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Westminster Abbey- Verger or London Walks

Getting excited about actually (maybe) travelling again and looking at a tour of Westminster Abbey. There are some posts about doing the abbey tour with London Walks or with the abbey's Verger tour. But they're a bit older, for probably obvious reasons so I'm bringing it up again. The prices and timing for my trip are close enough for it not to make a difference. The only difference I can see, unless I'm missing something, is that you can register ahead of time for London Walks, whereas the Verger tour you sign up the day of, so you may be out of luck if you get there later than everyone else doing the tour. So am I missing something? Is there another reason to pick one over the other?

I'm considering a tour over the audio guide because I think it might make it more interesting and would also focus my attention on the important bits instead of trying to see everything.

Posted by
14832 posts

I would go with the Verger tour. In the past they have several vergers doing tours so not sure they will run out of room. When I was there only the Verger-led tour could enter the chapel of Edward the Confessor due to the floor being weak but of course that was pre-Covid.

Do go ahead and download the audio tour app to your phone (and cue yourselves to bring your earbuds!!). If you have time before the tour you can listen to a few of the stops and if you want to revisit something you can (could).

Posted by
8913 posts

I did the verger tour and I was so glad that I did. There was only about a 15 minute wait for a tour, and it was worth it!

Posted by
1127 posts

Never done Verger so can't compare, but we did do the London Walks Abbey tour (and many others) and really enjoyed it. It covers some of the grounds around the Abbey too.

You register for London Walks now? That's new.

Posted by
20 posts

Definitely go for the Verger tour. It's not expensive and you see a lot more of the abbey, and have it explained, by someone who really knows the culture of the place. However, they have reduced the tours to two per day, limited to 10 people per tour, so plan ahead!

Posted by
2016 posts

I did the Verger tour pre covid and it was fantastic. I would definitely recommend it. I love Westminster Abbey and go there almost every time I visit London. Many times I have gone to Evensong and just sat there and enjoyed being in that glorious space.