I will be in London and would like to attend the Choral Evensong at 5PM at St. Paul's Cathderal. I understand that you cannot tour the church before or after evensong. I think it is free to go to evensong. What time do you have to be there to attend the Evensong if it starts at 5PM and will the line be very long and will I be admitted? I plan to go the end of August. Thank you for your advice.
Posted by
Long Beach, California, USA
3398 posts
We have attended Evensong at St. Paul's several times. We lined up about 20 before the service. They have plenty of room and let everyone in. Since it is a religious service so they do not limit the number of attendees. There were less than 200 people there at the very most in our experience.
Posted by
OP
New York
1206 posts
Thank you Anita. I will make sure I get there about 4:30PM.
Posted by
New England
702 posts
I attended evensong on a Thursday this past March. I showed up at 4:50 pm and had no problem, can't recall much if any line to get in. The quire was already full of course but PLENTY of seats under the vast dome, with a good view.
Enjoy!
Posted by
troy, ny
660 posts
I attended Evensong in March at Westminster Abbey. No line but they inspected bags. Because it was a free service you are not allowed to tour and not take any pictures. It was a wonderful time to rest and hear beautiful music in a beautiful church. I wanted to experience it at St. Paul's but I was at the Churchill War Rooms and the Abbey was a 5 minute walk.
Posted by
East Peoria, IL
802 posts
You're not allowed to take pictures, but people still do. While we were there, there was a steady stream of people who would come sit for a few minutes, talk among themselves, take a picture or two, with or without flash, and wander away. Still, it's a lovely service. If we were to go again, we'd try to sit closer to the front, as we were fairly far back.
Posted by
Seattle, WA
52 posts
Hi Ann,
My wife and I attended Evensong at both Westminster Abbey and St. Paul's last week with no issues at all. As a matter of fact, we had just finished watching Romeo & Juliet at The Globe at 4:40 and walked over the Millennium Bridge to St. Paul's. We entered at 5:01 and had no issue finding seats, etc.
Enjoy it, even for someone who isn't religious in nature, it was something to sit there and enjoy the acoustics of the choir and organ in such a beautiful setting.