Even long-standing monuments have new stories to tell. I have been living in London for four years now, but I recently experienced a new part of London’s iconic skyline: St. Paul’s Cathedral. I’ve passed by the cathedral many times while living here and seen it from many angles from the outside. I had even seen part of the inside once when St. Paul Cathedral’s held an orchestra performance of Bach’s Passions in celebration of Easter, although I wasn’t able to walk around and explore very much due to the concert.

When my friend came to London over the weekend, we decided to book a highlights tour of St. Paul’s. It was something she had long wanted to do and something I never realised I was interested in until I took the tour. The tour was led by a volunteer, which was great because you could tell how passionate she was about the monument’s history. She explained details of the architecture and shared historic photographs of how St. Paul’s has changed over the years. We got to see the geometric staircase, which features in films like the Harry Potter series and Paddington Bear. You can only see it on a tour since it’s not publicly accessible.

We then walked through the rest of the cathedral, even getting the opportunity to hear the choir and organ practice. After the tour finished, my friend and I climbed over 500 steps up to the top of St. Paul’s to see the view of London. It was difficult, but so rewarding at the end. The view was beautiful and a completely new experience for me.

I would highly recommend the highlights tour. It’s something I never would have done on my own if my friend hadn’t thought of it, but I am so glad that I did it. As a student, I paid £16. I learned a lot from the tour and realised that even though I’ve seen it hundreds of times before, there was still something new to discover about it.