Localada’s free Westminster Abbey audio guide is part of the London audio guide: the story of Westminster Abbey, practical visiting tips and a route map, narrated in 15 languages. It opens in your browser, with no app download and no tour group.
Listen to the Westminster Abbey audio guide, free →
Opens the London guide in Localada, where Westminster Abbey is one of the stops. A free account takes a few seconds.
Westminster Abbey: key facts
- Time to allow: 1.5–2 hours
- Hours: 09:30–15:30 (closed Sunday)
- Address: 20 Deans Yard, Westminster, London SW1P 3PA
- Nearest transport: Westminster station · 4 min walk (Circle,District,Jubilee)
- Localada perk: 5% OFF – Skip-the-line entry & audio guide — book below
- Closed to sightseeing on Sundays — services only
- Saturday visiting ends earlier than weekdays
- Photography is allowed, but not during services
- A working church: visits pause for prayer
The story of Westminster Abbey
Thirty-nine coronations. Sixteen royal weddings. Three thousand three hundred burials.
Since 1066 every English and British monarch has been crowned in this building, in the same wooden chair, above the same slab of Scottish sandstone. Charles III sat in it in May 2023. Edward I had it made in 1300.
The Abbey is not a cathedral and never has been. It is a Royal Peculiar — answerable to the Crown, not to a bishop. That technicality is why it survived Henry VIII while the monasteries around it were pulled apart.
You will be walking on people. The floor is a map of the dead: Newton, Darwin, Dickens, Handel, Hawking, and Chaucer — buried here for being a civil servant rather than a poet, and accidentally starting Poets' Corner.
Look down in front of the High Altar for the Cosmati pavement, thirteenth-century Italian stonework laid with porphyry carried from Rome. For four hundred years it was hidden under carpet. It was uncovered in 2010.
The Coronation Chair stands near the west door, covered in graffiti. Georgian and Victorian schoolboys carved their names into it. Nobody has ever sanded it off.
The most visited grave is the least grand. The Unknown Warrior lies just inside the west door, under the only stone in the Abbey no one is allowed to walk on.
Listen to the Westminster Abbey audio guide, free →
Tips for visiting Westminster Abbey
- Book a timed ticket — the door queue is the longest in Westminster
- Find the Cosmati pavement in front of the High Altar before the crowd reaches it
- Poets’ Corner is in the south transept and easy to walk straight past
- The Cloisters are quieter than the nave and included in your ticket
- The Unknown Warrior’s stone is the one patch of floor nobody may step on
5% off Westminster Abbey tickets and tours
Book through Localada and GetYourGuide takes 5% off at checkout, on experiences worldwide. No code needed.
More audio guides in London
- The Tower of London · 2–3 hours
- The British Museum · 2–3 hours
- St Paul's Cathedral · 1.5–2 hours
All stops in the London audio guide →
Westminster Abbey audio guide: frequently asked questions
Is the Westminster Abbey audio guide free?
Yes. The Westminster Abbey audio guide is part of Localada’s free London guide: create a free account and open it in your browser, no app download needed. Tickets for Westminster Abbey are bought separately; booking through Localada’s GetYourGuide links gives 5% off.
How long should I spend at Westminster Abbey?
Allow 1.5–2 hours for Westminster Abbey.
What are the opening hours of Westminster Abbey?
09:30–15:30 (closed Sunday). Hours can change on public and religious holidays, so check on the day.
Can I get a discount on Westminster Abbey tickets?
Yes. Book Westminster Abbey tickets and tours through Localada’s GetYourGuide links and GetYourGuide applies 5% off at checkout.
Which languages is the Westminster Abbey audio guide available in?
Narration and text are available in 15 languages: English, Turkish, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Dutch, Polish, Russian, Arabic, Persian, Chinese, Japanese and Korean.