Which Westminster tour?
 

I am torn between the Verger tour of Westminster Cathedral and the London Walks tour. I am concerned the latter tour will have too many people for my children to get anything out of it--not close enough to hear/see what is being pointed out. Any suggestions? Opinions?

Do you mean Westminster Abbey (the Anglican church in which coronations take place) or Westminster Cathedral (roman Catholic)?

I was <b>fascinated</b> by the verger tour of Westminster Abbey, but I think it would have been supremely boring to a child.

Have not done the London Walks tour, so unfortunately I cannot compare the two.

The verger tour of Westminster Abbey is one of the most interesting I have ever taken. Hard to compare with London Walks as I have never taken their Abbey tour but I expect the verger tour is less expensive.

I've done the Verger tour at Westminster Abby and it's excellent, lasted about an hour and half. If your main concern is size of the group impacting your kids' ability to see &amp; hear, definitely go with the Verger tour. Although I've never done any of the London Walks, I understand the group size is determined by the number of people who show up on any given day.

IS the London Walks tour a tour of the Abbey? The last time I checked, London Walks did not do a tour in the Abbey. Their Westminster tours went past it.

Keith

I don't know how young your children are, but mine were 11 and 14 when we took the verger tour in 2001 and we loved it. The group size was fairly small and the tour was very interesting. It was one of the highlights of our trip.

Kieth, According to their website they have one called:

THE SECRETS OF WESTMINSTER ABBEY - From Opus Dei &amp; Death's Palace to The Da Vinci Code

Well, that tour title should tell you something: Opus Dei and The Da Vinci Code are about supposed happenings related to the Roman Catholic church, while Westminster Abbey is an Anglican Church. Someone seems to be confused.

By all means take the verger tour; those guides &quot;belong&quot; to the Abbey and know what they're talking about.

I enjoyed the Verger's Tour on my first visit to the Abbey years ago and I recommend it if the times of the tours fit into your schedule.

But I wanted you to be aware there are also self guided audio tours available . The price of the audio tour is about &pound;3.00 ( in addition to the Abbey entrance fee).

A friend and I took the audio tour this past October. It was her first time in the Abbey and the first time I had done the audio tour. My friend was very pleased with the information on the audio guide.
All I can recall (from previous visits) that the self guided audio tour missed was an up-close viewing of the Confessor's Tomb.
The other King's &amp; Queen's Tombs,The Choir, Lady Chapel, Poet's Corner, and Nave, and The Cloisters are included on the self guided tour.

The advantage of the audio tour is that everyone can walk and listen at his/her own pace. The audio guide can be stopped and started at will and it's easy to linger at the most interesting points.
You could even split your family into 2 groups with a parent, teen, and younger child in each group.

The tour begins in the North Transept and ends in the Nave...a good place to regroup is in the Choir.

No matter which tour you decide on, be sure to allow time to visit the Abbey Museum, it has a fascinating collection of royal effigies.

I took the London Walks tour of Westminister Abbey last month. They had just started it the week before. It is an excellent tour. You spend nearly the entire 2 hour tour inside the Abbey. The walk is limited to 26 people per guide. We had absolutely no problem seeing/hearing. London Walks guides know what they are talking about. Chris gave a great tour of the Abbey.

Also, until the time of Henry VIII, England was a Catholic country. The history of the Abbey is covered in the tour.

007, since you can't make reservations, do they have multiple guides or just cut it off at 26?

Keith

The 26 maximum on a privately guided tour is an Abbey rule. I don't know what OLW would do if they had more than 26, but I think that would be very rare event. Except for Jack the Ripper, I have never been on a London Walk with more than two dozen people. The time I went with them on the Westninster Abbey tour, there was 10 to 12 people.

Somebody earlier suggested that the London Walk tour would be more expensive than a verger tour. That is not true. The sum of an individual entrance fee plus verger tour fee is identical to the group fee plus the London Walks fee.

We took a verger tour with our 11 &amp; 14 year old children and they really enjoyed it. We had a small group (10 people or so) and really enjoyed the personal attention. The verger even let the children into the stalls where the royal family sits. They still speak of the tour as one of their highlights of the trip.

Ron, you have had a lot better luck with OLW than I have. I have been on 5 OLW and every one had substantially more than 26.

Keith

The stalls where the royal family sits...are those the choir stalls?

Keith,

On the first time they did the tour only 5 people showed up. I was on the second tour and 45 people showed up. Unfortunately, Chris was the only guide and she had to send 16 people away (they did get a free walk for their troubles). They let her bring 29 in. She told me they were going to have 2 guides from then on.

Ron, the pub walks are very popular. The ones I have been on usually average 40 to 50 people. I have been on walks with 6 people up to the Ripper walks with over 100.

Bob