We are 6 adults traveling from Italy to US via London. Our layover is 18 hours (arrive saturday at 2:30 pm and depart sunday at 10 am). Any suggestions on how we can get a tour of Windsor Castle and then do a London at night tour of the central London sites (Buckingham, Westminster, Big Ben, London Eye, etc).
Thanks.
If yo are arriving at Heathrow. You wouldn’t have time to do both, I would suggest staying in Windsor. You could tour the castle, then walk down to Eton (about an 8 minute walk) where Eton College is, it’s actually a middle/high school where the royals and aristocrats send their sons. Or walk down to Windsor Great Park (5 minute walk) from there you get an fantastic view of the royal resident part of Windsor Castle. There are several good pubs where you could get a great meal. You will need to be back to the airport by 7am, which is a 15-20 minutes taxi ride from Windsor, it really depends on traffic.
Gatwick, using Gatwick Express it would be 30 minutes to Victoria Station.
Which airport are you arriving at?
If Heathrow, if your incoming flight is on time, then you will be out of the airport between 3.30 and 4 pm. It takes an hour to get to Windsor by train or say 30 minutes by taxi (with 6 of you, you would need 2 taxis or a more expensive mini bus). Ideally, you need 2 hours to see Windsor castle and it closes at 5.15, with the last entry at 4pm, so this isn't realistically an option, even assuming your flight arrives on time.
Gatwick, Luton, Stansted or London City airports will take even longer to reach Windsor.
You have 2 options - stay near the airport as you will need to be there at 7am Sunday morning for check-in or stay in central London and get up early! If you head straight into central London, which will take c an hour, that puts you at your hotel at say 5/5.30pm allowing for waiting for trains/underground. Add on 30 minutes for checking in, that doesn't leave a huge amount of time to see the sights and grab something to eat, but you will be able to see some of the sights. Sunset is c 6pm at that time of year, assuming you are not there at the very end of the month after the clocks have changed!
Buckingham is a pretty county town 50 miles from London - I presume that you mean Buckingham Palace?
There are a number of walking tours that operate at night or you could take a Hoho bus, albeit for your short timescale, these are not good value. London Eye closes at 6pm, so you will struggle to fit this in. Buckingham Palace and the Houses of Parliament can easily be covered by walking or taking a bus. Please note that the Queen Elizabeth Tower (where the Big Ben bell is located) is covered in scaffolding for several years for maintenance and the bell isn't striking.
Thank you. We arrive and depart from Gatwick. We will be staying at the Gatwick hotel in South Terminal. So hoping we can fit something in. I didn't realize central london was this far from Gatwick airport. We are arriving from Italy, so is customs and immigration an long process?
Gatwick Airport is around 26 miles from central London (approx 1hr 15min by road):
https://www.gatwickairport.com/to-and-from/
"Customs" will take seconds unless your bags are searched, immigration could be the hold up.
You could take a train ride to Brighton but by the time you get there, the main attraction, the Royal Brighton Pavilion will be closed. Still you could stroll along the seafront, have dinner and get the train back to Gatwick for an early night; this would be weather dependent of course.
I have gone through Gatwick on a very similar itinerary to yours and just preferred to check into an airport hotel, and have a relaxing evening after a hectic trip to Italy. A hotel with a pool/hot tub always gets me relaxed for a long flight home. I also recommend holding off on breakfast until one has cleared security. There are a number of restaurants airside offering English style breakfast and its a good way to fillin time prior to take-off.
Note there are two terminals at Gatwick, North and South, you will probably arrive at the South Terminal, and leave from the North, depending on your airline.
You could train to Victoria station and walk past several of the sites you mention, then return-- or walk on east along the Thames to Blackfriars station and catch the Thameslink train to return to Gatwick.
