Private Westminster Abbey Tour with a Blue Badge Guide
Is a guided tour of Westminster Abbey worth it? For a first visit, almost always.
Forty monarchs have been crowned here since 1066. More than 3,300 people are buried or remembered inside. Yet the Abbey closes to sightseeing every Sunday, stops admitting visitors by mid-afternoon, and fills fast by late morning.
Our Westminster Abbey private tour handles all of that. A Mercedes collects you from your hotel. Your tickets and the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Galleries are already booked. And your guide holds the Blue Badge, because the Abbey only allows authorised Blue Badge guides to lead tours inside.
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Audio Guide, Verger Tour or a Private Westminster Abbey Tour?
Visitors often ask which way to see the Abbey is best. Each option suits a different traveller.
| Audio guide | Verger tour | Abbey Unlocked | Private Blue Badge guide | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cost | Included in the ticket | Entry plus £10 | £150 per person | Private tour price |
| Booking | With your ticket | On arrival only | Limited dates | In advance, your date |
| Group | Just you | Up to 20 | Up to 12 | Your group only |
| Hotel pickup | No | No | No | Yes, by Mercedes |
| Jubilee Galleries | Extra ticket | Not included | Included | Included |
| Questions | None | Some | Some | Any time |
What the Free Audio Guide Does Well
The multimedia guide that comes with every ticket is genuinely excellent. It’s one of the best in Europe. If you love going at your own pace with headphones, it may be all you need.
Verger Tours and the Shrine of St Edward
The Abbey’s own vergers lead 90-minute tours from Monday to Saturday. They are the only way to see the Shrine of St Edward the Confessor, which is closed to general visitors. You can only book a Verger tour once you arrive. Want to see the shrine too? Tell us, and we’ll plan time in your day for one.
Can You Skip the Line at Westminster Abbey?
Many tours promise to skip the line. Here’s the honest answer: everyone goes through security. What a Blue Badge guide gives you is the Abbey’s group entrance and a pre-booked time slot. In practice, that usually means far less waiting.
How Your Private Tour of Westminster Abbey Works
Four things to know before your visit, from the moment we collect you to the rules inside the Abbey.
Hotel Pickup in a Mercedes
Your guide and driver collect you from your hotel in a Mercedes. We drop you at Broad Sanctuary, beside Parliament Square, a few steps from the Abbey.
Arriving by Tube instead? Westminster station sits just across the road, on the Jubilee, District and Circle lines. St James’s Park station is five minutes away.
Timing: Sundays, Short Days and the Lunchtime Pause
The Abbey is a working church, so it closes to sightseeing on Sundays. Weekday last entry is mid afternoon, and Saturdays are shorter.
Blue Badge groups cannot enter between 12pm and 1pm. The King can also close the Abbey at short notice for state occasions. We plan around every one of these.
Tickets and the Jubilee Galleries, Already Included
Your entry ticket and the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Galleries are booked before you arrive. No queue at the ticket desk, no last minute sell outs.
What to Wear, Bring and Photograph
Dress as you would for church. Leave food, drinks and large bags at your hotel. Suitcases, big backpacks and wheeled bags are not allowed, and there’s no left luggage.
Welcome
- Modest clothing, as for church
- Small handbags and day bags
- Personal photos in most of the church and the Cloisters
Not allowed
- Food, drinks, suitcases, big backpacks and wheeled bags
- Photos in the Shrine, St Faith’s Chapel or the Jubilee Galleries
- Flash, video, selfie sticks or tripods
What You’ll See on a Westminster Abbey Guided Tour
Most visitors spend about two hours inside. Add the Jubilee Galleries and allow two and a half to three. Here’s what your guide shows you.
The Great West Door and the Unknown Warrior
Inside the Great West Door lies the Unknown Warrior, buried on 11 November 1920 in soil from France. It’s the only grave in the nave no one walks on. Above the door, Martin Luther King Jr stands among ten modern martyrs.
The Coronation Chair
Made around 1300, this oak chair has crowned monarchs since 1308. It once held the Stone of Scone, Scotland’s coronation stone. Look closely for graffiti. One visitor carved “P. Abbott slept in this chair” in July 1800.
The High Altar and the Cosmati Pavement
Charles III was crowned on this spot on 6 May 2023. The mediaeval Cosmati pavement glitters beneath it, and Gilbert Scott’s 1860s screen rises above. Behind it lies the shrine of Edward the Confessor, made a saint in 1161.
The Lady Chapel of Henry VII
Look up at England’s finest vaulted ceiling. Elizabeth I lies here above her half-sister Mary I, near Mary, Queen of Scots. A 1940 bomb hole survives behind glass, and Cromwell’s grave stood empty after 1661.
Poets’ Corner
Chaucer was buried here in 1400, and over 100 writers followed. Dickens and Hardy lie here, though Hardy’s heart rests in Dorset. Ben Jonson is said to stand upright in his grave. Handel’s Zadok the Priest has crowned every monarch since 1727.
Scientists’ Corner
Isaac Newton became the first scientist buried in the Abbey, and history’s greatest minds followed him here. Charles Darwin and Lord Kelvin lie close by. Stephen Hawking’s stone carries his famous equation for radiation escaping from black holes.
The Cloisters and Britain’s Oldest Door
Monks once read and prayed in these quiet cloisters. Nearby stands Britain’s oldest door, dated by its tree rings to the 1050s and Edward the Confessor’s first Abbey. Look for the comet-shaped memorial to Edmund Halley too.
The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Galleries
Opened in 2018, the galleries sit 52 feet above the floor and hold over 300 objects. See the royal funeral effigies, Mary II’s coronation chair, and the Duchess of Richmond’s parrot. The view down the nave stays with you.
Stories Most Visitors Walk Straight Past
The Strange and the Human
Pilgrims once prised mosaic tiles from Henry III’s tomb as souvenirs. Every tile within arm’s reach is gone. In St Michael’s Chapel, the Nightingale monument shows Death as a skeleton aiming a spear. Legend says a thief saw it at night and fled, dropping his crowbar. Find bearded St Wilgefortis in the Lady Chapel and the grave of Thomas Parr, who claimed to have lived to 152.
Royal Moments the World Watched
William the Conqueror was crowned here on Christmas Day 1066. Princess Elizabeth married here in 1947 and was crowned in 1953 before around 8,250 guests. The world watched Diana’s funeral here in 1997 and the wedding of William and Catherine in 2011. In 2022, Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral was held here. In 2023, her son was crowned.
The Abbey’s American Story
The Abbey holds more American history than most visitors expect. In 1921, the United States awarded the Unknown Warrior its Medal of Honour. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow became the first American honoured in Poets’ Corner in 1884. American-born writers T.S. Eliot and Henry James are remembered there too. A memorial stone honours Franklin D. Roosevelt. Step outside, and Abraham Lincoln stands in Parliament Square.
A Westminster Abbey Private Tour for Families
Children love the Abbey when someone turns it into a hunt. Your guide brings activity sheets and quizzes, and the Abbey offers its own free Children’s Trail.
Can Your Kids Find These?
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The blue porcupinesHidden on a Tudor tomb
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The parrotUp in the Jubilee Galleries
-
Halley’s cometCarved in the Cloisters
The Abbey is a quiet place of worship, so we keep stops short and stories lively. For families, one and a half to two hours inside works well. Under fives enter free.
Accessibility at Westminster Abbey
Your driver drops you as close to the entrance as Broad Sanctuary allows. Most of the main church is on one level, and your guide builds in places to sit.
Getting Up to the Jubilee Galleries
A 13 person lift in the Weston Tower takes about two and a half minutes to reach the Jubilee Galleries. Prefer the stairs? There are 108 steps. Abbey Marshals help at the top and bottom.
Free Entry and Special Tours
Registered disabled visitors and their carers receive free admission.
The Abbey also runs its own audio described and British Sign Language tours on selected dates.
Private Guided Tour of Westminster Abbey: Price and What’s Included
One clear price for your whole group. Tickets, the Jubilee Galleries and Mercedes hotel pickup are always included.
Our Prices
Private Westminster Abbey Tour
Abbey plus Changing of the Guard
Abbey plus Churchill War Rooms
Prices are in British pounds, for your private group, not per person.
What’s Included and What’s Extra
Included
- Your private Blue Badge guide
- Abbey entry tickets
- The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Galleries
- Mercedes hotel pickup
Extra
- Lunch
- Gratuities. Tips are never expected, but 10% to 15% is customary if you loved your guide.
How Our Price Compares
- Adult Abbey ticket£31
- Verger tour+£10
- Other private Abbey tours£490 to £530
- Our private tour, with pickup and Galleries£350
An adult Abbey ticket costs £31. A Verger tour adds £10. Elsewhere in London, private Abbey tours usually start around £490 to £530, often without transport or the Galleries.
Cancellation Policy
- 48 hours or more beforeFull refund.
- Between 24 and 48 hours25% charge.
- Less than 12 hoursNo refund, as tickets and guides are already arranged.
Pair Your Private Westminster Abbey Tour with More of Westminster
Abbey and the Changing of the Guard
Walk from the Abbey through St James’s Park, where pelicans have lived since a Russian ambassador gave the first ones to Charles II in 1664. Follow Birdcage Walk to Buckingham Palace for the ceremony, then stroll down The Mall.
Tower of London Complete the Royal Story.
Can’t choose between the Abbey and the Tower? Most first timers would pick the Tower for variety. Better still, see both. Spend the morning here, then ride east for a private Tower of London tour after lunch. Our private London tours by car make the transfer easy.
Abbey and the Churchill War Rooms
The underground bunker on King Charles Street is a five-minute walk away. Pair both on a Churchill War Rooms private tour.
Parliament Square, Westminster Hall and St Margaret’s
Next door, St Margaret’s Church saw Winston Churchill married and holds the grave of Sir Walter Raleigh. Across the road, Westminster Hall dates to 1097. Opposite the Abbey, Methodist Central Hall hosted the first United Nations General Assembly in 1946. In 1966, the World Cup trophy was stolen from an exhibition there, then found in a hedge by a dog named Pickles.
Evening and the Bayeux Tapestry
Evensong is worship, not a tour, and it’s free. Many guests say it’s the most moving hour of their trip. One more link worth knowing: the only surviving picture of Edward the Confessor’s first Abbey is stitched into the Bayeux Tapestry. It’s on display in London until July 2027 on our British Museum private tour.
Got Questions?
We’re happy to help. If you can’t find the info you’re looking for, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us!
Call us at (+44) 7356049464
Westminster Abbey Private Tour
Forty coronations, a thousand years of stories and one quiet morning before the crowds. You can queue, wander and hope you find the right tombs. Or you can walk in with a Blue Badge guide who knows exactly where to look.
Message us with your date and group size, and we’ll plan your Westminster Abbey private tour around you, from hotel pickup to the final stop.
WhatsApp: +44 7828 687940
New to London? Start with our private London highlights tour or see how booking works.
ABOUT US
Grand Private London Tours is a PHO licensed private tour company covering Central London, Windsor, Stonehenge, Bath, and the Cotswolds. Our guides walk these streets every day. They know which spot on Spur Road gives you an unblocked view of the Changing of the Guard when the Crown Jewels queue is still short and which Borough Market stall is worth the wait.
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