I’m putting together quickly my U.K. trip for this year.
Quick question before I book plane tickets. If I end up flying out of LHR to Chicago Ohare, is it a decent idea to spend the last day before departure in Windsor? Easy enough to get from Windsor to Heathrow for an international flight leaving sometime after 12 noon?
I’d be spending the bulk if not the entire day before departure in Windsor with an early bedtime before departure day.
We did just that in September 2023, and it worked out great for us. The Castle Hotel was by far the nicest hotel of our trip (the other hotels were Premier Inns), and was super convenient to the castle itself. Even though our cab driver was 15 minutes late, it was a very quick ride to Heathrow.
Having done something quite similar several years ago I can highly recommend your idea. I had to fly into Gatwick and out of LHR so I elected to spend two nights in Windsor. It is an easily walkable historic town with quick access to LHR airport and you will easily fill your brief time there.
Personally I'd opt for a Heathrow airport hotel. There are plenty to choose from and this seems more logical than a night in Windsor when you're planning an early bedtime. There's no reason why you couldn't get to Heathrow in the morning, but it's a bit of added stress that I wouldn't want and there's such a range of hotels near Heathrow.
We always stay in Windsor the night before flying out of Heathrow.
It's not far from one to the other.
Taxi is cheap and the way to go.
Windsor is an excellent town for walking, exploring, visiting the castle.
Good restaurants, good hotels.
One of our forum members had the misfortune one time to be disturbed at night by the plane noise directly over her hotel.
Aside from that, it's a good place to stay.
I usually spend my last night in England at the Premier Inn Heathrow T4 hotel. I like not having to rush in the morning, and I like saving money by comparison to central-London hotels. But if I had most of the day to spend sightseeing in Windsor and Eton, I'd happily spend the last night in Windsor. It seems to me a very good idea.
Windsor is about a 20 minute cab ride to Heathrow so it’s very easy to get to the airport on your departure day. I personally would rather spend my last evening in England walking around a quaint old town than be in an airport hotel. In 2018, a cab ride was around £16 and I’m sure your hotel will be very happy to call you one.
That was me with the airport noise. I spent my last 2 nights in Windsor so I'd have the full day to do the castle and walk around the area. The flights stopped about 10P and started at almost 6A exactly. On my departure day I was getting up at 6 anyway so it didn't bother me. I thought it was a convenient location and yes, a short cab ride to the terminal.
I've also stayed at the airport a couple of times - usually at the end of a Road Scholar tour as they often use the Radisson there. The problem with the airport hotels is that it's just got no character and is quite boring.
