St Patrick's Cathedral Official Behind The Scenes Vip Tour

Anthony gave my wife and me the tour of St. Patrick's Cathedral. He did a marvelous job explaining the history and construction of building. Really liked seeing the crypt and other out of the way rooms. I highly recommend the tour.

The guide was very knowledgeable and informative about the history of grand central station. The tour was better with a guide than just looking around on your own. The guide was also very friendly and even called to make sure we were coming due to few wrong turns! Loved it!

Great tour, tour guide very knowledgeable. She had a great manner and knew her stuff. However, very expensive for only one hour! I thought Mass was supposed to come after, but no Mass?

While the tour does cover the history of St Patrick’s in a manner that would probably interest Catholics and non-Catholics alike, a lot of the tour focused on minutia of Catholicism that might leave non-Catholics a little confused.

To be able to walk through the cathedral to places where most have never been, was amazing. To see the cornerstone of where our New York City faith is based out of, this amazing church, was an amazing experience.

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.

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.

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

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.

Good overview of the Cathedral. Went during December, so saw some Christmas related displays. Worth it.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

Kathleen was wonderful easy to talk to and made it an incredible experience. For me, it was all the little things she showed us and told us about that goes on at Saint Patrick’s Cathedral being a New Yorker. It was a wonderful experienceIt was just Kathleen myself and another woman so it was very personalized. I would recommend it again.

The behind the scenes tour of St Patrick’s cathedral was wonderful and very informative. Our tour guide was Cat. The tour group was only 6 participants so the tour was very conversational. Really gained insight on the history of the cathedral. Highly recommend.

Tour Review: Saint Patrick’s Cathedral I took this tour to learn more about Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, but I was left very disappointed with how it was conducted. The guide spoke very softly and only briefly, making it hard to hear or follow. They used a binder with pictures in a narrow hallway, where only the people closest to the guide could see anything. This setup excluded anyone standing in the middle or back. The information shared in the basement focused more on the personal history of certain archbishops, with very little about the building itself. Again, much of this was presented in a hallway, leaving many unable to see or fully engage. The tour ended abruptly near the altar without any historical context or background being shared, which was frustrating. While the guide did a good job answering questions, the overall experience lacked structure and depth. A fellow attendee dominated parts of the tour, talking about her son’s interactions with archbishops, which detracted from learning about the church itself. In comparison, the tour at the older Saint Patrick’s Cathedral was phenomenal, offering rich history and engaging storytelling. This tour, however, felt overpriced and underwhelming. Additionally, as a non-Catholic, I found many references to Catholicism unclear, requiring me to ask for explanations multiple times. I had expected the tour to cater to a general audience, but it seemed more tailored to those already familiar with Catholic terminology. For the amount charged, I would hope for a more inclusive and informative experience, not just being walked around offices and left at the altar to take pictures on our own.

Our guide Anthony was a historian and took us through the Cathedrals history and gave perspective to the experience..

Wonderful experience. Guide was very knowledgeable. More behind the scenes than I expected. Staying for Mass capped an awesome time.

Historic and beautiful sanctuary from the hustle and bustle of this big city! We stopped in one night, it was quiet and good for our souls. I was surprised how few people bother to step inside. It's well worth a visit.

This tour was amazing! So much information and a look into behind the scenes. I highly recommend it.

Fabulous and I formative. Special Shout out to tour guide Ginny!!! THE BEST. Direct access to Alter, special mass area below church and the catacombs too

The alter, all of the craftsmanship and the crypt. I feel a deeper connection to the building and what it stands for.

I did this tour with a family I was touring with. They thought, or at least they said to me, that it was wonderful. As a knowledgeable New Yorker I thought the tour was disappointing..I already had a lot of info myself and was expecting so much more ..He was a man..don't remember his name ..said he's been doing it for years...really..well I think he could up his anti and give more to his clients..very disappointing..

Good 'behind the alter'. Guide was friendly, informative and also a parishioner. We saw sacristy, cript and got insider s explainations for the various side alters.

What a wonderful experience...to have a guide with the knowledge and passion made the tour worth it. The history of the building and the original planners and movers of this beautiful cathedral was thoroughly detailed and quite informative. The tour guide was amazing. My wife and I really enjoyed the day and it made the trip to New York complete.

The tour was great. Randall clearly knows the cathedral well and loves it. He had a lot of great information, he answered a lot of questions, and he just generally made the tour a great experience.

My tour guide did not show up. Fortunately one of the staff of the cathedral was willing to show us around

Carole and I want to thank you again for the outstanding tour this morning of St Patrick’s Cathedral. We enjoyed it immensely. It was the “behind the scenes” tour that we were expecting. Dave R

Randall did a great showing me around this amazing Cathedral. His knowledge is superb. I enjoyed every minute of the tour. The Cathedral is breath taking. To see behind the scenes was really cool. It is highly recommended.

Hello and Happy St. Patrick's Day New York! I recently took a special tour with Randall at the cathedral and it was spectacular. I highly recommend the tour. It will make your visit to St. Patrick's Cathedral all the greater. I cannot say enough how touched I was by it's wonder and beauty. This is a must whether traveling from near or from far.