The Underground Passages tours went in minutes, but 11 of Exeter's 24 free events need no booking at all. Every date and time, 11 to 20 September.
Heritage Open Days runs in Exeter from Friday 11 to Sunday 20 September, and the festival’s own Exeter list carries 24 events. Every one of them is free.
The tours that need tickets went fast. Exeter City Council, which coordinates the city programme, says the free tours of the Underground Passages “proved so popular they were snapped up within minutes of being available”. (Exeter City Council, 25 August 2026) Those tickets went on sale at 9am on 25 August, capped at five per customer, for tours limited to 15 people each.
That is worth knowing, but it is not the whole picture, and it is the part most coverage stops at. Eleven of the 24 Exeter events need no booking at all. You turn up in the hours listed and walk in.
The 11 you can just turn up to
| Event | Where | When |
|---|---|---|
| Tuckers Hall | 140 Fore Street, EX4 3AN | Sat 12, Tue 15, Thu 17, Sat 19 Sept, 10am to 1pm |
| St Nicholas Priory | The Mint, EX4 3BL | Sat 12 and Sun 13 Sept 2pm; Thu 17 and Fri 18 Sept 11am |
| Britannia Making Waves | East Quay, the Canal Bank, EX2 8DP | Sat 12 Sept, 11am to 4pm |
| Working People's Lives, St Martin's Church | Cathedral Close, EX1 1EZ | Sat 12 and Sat 19 Sept, 1pm to 3pm |
| St Michael's, Mount Dinham | Dinham Road, EX4 4EB | Sat 12 Sept from 11am; Sun 13 Sept from 11am |
| Devon Archaeological Society, Custom House | The Quay, EX2 4AN | Sun 13 Sept, 10am to 3pm |
| Looking at Letters, Cathedral Library and Archives | Palace Gate, EX1 1HY | Wed 16 Sept, 1pm to 4pm, drop in |
| St Thomas Church | 54 Cowick Street, EX4 1AP | Sat 19 Sept, 11am to 3pm |
| Exeter Dissenters' Graveyard | Old St Leonard's Hall, Roberts Road, EX2 4HD | Sat 19 Sept, 2pm to 4.30pm |
| Old St Leonard's Hall, low-carbon retrofit | Roberts Road, EX2 4HD | Sat 19 Sept, 2pm to 5.30pm |
| St Clements Church, Powderham | Church Road, Powderham, EX6 8JJ | Sat 12, Sun 13, Sat 19, Sun 20 Sept, 2pm to 5pm |
Two of those need a word of explanation.
St Clements is not in Exeter. It is in the village of Powderham, out on the estuary road south of the city, and it is on the Exeter area list because it is the nearest church of its kind. It was consecrated in 1259 and has been the family church of the Earls of Devon since the 13th century. The Earl of Devon, Charlie Courtenay, gives a talk there at 3.30pm on Sunday 13 September, and there is an organ recital by Angus Ramsay at 3pm on Sunday 20 September.
Tuckers Hall is the one most people have never been inside. It is a medieval meeting hall dating from 1471, home to the Incorporation of the Guilds of Weavers, Fullers and Shearmen, with a woollen cloth trades museum and guided tours. Four mornings, no booking, ten till one.
There is also a self-guided AudaTours audio tour of the city, “Everyday Histories”, which you pick up on the day rather than book in advance.
What still needs booking, and where
The rest is bookable, and most of it goes through Exeter Corn Exchange:
- The Guildhall, 14 to 20 September, one of the oldest civic buildings in England still in use. Open 10.30am to 4pm, except Thursday 17 September when it closes at 3pm. Tours at 10.30, 12, 1.30 and 3, ten places each, and the subject changes by day: Paintings and Heraldry on Monday and Wednesday, Crime and Justice on Tuesday and Thursday, the History of the Guildhall on Friday and Saturday, Women of Devon on Sunday.
- The Underground Passages, 1pm on 11, 12, 13, 17, 18, 19 and 20 September, 45 minutes, 15 people a tour.
- Red Coat guided tours from the Devon War Memorial on Cathedral Green: St Sidwell’s on Friday 11 September at 11.15am, Herstories on Saturday 12 at 11.15am, Writers Around Exeter on Sunday 13 at 11.15am, Markets, Merchants and Mariners on Tuesday 15 and Wednesday 16 at 11.15am, and the Exeter Blitz on Saturday 12, Tuesday 15 and Friday 18 at 2.15pm and Thursday 17 at 11.15am.
- A guided walk of the historic port of Topsham, Thursday 17 September at 2pm, from Holman Way car park.
- Medieval Mysteries at Exeter Cathedral, on the story of the votives left at Bishop Lacy’s tomb, at 10am and 3pm on 11, 12, 14, 15, 17, 18 and 19 September.
- Policing the Past, at the Museum of Policing in Devon and Cornwall at the Devon Heritage Centre on Bittern Road, Wednesday 16 September, 10.30am to 12.30pm and 2pm to 4pm. Booking for that one closes on 12 September.
- Exeter Community Centre and a St David’s walking tour, Friday 11 September at 2.30pm and Sunday 13 and Thursday 17 at 10.30am. Booking preferred, and it closes on 8 September.
- The Bloomberg Connects app launch at the Old Library on Prince of Wales Road, Monday 14 September, 5.30pm to 7pm. Booking preferred so the organisers can cater.
Saturday 12 September is the busiest day
Counting the dates each event actually runs, the 23 dated events on the Exeter list produce 58 separate openings across the ten days. They are not spread evenly. Saturday 12 September has ten of them, Saturday 19 has nine and Thursday 17 has eight. The quietest days are Monday 14 and Sunday 20, with three each.
If you want one day that covers the most ground on foot, the two Saturdays are it. If you want the Guildhall, you have to come on a weekday or the second weekend, because it does not open until Monday 14 September.
What it means for you
- Do not assume it is all gone. Eleven events take no bookings at all, and they include the ones that are hardest to see the rest of the year: Tuckers Hall, St Nicholas Priory, the Cathedral’s letters, the Dissenters’ Graveyard.
- Two deadlines are close. Booking for the St David’s walking tour closes on 8 September, and for Policing the Past on 12 September.
- Check before you set off. The festival’s own listing page asks visitors to re-check entries for last-minute changes, and the Underground Passages ask you to arrive 15 minutes early. Under-fives are not allowed underground.
- Leave the car out of it if you can. Most of this is within ten minutes’ walk of the High Street. If you do drive, the Guildhall car park is the closest, and parking is free after 6pm on Thursdays. The three park and ride sites cost nothing to park at, and Sowton and Matford do not run on Sundays, so on 13 and 20 September only Honiton Road is open. Check the roadworks page before you set off: School Road is shut and the one-way on Cecil Road and Oxford Street is suspended.
The national festival is run by the National Trust with Historic England and the People’s Postcode Lottery, and this year’s theme is Everyday Histories. More free things to do in the city are on our things to do in Exeter page.
Sources
- Heritage Open Days, Exeter area list for the 24 events, their venues, dates and booking requirements.
- Individual Heritage Open Days event pages for the timings, capacities and booking deadlines, including Exeter’s Underground Passages, the Exeter Historic Guildhall, Tuckers Hall and St Clements Church, Powderham.
- “Get set for Heritage Open Days in Exeter”, Exeter City Council, 25 August 2026 for the city programme, the theme and the Underground Passages selling out.
- Exeter Corn Exchange Heritage Open Days booking page for the tours it handles.
Programmes change. Check the event’s own listing before you travel.
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