Our standard opening hours can be seen in the table below. We suggest arriving at least one hour before closing to make the most of your visit. Please note that we do not have a left luggage facility on site.

Please scroll to the bottom of this page to see details of dates and times where access might be restricted due to major services, special events or restoration work.

With over 70,000 tons of medieval craftsmanship to admire and nearly 800 years of history to explore, we suggest you allow between 1.5 – 3 hours for your visit. If you don’t have that long, you can see most of the highlights in 45 minutes.We warmly invite you to join one of our services to hear our talented choirs in action – you can find all the information and times you need by clicking here.

Restricted access/closures

Occasionally the Cathedral, or parts of it, may need to close or only offer restricted access for a service, special event or day to day maintenance. We try to minimise these periods as much as we can, as we know that people travel long distances to visit us. Please remember to check for last minute changes prior to your visit as some events, such as funerals, are only arranged at short notice.

Monday 6 January - Sunday 1 March: Organ 'Voicing'

Visitor access in and around the Quire, Spire Crossing and part of the Nave will be restricted to manage noise levels whilst critical tuning work is undertaken on our newly restored organ. The organ builders are adjusting the pipes so that they will play the right notes and will be doing this by ear so we will be asking visitors to be quiet inside the Cathedral. Timings for some scheduled demonstrations may have changed, please check below for details:

Saturday 29th February 
Cathedral Closed all day and no access to the Close.

Demonstrations

Access to the Chapter House with Magna Carta and cloisters will be as normal. Please click here for more information about the organ restoration work.