Westminster Abbey - Any Discounts Available

ceebeeby

Other than befriending a member of the Royal Family (highly unlikely between now and Feb) does anyone know of any valid discounts available for touring Westminster Abbey - which costs about £36 for a family of four.

We've decided to go to the service at St Pauls which is "free" to visit there, but would very much like to 'tour' Westminster rather than attend a service only.

Have checked days out guide and it's not in there. Welcome any advice and thank you.

carlislelass

we used 2 for 1 vouchers at St Pauls, didn`t see any for Westminster Abbey

grai

wow £16:00 to visit Westminster Abbey?? Are they serious?? Thats ridiculous

ceebeeby

Hi Grai,

We've now been. The total cost was £38 for a family of four (2 adults and 2 school aged children). We could have attended a service, but felt we wanted to learn the history.

I'm convinced they use the money purely for the upkeep of the Abbey and therefore don't begrudge this seemingly high cost. I would like to think that if someone pitched up and stated they simply couldn't afford this fee and were willing to make a donation of what they could afford, that this would be acceptable ... who knows.

From my perspective, although it cost £38 it was well worth it for this one off visit. We undertook the audio tour and found it very interesting and factually magnificent. We arrived for doors opening time (09:30) and it wasn't too busy, which allowed us 'spare' time to walk amongst the more regal monuments / ones with the most historic significance. Towards the end of our time there it was getting very packed, and I imagine may have been less comfortable.

I would say if you're able to stretch to the fee it's well worth it. Put it this way, it was cheaper that Madame Tussauds and a lot more enlightening.

HTH

p00hsticks

ceebeeby wrote: »

I would say if you're able to stretch to the fee it's well worth it. Put it this way, it was cheaper that Madame Tussauds and a lot more enlightening.

If you're planning on visiting London again then if you haven't already done so I'd recommend contacting your MP and asking them to arrange a free tour of the Houses of Parliament, which is also very interesting.

ceebeeby

p00hsticks wrote: »

If you're planning on visiting London again then if you haven't already done so I'd recommend contacting your MP and asking them to arrange a free tour of the Houses of Parliament, which is also very interesting.

I 100% agree. Our MP arranged this for us, and also climbing Big Ben Clocktower. Our MP then met us after the clock tour for a cuppa. Was brilliant - we all learnt so much about parliament. The tour is exceptionally suitable for adults and children, and is totally free. My one wee tip about the trip though would be not to rely upon the catering in the parliament canteen which we thought was expensive, however, there's a Tesco Metro opposite, and there was no objections to us eating our sarnies and flask coffee inside in the warmth.

grai

I do not see how £38:00 for one family to visit a cathedral that has been there a thousand years could possibly be all spent on upkeep - it just doesnt add up - they are making millions and millions

More likely explaination is that someone along the food chain is giving themselves a very nice salary thank you! (English Heritage National Trust etc.)

CrazyNerd

its a working church, it has huge overheads. The cost of conservation and restoration is enormous. English heritage and the National trust have nothing to do with it.

It's also one of the most awe-inspiring historical building I 've ever visited.

grai

still waiting for a convincing breakdown of these massive overheads - of course the archbishops hefty expense account offsetting his church salary wouldnt be shown in an obvious way even if it was shown at all

gastronomix

Well a large chunk of it is covered in scaff atm which suggests a fairly major work in progress... Everything will be grade 1 listed and therefore scraping pigeon guano off the roof isnt going to come cheaply.
I agree that £16 is a lot of money for somewhere which in my opinion ought to be free, but I think its more likely that the possibly over inflated administrative salaries are paid from other funds and whatever the Cathedral takes does go on renovation and the removal of chewing gum.