St. Patrick's Cathedral: VIP Behind-the-Scenes Tour

28 Ratings

New York

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Experience the ultimate VIP treatment with an exclusive behind-the-scenes tour of St Patrick’s Cathedral. Discover the hidden quarters and relive the Pope’s visit to NYC. Limited to 12 people per day!

Duration: 2 hours

Cancellation: 24 hours

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Highlights

St. Patrick’s Cathedral - Have you ever imagined exploring the exclusive areas of St. Patrick’s Cathedral? Join a VIP guided tour led by a Cathedral Historian to discover the archbishop’s quarters, the room where the Pope changed during his visit, and much more. Listen to personal anecdotes that highlight why St. Patrick’s is renowned worldwide….

What's Included

60-Minute VIP Guided Behind the Scenes Tour
Live Tour Guide (Cathedral Historian)
VIP Front Row Reserved Seats for Mass
Entry to sacristy
Entry to crypt (subject to availability)

Additional Information

Step beyond the velvet ropes for an exclusive, small-group VIP tour at St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Guided by a knowledgeable docent, discover seldom-seen areas above and below the sanctuary that unveil hidden stories and treasures that few visitors experience.
Start at a private entrance, moving through the sacristy and descending beneath the altar into the…

Location

St. Patrick's Cathedral Parish House

East 51st Street

Meet your tour guide at the Parish House entrance at 14 E 51st St

Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings

4.7

(28 Ratings)

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Lynn_s

Jan 9, 2026

Tour of St Patrick's Cathedral - Our tour guide was actively involved with st patricks church working on her credentials. Very knowledgeable about the church history and current day activities. Included info about the vision, the architects, and the builders from past to present. No discussion about religion was included.

Review provided by Viator

Normanp629

Dec 23, 2025

Great !!! - This was an awesome experience!!! Tour guide was awesome!!! So knowledgeable!!!!!!!We went behind the scenes!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Review provided by Tripadvisor

N2310tsdavidb

Dec 19, 2025

Excellent guide elevated interesting tour - We took the 2pm VIP tour on Wednesday Dec. 17, 2025. The cathedral historian was very friendly, enthusiastic, and interesting to talk to and gave us fascinating details and stories about the cathedral. I wanted to see Pierre Toussant’s grave, which we missed seeing at the Old St. Patrick’s Basilica before it was moved. Our historian pointed out features related to Archbishop Terence Cardinal Cooke after I showed her a photo of Cardinal Cooke and me at my Catholic dorm’s dedication at Columbia. She gave us interesting background on the move of Archbishop Fulton Sheen’s grave to Illinois from St. Patrick’s. Our guide made the tour even more special and I recommend it as it informs on so much of what you are seeing, how it got there or why it’s no longer there, and why it’s noteworthy.

Review provided by Tripadvisor

Andrew_p

Dec 11, 2025

Quick but informative! - Good overview of the Cathedral. Went during December, so saw some Christmas related displays. Worth it.

Review provided by Viator

Kerri_n

Oct 12, 2025

Awesome tour guide - The tour guide was very knowledgeable, her enthusiasm of sharing her knowledge of the cathedral was contagious. She was absolutely amazing and I would recommend this tour anybody as long as she was the tour guide.

Review provided by Viator

Ld-3830

Sep 9, 2025

VIP experience at St. Patricks! - We learned so much on the behind the scenes tour with our guide, Sophia! Sophia shared a wealth of information from history of contruction, lesser known stories, and architectural details. We loved getting to see areas of the cathedral that are restricted to regular visitors. Getting to stand on the high altar was worth it alone! Sophia answered all questions with so much knowledge and energy. Highly recommend for anyone interested in learning the history of the cathedral and seeing the architectural beauty up close.

Review provided by Tripadvisor

Y700wlbrianb

Sep 3, 2025

St Patrick's Cathedral VIP Tour - We visited NY city for the first time and this was an event that my wife really wanted to do. So glad she recommended this as something to do. It was one of my favorite parts of our trip. You can walk around the church but we got to go behind the scenes to the crypts for MOST of the NY City Catholic cardinals. Our guide was Kathleen and she was an incredible subject matter expert. So much history of the catholic church in New York and history of St Patrick's cathedral as well. We also got to go on the main altar and then she guided as past the side altars which everyone can view but we got back stories on many of them. The artwork and architecture in the church is must see. The artwork on the side altars is better than exhibits in MOMA or the MET. If you're in NY, you need to check this out and the VIP tour is worth the price of admission.

Review provided by Tripadvisor

Shortnik6

Aug 31, 2025

What an Experience! - Such a wonderful experience to hear the history and see the parts of the cathedral that are not available to the public. Our tour guide, Sophia, met us on time and gave us a history lesson about the construction of St. Patrick's. She showed us the various pictures of the different stages of construction. She then took us behind the main altar to where the deacons and priests dress for mass. She then allowed us in to the private chapel where the Eucharist was on display along with various relics. She then took us onto the altar and talked about the construction, as well as when it was refurbished in 2016. She also gave us more recent history of when Pope Francis came to visit and his impression of the church. She then took us to the more significant shrines in the church. She talked about and explained the various stained glass windows. This was one of our highlights of our trip!

Review provided by Tripadvisor

Gwen_b

Aug 31, 2025

I was at 15 E51st St at... - I was at 15 E51st St at 9:20 just to be safe- 10:00 came and no one met me!!! At 10:15 I just happened to ask at the desk in the shop if any tours start out front! The nice lady directed me to go ACROSS THE STREET AT 14- I was then allowed to join Kathleen’s 10:30 group thank Goodness- she was wonderful! I’m very upset about this incident. My first bad experience with Viator.

Review provided by Viator

Anne_m

Jan 8, 2026

A little disappointed - The tour guide was not the usual guide per her information. The 2hr tour started 20 min late and lasted 70 min. I think there were more stories to be shared about the Cathedral but we did not receive them. Disappointed.

Review provided by Viator

Check Availability

From $129

up to 12 guests

1 - Adult