Highgate’s West Cemetery is the famous half of the cemetery and winter can be a wonderful time for a wander with the mists and damp leaves creating a very atmospheric visit. The cemetery is also open for the interregnum between Christmas and New Year if you’re looking for things to do.
The West Cemetery is home to the impressive architectural features of Highgate Cemetery — the Chapel, Colonnade, Egyptian Avenue, Circle of Lebanon, Terrace Catacombs and the mausoleum of Julius Beer. So if you fancy a wander around a mix of architecture wrapped up in nature, then winter is, to my mind, one of the best times to visit, with the depths revealed by the barren trees and the soft squelch of mud underfoot.
This is still an operational cemetery and they ask that visitors respect the privacy of those visiting graves by moving away from the area and keeping noise to a minimum. They also ask that you don’t take photographs of recent graves, or of anyone visiting them, which is perfectly sensible advice when visiting any cemetery.
Tickets cost £10 for adults, and £6 for children (8-17) or free for children aged 7 and under — and need to be booked in advance from here. The price includes entry into the East Cemetery as well — that’s the one with Karl Marx in it.
Tickets will not be sold at the Cemetery. Do not turn up without a ticket as you will be refused entry.
You can arrive 15 minutes before or up to 30 minutes after your booked time to avoid the queues. The catacombs are not open for self-guided visits. To see the catacombs you must go on a guided tour.
Visit tips
They hand out a map and guide if you’re dead-celeb hunting, but otherwise amble around getting delightfully lost in the winding paths.
Wear decent shoes for walking in the countryside with decent tread on the sole (no smooth soles) as some of the slopes can be slippery when wet.
There’s a toilet in the East Cemetery if you need it, and entry to the East cemetery is part of the ticket price.
When leaving, head south down Swain’s lane to see the oddest housing estate ever, looking more like a council estate built in mock-tudor blocks.
Holly Lodge and Holly Village were the high points of the walk back home when I lived in Archway. Quite the contrast to the nearby Girdlestone estate.
You have to PAY?
Presumably like Saint Paul’s, not when you’re taking part in a service though.
I wander how stiff your beloved has to be before Jonny Gatekeeper has the embarrassing task of demanding monies from the little old lady? Or worse actually, remembering your warning Ian, denying the ticketless widow even so much as crossing the threshold.
Is nothing sacred? Put the rates up a little bit and throw open the barriers!
Many years ago when I was into photography I went there with a canera (35mm) and tripod. I was surprised to find that I had to pay a photography fee, and that as I had a tripod I ‘must’ be a professional so had to pay for that too. I declined, and an argument ensured in which I was backed by several visitors who found all that absurd. From memory I took the photos but didn’t use the tripod.