What's Inside Westminster Abbey?

If you have ever watched one of the royal weddings on tv from the late Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip to Princess of Wales Kate Middleton and Prince William you have seen Westminster Abbey. You would have seen the checkerboard floor with a long red carpet down the middle with seating on either side of the aisle. Well that special place of marriage is what I'm talking about today. When you walk on the checkerboard floor think about all the royals that have walked down that aisle before you and you will be in awe.

When Garrett and I ended up in London for a little less than a day, we didn't really know what to do while we were there. London was really just a stop along the way between Switzerland and Germany so we wouldn't be on trains for a full day. London was not a place on either of our lists of places to visit.

However, we decided that we could walk around and see some of the famous sites. As we walked we ended up outside of Westminster Abbey, we saw that you can tour the inside and since we had time we decided to go for it. At first, we thought, "it's an abbey, how much can you really see...?" Not that it isn't gorgeous on the outside but we didn't know just how much we would enjoy it! There was so much to see, look at, and learn from touring the inside of Westminster Abbey.

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Before you even walk into the Abbey you see that immaculate care was taken with the religious carvings on the outside. When you walk inside you will see high carved ceilings, sculptures that tell a story, and beautiful hanging chandelier lights. One thing that really caught my eye was the stained glass windows. They are all over the Abbey and there is even a side room you can walk into and see walls of amazing stained glass windows (seen below). It's hard to take it all in because everywhere you look you will see something beautiful that will catch your eye.

Westminster Abbey has been a coronation church since 1066, with 39 monarchs being crowned here. The Abbey is a place of worship also called Westminster church/cathedral and also has some of the most significant people in Britain's history are buried here. You can see around 3,300 burials of kings, queens, warriors, scientists, and many other people who were integral to Britain's history.

You will see the burial sites of Sir Issac Newton, Charles Darwin, and Charles Dickens. As odd as it is to say I did have a favorite burial site which was an individual room that had Mary Queen of Scots and her cousin Queen Elizabeth I. To stand in that room next to a Queen's tomb that you have learned the history of is a pretty special moment. The Abbey does ask that you don't take photos of certain tombs in respect. You will see another special tomb of the Unknown Warrior, where an unidentified member of the British armed forces was killed on a European battlefield during World War I.

Planning Your Visit:

If you are planning your trip to the Abbey, you will want to check if they are having special events or services that day which might affect your visit. When we went in October, we were there on a Monday and we got there around 1 pm in the afternoon. The Abbey general admission is open from 11 am to 3:30 pm, we probably spent about 2 hours walking through and seeing everything.

The ticket price (2023) is 27 (around 32 USD) pounds per ticket, per adult. Ticket prices do change depending on seniors, kids, and amount of people in your group. If you are thinking the price is a little high I will tell you that it is completely worth it as your ticket comes with a digital guide with headphones so you can tour at your own pace. You can follow by numbers on the digital guide and listen to the story behind the artifact/burial site/architecture you are looking at. This digital guide is great because like I said you can follow it at your own pace and that means you can take as much time as you would like to look at the things that interest you most.

I highly recommend adding Westminster Abbey to your list of things to do while in London!

Read more: Culross Palace & Abbey Ruins, Fife Scotland

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