that you can visit, the first being the Whispering Gallery situated 32 metres above the cathedral floor. This provides some amazing views of the interior of the dome and the cathedral floor below. Apparently if you whisper at the wall of the gallery, it can be heard on the other side, hence the name. From here you can continue climbing up a much narrower and steeper staircase to the Stone Gallery, which puts you outside the dome and provides fantastic views of London and its ever changing skyline.

One of the views of London from the Stone Gallery

View of one of the cathedral’s towers, with London and the Thames in the background, as seen from the Stone Gallery

At this point you have climbed 376 steps and your legs might be feeling pretty tired, but if you can muster up the energy, another very cramped and steep staircase leads to the Golden Gallery, almost at the very top of the Cathedral Dome. At this point you will have climbed exactly 528 steps, and you won’t care – the panoramic views of London are just incredible.

View of London and the Thames from the Golden Gallery

Just one of the panoramic views from the Golden Gallery

It is a long and steep descent back down those 528 steps back to the cathedral floor, but a few more steps can then take you down to the Crypt, where some of England’s most important people are laid to rest. Here, you can visit the tombs of national heroes such as Lord Nelson and the Duke of Wellington, along with Sir Christopher Wren – the architect of the cathedral.

Statue of Queen Anne in front of St Paul’s Cathedral

Visiting St Paul’s Cathedral

St Paul’s Cathedral is open Monday – Saturday from 8:30am to 4:30pm, however the galleries don’t open until 9:30am. Sunday is open for worship only. Entrance is £18.00 per adult and includes a very good audio guide and entrance to all parts of the church, including the Dome and the Crypt. I would allow at least an hour and a half to see all of the church. More info and buy tickets online here.

We walked to the Cathedral from Waterloo Station, however you could take the tube (subway) to St Paul’s station, or catch the bus.