Bucket list experience:
One of the UK’s most beautiful cathedrals, boasting superb Gothic architecture, also lays claim to having the UK’s tallest spire (123m). It also has the largest cloister, the largest cathedral close, and contains one of the world’s oldest clocks.
The cathedral is also famously home to the best-preserved of the four surviving original copies of the Magna Carta, a highly significant historical document from 1215. The Magna Carta Libertatum was an English legal charter that required King John of England to proclaim certain rights, respect certain legal procedures, and accept that his will could be bound by the law, thus limiting his powers.
‘Tower Tours’ allow you to go inside the spire to see the medieval wooden scaffolding, where guides will explain the medieval construction methods as you climb the 332 steps to the roof space at the base of the spire, 68m up. Tours also include the Magna Carta.
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Destination Guide >Trains from London Waterloo take just over an hour to reach Salisbury, or its about a 45-minute drive from Bath, Bristol or the New Forest.
Taxis and local bus services are available from the station to the cathedral.
You can pre-purchase tickets for entry and the Tower Tours on the website, or buy them when you arrive from the ticket office. Tower Tours last 1.5-2 hours, min age 7.
If you also want to visit nearby Stonehenge, the Stonehenge Tour is a hop-on, hop-off bus service that picks you up in Salisbury town centre and runs to Stonehenge from Salisbury Cathedral, via Old Sarum and Amesbury. On the way you get commentary about Stonehenge and other local history and legends.
The cathedral is open all year round, seven days a week, except Sunday morning’s when it’s only open for service. Tower tours run several times a day.
Our selection of the best Viator tours of this attraction or activity
London
£153 | Rating 4.34 / 5 [96 ratings]
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Salisbury
£200 | Rating 4.96 / 5 [32 ratings]
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Southampton
£355 | Rating 5 / 5 [10 ratings]
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London
£750 | Rating 4.75 / 5 [8 ratings]
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