---
title: "How many steps up St Paul's Cathedral? 528"
description: "528 steps up St Paul's Cathedral in London, United Kingdom. Open to climb. What that count reaches, the height climbed, and how it compares."
url: https://atoneplace.net/how-many-steps/st-pauls-cathedral/
site: "At One Place"
---

# How many steps to the top of St Paul's Cathedral?

**Steps to the top of St Paul's Cathedral: 528**

Reaching the Golden Gallery at 85 m, the highest point open to visitors · open to climb

The climb has three stopping points and three different numbers, which is why published figures for St Paul's vary so much: 257 steps to the Whispering Gallery inside the dome, 376 to the Stone Gallery outside it, and 528 to the Golden Gallery at the top. The Whispering Gallery works as advertised — a murmur against the wall is audible 34 m away on the opposite side — though it is often too noisy to demonstrate. The final section is a cast-iron spiral between the dome's inner and outer shells and is genuinely narrow. Wren's dome is three shells, not one, with a brick cone between them carrying the lantern.

## The numbers

- **Steps:** 528
- **Reaches:** the Golden Gallery at 85 m, the highest point open to visitors
- **Public access:** Open to climb
- **Where:** London, United Kingdom
- **Height climbed:** 85 m — 279 ft
- **Average rise per step:** 161 mm

## What the climb is like

Around 30-40 minutes for the full climb. No lift above the cathedral floor; the last stage is steep and confined.

> Published counts for the same structure routinely disagree by five to ten per cent, and nearly always for one of three reasons: whether intermediate landings count as steps, whether the final platform step counts, and where the climb is deemed to start. The figure here says what it reaches.

## How it compares

*Only the ones marked open to climb can actually be walked.*

- Tokyo Tower: 600 steps
- St Peter's Basilica dome: 551 steps
- Cologne Cathedral south tower: 533 steps
- St Paul's Cathedral: 528 steps
- Brunelleschi's Dome, Florence Cathedral: 463 steps
- Notre-Dame de Paris towers: 422 steps
- Giotto's Campanile: 414 steps

*St Paul's Cathedral ranks 25 of 56 here by step count.*

| Structure | Steps | Reaches | Access |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Tokyo Tower | 600 | the Main Deck at 150 m | Open to climb |
| St Peter's Basilica dome | 551 | the lantern at the top of Michelangelo's dome, at 136 m | Open to climb |
| Cologne Cathedral south tower | 533 | the viewing platform at 97 m, below the spire | Open to climb |
| St Paul's Cathedral | 528 | the Golden Gallery at 85 m, the highest point open to visitors | Open to climb |
| Brunelleschi's Dome, Florence Cathedral | 463 | the lantern at the top of the dome, at 91 m | Open to climb |
| Notre-Dame de Paris towers | 422 | the top of the north and south towers, at 69 m | Restricted — events or permit only |
| Giotto's Campanile | 414 | the open terrace at the top of the bell tower, at 85 m | Open to climb |

## Common questions

### How many steps to the top of St Paul's Cathedral?

528, reaching the Golden Gallery at 85 m, the highest point open to visitors.

### Can the public climb St Paul's Cathedral?

Open to climb. Around 30-40 minutes for the full climb. No lift above the cathedral floor; the last stage is steep and confined.

### How high is that climb?

85 m, about 279 ft, which averages 161 mm per step.

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## Sources

- Official vendor product documentation — At One Place (/about/)