Westminster Abbey is one of THE iconic buildings of London and sits beside the Houses of Parliament. Probably seen as the coronation church, having hosted the coronation of Monarchs since 1066, it is also the final resting place of 17 of those. The original Abby was founded in 960 A.D. but the building we visited dates from the 13th century and the reign of Henry the III. This is a very popular tourist site so we booked our tickets in advance to avoid disappointment. On the website you choose the date and a time to enter slot, adults are currently £21 but seniors who are 60+ get a discounted £18 ticket. The online price is £2 cheaper than paying at the door and allows you fast track entry. Ticket price includes a multimedia Guide which is pretty good and allows you to get information by clicking on the numbers which correspond to the plaques at particular parts of the abbey. Although very detailed I was disappointed that many of the items in the abbey weren’t clearly labelled nor could you drill down for more information on the multimedia guide. That said, just following the guide around the numbered plaques takes between one and two hours.
The whole place is absolutely packed with artefacts, tombstones, plaques to the good and the great, plus some magnificent architecture. Whilst the whole building is high on my list of must see things if you are in London, The lady chapel was the most spectacular for me and is well worth lingering over.
We also visited the Abbey Gardens but the college garden and the little cloister garden are only open on Tuesdays Wednesdays and Thursday. They are free to visit and not conditional on you buying an entry ticket to the Westminster abbey.