Times I've been to Westminster Cathedral I was in the company of practising Catholics who attended for Mass. I don't think Westminster Abbey has the same intensity of devotion somehow - maybe that's true of Anglicanism as a whole?? I never sense much religion in York Minster - just the occasional call to prayer or a wee service going on in as side chapel - it's mostly happy tourists. Do you get tourists in Westminster Cathedral in the same way I wonder? Even in the Mersey Funnel the place seems weirdly votive somehow. Norwich Catholic Cathedral likewise (well worth a look by the way). I used to attend Evensong in Durham Cathedral because of the music - nice to sit up there and be immersed in so vivid a choral tradition unbroken but a brief hiatus during the republican era. I don't think you have to pay though...