Highgate Cemetery

Published 20 September 2026 · By the Guide to London editorial team · Editor: Terje Moy

Highgate Cemetery is a working burial ground on a steep wooded hillside in north London, and one admission ticket has covered both the East and West sides since 2020. You do not need to book a guided tour to get into the West side any more, whatever older guidebooks say. What you do need is to behave as you would at a funeral, because on many days there is one.

That is the single most useful thing to know before you go. Funerals still take place here, families still visit graves, and the rules on photography, footwear and conduct are not decoration. This page sets out what you can and cannot do, which side to spend your time on, and how to get up the hill.

East and West: which side is which

The cemetery opened in 1839 on the west of Swain's Lane and expanded across the road in 1854. The two halves feel entirely different.

The West side is the theatrical one. It climbs steeply through the Egyptian Avenue, a sunken passage of obelisks and lotus columns, into the Circle of Lebanon, a ring of tombs sunk around a cedar tree, and on to the Terrace Catacombs. The monuments are dense, ivy-covered and structurally fragile. Among those buried here are Michael Faraday, Christina Rossetti and Elizabeth Siddal, and there are two much-photographed animals: George Wombwell's sleeping lion and the dog on the grave of the prizefighter Tom Sayers.

The East side is flatter, greener and less formal, and it is where the famous modern graves are. Karl Marx's tomb, with its bronze head on a granite plinth, is the one everyone comes for. George Eliot and Douglas Adams are also here, the last with a jar of pens left on the grave by visitors.

If you have two hours, do West first while your legs are fresh and East second. If you have one hour and came for Marx, go straight to the East side.

Should you take the guided tour anyway?

Yes, on a first visit. The Highlights tour lasts around 70 to 75 minutes, covers the West side, and is led by the cemetery's own volunteer guides, who know which monument belongs to whom and why a Victorian merchant would want a pyramid. Book a tour and an admission ticket is added to your basket automatically, so you are not paying twice. Tour dates are released four weeks in advance.

Tours run in the rain. They are cancelled only for strong wind or ice, and then you get a full refund. Paths are steep and often muddy, so the cemetery's advice about footwear is worth following literally: our list of what to pack for London makes the same point about London weather generally.

Children are allowed on tours, but the cemetery is blunt that the content is written for adults and that a child who disrupts the group will be asked to step away from it with their adult. That is a fair warning rather than a threat, and it is a good reason to take children round on a self-guided visit instead.

Booked group rates, and why the individual price is not on the website

The cemetery publishes its group rates but sells individual admission through its own booking platform, where the price appears once you choose a date. The group figures give you an idea of the level.

All figures are as published in September 2026. Private tours need at least two weeks' notice, are not offered at weekends, and include admission to the whole cemetery for the rest of the day. Student rates apply only to booked visits arranged by accredited institutions.

The cemetery explains the charge directly: it receives virtually no public funding, the site costs at least £1.4 million a year to keep open, and the entrance fee has been in place since June 1990. Mourners are not charged. Grave owners hold passes and can pass them to friends and relatives.

The rules, in plain terms

This is the part to read properly. Highgate publishes a list of prohibited conduct, and the staff enforce it.

• Stay on the paths. Do not step off them and do not climb on or under any monument. Many are unstable.
• No food or drink on tours, and no picnics, alcohol or barbecues anywhere in the cemetery. You may eat your own food in the West side courtyard.
• No smoking anywhere on the site.
• No jogging, sport, games, sunbathing, skating or skateboarding. This is not a park.
• No bicycles, scooters, mopeds or skates may be brought in. There is a rack outside the West gates.
• No music or amplified sound, except at funeral services.
• No picking flowers or foliage, and no damage to any planting or memorial.
• No animals apart from properly trained assistance dogs registered with ADI, ADUK or the IGDF, wearing a tabard or harness. There is no toileting area for them.

Bags may be searched on entry. Large luggage and wheeled suitcases are not allowed in; storage exists but is small and fills up. If you are between hotels, leave your case elsewhere first.

None of this is unusual for a working burial ground, but it does catch out visitors who have come because they saw the place in a film. If you want gothic London as entertainment, our guide to ghost tours in London is the right page and this is not.

Facilities: what is and is not on site

There is a shop at the East side entrance which takes cards only, no cash. The Colonnade Cafe in the West side courtyard is run by an independent contractor, so check its own hours before relying on it; otherwise there is no food or drink on site. The nearest proper choice of cafés is at the bottom of Swain's Lane or up in Highgate Village, with another at Lauderdale House.

Toilets are at both entrances: men's and an accessible toilet with baby changing in the West courtyard, two unisex ones near the East entrance. There are water refill points at both, and free wi-fi in the entrance area and the chapel. Prams and buggies are allowed but must stay with you.

Access on a steep hillside

The East side is the more accessible half: a gentler slope, no steps, and mostly tarmac paths. The West side has two steps up from the entrance into the courtyard, a handrailed stair into the cemetery proper, and an unrailed stair between the Lower and Upper Circle. Some paths are steep, and away from the main routes the surface is gravel or grass.

There is no dedicated disabled parking bay, but the office will reserve a space for Blue Badge holders with at least two working days' notice; a Monday request must reach them by the previous Friday afternoon. There is a hearing loop in the Anglican Chapel, and no Changing Places toilet on site. Our guide to accessible London has the wider context.

Getting to Swain's Lane

Archway on the Northern line is the usual approach, followed by a walk or a short bus ride; Highgate station, also on the Northern line, is closer to the village and involves a downhill walk. Buses along Highgate West Hill and Swain's Lane drop you nearby, and our guides to the Underground and London buses explain the combinations.

Do not drive. There is no visitor parking, street restrictions apply between 10am and noon Monday to Friday, and the lanes are narrow. There are no Santander Cycles docking stations nearby, so a hired bike has to be returned elsewhere.

Making a day of it in north London

The cemetery backs onto Hampstead Heath, and the walk from the East gate across the Heath to Hampstead village is one of the best hours in London on a clear afternoon. Going the other way, Highgate village is five minutes uphill and has the pubs.

Two hours at the cemetery plus a Heath walk plus lunch fills a day comfortably. If you would rather combine Highgate with something in the same register of quiet, the ruined church garden at St Dunstan in the East is the equivalent in the City, and the rest of our landmarks section has the bigger sites.

For people who enjoy tracking down where the dead lived rather than where they are buried, our guide to London's blue plaques is the natural follow-on, and the best walking tours in London covers guided options across the city. On behaviour generally, British etiquette for visitors may help if you are unsure how quiet is quiet enough.

Frequently asked questions

Do you have to book a tour to visit Highgate Cemetery?

No. Both the East and West sides have been open for self-guided visiting since 2020, and one admission ticket covers both for the whole day. A guided tour of the West side is recommended on a first visit but is not compulsory, and booking a tour adds an admission ticket automatically.

Where is Karl Marx buried at Highgate?

On the East side, which is the half across Swain's Lane from the older West cemetery. The tomb, with its large bronze head, is signposted from the East entrance and is the most visited grave in the cemetery.

Can you take photographs in Highgate Cemetery?

Yes, with a hand-held camera for personal use. Tripods are allowed on a general visit but not on tours, and filming is not permitted without a permit. The cemetery refuses permission for fashion or costume shoots, music videos, advertising and anything involving ghosts, vampires or the undead.

How long does a visit to Highgate Cemetery take?

Allow about two hours for both sides at an unhurried pace, or a little over an hour for one side. A guided tour of the West side lasts 70 to 75 minutes on its own, and your ticket then lets you explore the East side afterwards.

Is Highgate Cemetery suitable for children?

Children are welcome as visitors, and prams are allowed. The guided tours are written for adults and the cemetery says openly that some children will not enjoy them. It is still a working burial ground, so the usual expectations about noise and running apply.

Sources

• Highgate Cemetery - Visitor information (checked September 2026)
• Highgate Cemetery - Visit FAQs (checked September 2026)
• Highgate Cemetery - opening times (checked September 2026)
• Highgate Cemetery - Events (checked September 2026)