Tickets for Shakespeare’s Globe: Guided Tour
Everything you ever wanted to know about William Shakespeare
- Learn about Elizabethan behind-the-scenes secrets (like the special effects used to add blood and gore) via your audio guide
- Relive the magnificence of the Shakespearean era and imagine Hamlet as it'd have been originally performed
- Open all year round, the Globe Theatre Tour & Exhibition is an olde-worlde treat and a chance to learn all about a unique British building and the world's most famous playwright
“All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players.” So said Shakespeare in As You Like It. Take a fun tour, see what Shakespeare's stage was like in 1599 at The Globe, and learn how one man came to change the face of English literature.
The authentic Tudor exterior and thatch roof (the only one in London) are preludes to what awaits you inside The Globe: an exquisite and architecturally accurate recreation of Shakespeare's original theatrical home.
On this tour you'll see in your 'mind's eye' just how The Bard's plays would have been performed and received. You'll get a visceral experience of a time when it was allegedly fine to throw oyster shells at characters you didn't like!
Sit in the tiered, wooden seating that housed the better-heeled members of society, and see how the audience enveloped the stage in a near circle.
The exhibition is best enjoyed with an audio guide, packed with an hour of carefully compiled extras and Elizabethan theatre facts. Along with these colourful stories of the 1599 Globe, you’ll get a sense of the raucous atmosphere and how the comedies, tragedies and histories came alive for people from all walks of life.
And should you need an ale or two to slake your thirst, there's The Swan Bar & Restaurant. A more elegant affair than would have been available to Shakespeare's customers. It has stunning views of the Thames and St. Paul's, as well as an impressive food and drinks menu.
- Admission
- Tour
- Access to the exhibition
- Show your smartphone ticket at the ticket desk
- March - October: Mon 09:30 - 16:30; Tue - Sat 09:30 - 12:00; Sun 09:30 - 11:00 (approximately every 30 minutes)
- November - February: Mon - Sun 09:30 - 16:30 (approximately every 30 minutes)
Cancellations are possible up to 24 hours before your visit date.
Shakespeare reportedly invented over 500 words, many of which are still in use today. Eternal proof that, when in doubt, you should just make it up!
Excellent production of Othello
So glad I got that last ticket.