30 Things to See First

Thirty places to see first, in order, for somebody who has never been to London. Each says what it is, whether it is free, whether you must book, and whether the queue is worth it.

St Paul's Cathedral

Wren's domed cathedral, with 528 steps up inside the dome to a walkway above the rooftops. Ticketed Monday to Saturday; on Sunday there is no sightseeing and the services are free to attend.

Charles and Diana coming down the steps of St Paul's after the wedding, her train spread out behind her, the open carriage waiting below — Coming down the steps, 29 July 1981.

St Paul's dome floodlit at night above wet paving and a lit street lamp — The dome at night, after rain.

Also in Performance venues and Royal London and Sacred London.

The fifth cathedral on the site, and the one Wren spent thirty-five years building after the Great Fire; it was finished in 1711. The dome is really three domes. There is an inner one, shallow enough to look right from the floor; a brick cone hidden inside it, which carries the weight of the stone lantern on top; and the outer one in lead, the shape that shows above the rooftops from half of London and that planning law protects by keeping certain views of it clear. The Whispering Gallery runs round the inside of it, and the crypt holds Nelson, Wellington and Wren himself, under an inscription that tells the reader to look around for his monument.

Where: St Paul's Churchyard, EC4M 8AD
Nearest station: St Paul's · 2 min walk

Google Maps stpauls.co.uk