St Paul's Cathedral

I visited St. Paul's twice during my trip to London. The first was a self-guided/audio tour of the cathedral proper, the second was as part of "The Blitz" tour from London Walks. As a first time visitor to London I was aware that this is one of the many "must-sees" during the trip. My thoughts:

History: Anyone interested in history will find plenty of it here. This was the site of Churchill's funeral and Charles and Diana's wedding. The cathedral also plays an almost spiritual role in WWII. The crypt below contains a virtual "who's-who" of British history, among them Lord Nelson, Lawrence of Arabia, and Florence Nightengale.

Whispering Gallery: Anyone traveling with children might find this of interest, you can hear whispers across the dome due to its unusual acoustics. It might be the highlight of the trip for an 8-year-old!

Climb to the Top: Worth it for spectacular views of London. If I recall correctly they do charge a bit extra for this but it's worth it.

Cost: Sure it may be a little more than others in London (~20$), but you're visiting one of the world's most famous places of worship in one of the world's most interesting cities. (I would imagine the heating bill is a little on the pricey side as well ;)

Worth a visit even for the most cursory of travellers.

Etc.: As an aside, I would agree with the no-camera policy which allows visitors to enjoy the cathedral while not being interrupted.

First they sting you for L10 to get in, then when you try to take a photo or a video they storm up to you and tell you off, on the grounds that, and I quote "This is a CHURCH, show some respect!" Well, if it's a church, what are they doing charging people to get inside? While they are lecturing visitors (who they clearly resent being let in at all) on "respect", downstairs they are allowing MILLIONS, literally millions of people to walk across people's headstones in the crypt. Some of these stones have been so badly worn they are hardly readable --- where is the "respect" being shown to the dead? And what is more, is it respectful to have a tourist-trap gift shop and profit-making cafe in the vicinity of what is in effect a graveyard?

As an "attraction", it's not worth the L10 entry fee.

Christopher Wren's masterpiece. Every bit of the cathedral has a wonderful history - take a tour or rent an audio guide. Must climb to the whispering gallery (if you are as claustrophobic as I am, it is difficult as it is a tight and dark stairwell) - simply wonderful - and a much better place to see the artwork in the dome. I wasn't adventurous enough to go higher - but based on others comments I wish I would have! I would return here everytime I'm in London!