What to see and do

With two hours, you can linger longer at memorials that intrigue you, spot more details that others might miss and ask our Visitor Experience team your burning questions. Building upon the one-hour itinerary, we recommend:  

• Spending time looking closely at memorials that interest you. With 3,300 people remembered here, we couldn’t talk about everyone on the multimedia guide, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t important. What catches your eye? 
• Pop into the side chapels as you explore for fascinating examples of 16th, 17th and 18th century sculpture. Originally used as chapels and for storing relics, after the Reformation these became new spaces for ornate memorials.  
• Book your £5 ticket to the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Galleries, where our 1,000-year history is told through objects. Head high above the Abbey floor for one of the greatest views of the whole Abbey.  
• Take your time through the medieval cloisters and explore the Chapter House, the meeting place of monks, as well as Britain’s Oldest Door and the Pyx Chamber. 
• Keep exploring to reach the gardens of Westminster Abbey, with College Garden being the oldest cultivated garden in England. Pause for a moment of peace while being in the heart of central London.  

With over 1,000 years of history, Westminster Abbey has many stories to tell. Develop your understanding by exploring: 

• The Coronation Chair, where monarchs have sat when being crowned in Westminster Abbey for over 700 years 
• Royal burials around the Shrine of St Edward the Confessor, including Henry III who built the church you see today and Henry V who is a famous warrior-king in the Battle of Agincourt
• Anne of Cleves' tomb, as the only one of King Henry VIII’s wives who was buried at Westminster Abbey on the request of Tudor Queen Mary I
• Burial place of Geoffrey Chaucer, known as the Father of English Literature whose burial began the tradtion of celebrating creativity in Poets' Corner
• Britain’s Oldest Door, constructed sometime in the 1050s which can be found in the passage leading to the Chapter House

With the first stone church built in 1065, Westminster Abbey was rebuilt in the 13th century and has continued to be reworked by architects over centuries. Take time to look at: 

• The West Towers, the most recognisable part of Westminster Abbey only added in 1745 designed by Nicholas Hawksmoor in Portland stone
• The Nave, where you can see the evolution of the building between Henry III's extravagant Gothic architecture and the less elaborate completed arches without detailed decoration
• The spot in the Nave where Henry III ran out of money (and future builders carried on)  
• The Lantern ceiling, a vibrant, painted square high above the crossing, between the High Altar and the quire
• Rose windows, magnificent examples of 18th, 19th and 20th century stained-glass windows depicting Christ and the Apostles at either end of the North and South Transepts
• Ceiling of the Lady Chapel, a delicately carved fan-vaulted roof with hanging pendants described as "the wonder of the world" in the renovated Tudor chapel 

As a Royal Peculiar, under the direct jurisdiction of the monarch, Westminster Abbey has been the place of coronations, royal weddings and funerals. Discover the history of the monarchy through:  

• The Coronation Chair, where monarchs have sat when being crowned in Westminster Abbey for over 700 years 
• Cosmati Pavement, a colourful 13th century Italian pavement on which coronations and royal weddings have happened for hundreds of years
• Royal burials around the Shrine of St Edward the Confessor, including Henry III who built the church you see today and Henry V, the famous warrior-king in the Battle of Agincourt
• Tombs of queens Elizabeth I and Mary I, who were often opposed in life due to differences in faith but brought together through burial in death
• Stalls for the Sovereign and Great Master of the Order of the Bath, as leaders of the military order celebrated within the Lady Chapel

As a working church, choral and organ music is at the heart of worship. Find out Westminster Abbey's rich musical tradition by seeing: 

• The Harrison & Harrison organ, visible by looking up from the Nave or Quire, installed for the coronation of King Georg VI in 1937 and used daily in services
• The Quire stalls, where the Choir of Westminster Abbey sings the daily services with male choristers between the ages of 8 and 13 alongside adult lay vicars
• Musician’s Aisle, a space of memory in Westminster Abbey for celebrating musical talent including Henry Purcell, Edward Elgar and Ralph Vaughan Williams
• George Frederic Handel, buried and memorialised with a monument on the wall best known for his composition of  'Zadok the Priest' used since 1727 in most coronation services
• Evensong, which is free to attend, consists of choral music from the rich Anglican musical tradition reflecting centuries of worship

If you think you know Westminster Abbey, then think again. Make sure your visit includes these unexpected moments: 

• Ben Jonson’s grave in the Nave, as the only person in Westminster Abbey who is buried upright unable to afford a larger plot
• Scientists’ Corner, a space where science and belief are united in celebrating the achievements of Newton, Darwin, Hawking and more
• Lady Elizabeth and Joseph Nightingale's memorial, in St Michael's Chapel featuring a skeleton depiction of Death that once scared away a robber who broke into the Abbey
• Beheaded figures alongside Aymer de Valence's tomb, showing the partial destruction of the Abbey following the Reformation where some statues were 'defaced'
• Staircase that looks like it goes nowhere in Poets’ Corner, which is a reminder of how the monks would have travelled around the building during services