Is Salisbury Cathedral Worth It Without The Tower Tour?

There’s a reason small children aren’t allowed on the Tower tour, you climb a whole lot of open wooden stairs up into the interior of the cathedral and then more, further up into the bell tower….it would dangerous for small children. And it’s basically going into the attic of the Cathedral, all the embellishments that make up the beauty of the Cathedral, you see from the inside floor.

Can't you just leave the young''uns with some couple picnicking on the lawn for an hour?

Offer to buy them all an ice cream and a balloon if they are still alive and have all their fingers and toes when you get back down.

Salisbury is one of the most beautiful cathedrals in England both inside and outside. iBut your itinerary has you driving from Portsmouth to Salisbury to London all in one day. You have an itinerary with lots of churches and castles, you are driving long distances on busy roads with young kids, so my thought would be give it a miss this time and give yourself some wriggle room in case it is needed.

I have never taken the Tower Tour and I'm not really into cathedrals.

But, the Salisbury Cathedral has the best preserved copy of the Magna Carta. There are only four left in existence.

Historically, Canterbury Cathedral was more interesting.

If you're going to Salisbury, Stonehenge is just up the road.

If you're interested in seeing another Cathedral on your way to London, you could substitue Winchester Cathedral.

Salisbury is nearly 7 centuries older than Arundel and is a miracle of medieval construction.

@margie, I'm not objecting to kids not being allowed. We are just trying to decide if it's worth doing a "rider swap" or not. Thanks for sharing those details. It sounds neat.

@Lesley, thank you for sharing your thoughts. Yeah...probably too rushed at the end.

@Frank II, this is so helpful. Thank you very much.

@Camborne2018, it sounds great. Will definitely see it someday and look forward to it.

Salisbury is an amazing cathedral - but then so many of our cathjedrals are! b. I've not done the tour tour although I've done them at Lincoln, York anDurham. They do give a very different view of the cathedral. The cathedralk is surrounded by a large grassy close whicj would be good for a picnic and for the children to let off steam.

However I would also question whether it is actually worth the time to get to Salisbury. You have a pretty intensive itinerary from day 1 (are you arriving jet lagged off a transatlantic flight?) and one night stops are always hard work. May be add this day to somewhere else on the itinerary and allow time to relax and actually enjoy yourselves? I'm not sure where the fun activities for the 4 year old and 22 month old are in this either.

Yes, it is very neat to see the interior of the cathedral and how it was built. I still have the buttons they gave us for making it to the top. Is it worth it when you have to two small children? That’s a long time for a “ride swap.”

I agree that your Salisbury day is very busy, and that your plan includes several other cathedrals. I've never done the tower tour, it sounds great, but I can see why it wouldn't work for small kids. Nor would the Magna Carta do much for them.

That said, Salisbury is unusual in having been built over a relatively short period, so having an architectural unity that most European cathedrals lack because they were built, or rebuilt, over multiple centuries. It's a great example of Early English Gothic, in a beautiful setting. If you're really cathedral nuts, like me but unlike Frank, you'll appreciate it. You and your kids might appreciate it more on a future trip when you can all go up to the tower, see Magna Carta, the nearby museum, Stonehenge, and more.

I love Salisbury and the Cathedral, but I agree with the others that you have a pretty aggressive schedule (especially with all the one-nighters) and you might re-think adding Salisbury to the mix.

BTW, I've been to the cathedral at least half a dozen times maybe more, none of which included the Tower Tour. I have a fear of heights so this is not for me. I do love to look at the fabulous stone carvings around the church including the one in a side chapel that reminds me of the 1980's male model for paperback romance covers, Fabio, hahaha!!

Also, if you dropped Salisbury you could leave the car in Portsmouth and take the train in to London.

I agree with Pam. Leaving out Salisbury is a good idea. You can put it on the list for a future trip to England.

Pam's suggestion to drop the car in Portsmouth and take the train in to London is an excellent one.
The children will enjoy the train ride!!

Salisbury Cathedral is beautiful and definitely worth seeing even if you don't climb the tower. I saw it on a London walks tour and enjoyed it very much.

I do recommend that you see it someday, but maybe not on this trip. Maybe next time, if the kids are older and interested, you could see the Cathedral and then head out to Stonehenge.

@wasleys, we love cathedrals too. I appreciate your questioning of whether it's worth the time to get out there. There's not much else we want to do there aside from the cathedral. I think we've decided to cut it for this trip. We'll see it on the way out to Cornwall someday in the future.

@margie lol yes I think we're going to skip it this time. Sad.

@Dick, we enjoy cathedrals very much...but I think we've decided to skip this time. It's a bummer but makes the most sense.

@Pam, that was a great suggestion to drop the car in Portsmouth!! However I cannot find a rental company that will actually let me do that since we are picking up from Gatwick. They will however allow us to drop off at Southampton airport. Is that as well connected? I read online it's about an hour and a half. I wonder if it's a big hassle.

@Rebecca, thank you! Yes...future trip.

@MaryC, thank you for sharing your thoughts and experience.

You could drive from Portsmouth to Gatwick and drop the car off.
Easy train ride into London from Gatwick.

I would go to the Cathedral and take the kids and skip the tower tour.
We loved the Cathedral but then we are really excited by old churches and cathedrals and their beauty.

Southampton Airport to Salisbury is a shorter train ride than from Portsmouth.

Both the airport and Portsmouth are through trains to Salisbury.

And the train station at the airport is right outside the terminal.

To add to others' comments, YES take the tour when the children are older. The Tower Tour was a highlight for us, to see oak beams 1000 years old holding things together. On our last trip in '22 we saw a man hanging with ropes onto the outside of the tower. His job was to inspect the integrity of the masonry. Ran into him in pub later, and he said, "Well, you gotta trust your equipment!"