Windsor Castle and the London Pass

This link will tell you what you need to know about travel time to Windsor.
https://www.londontoolkit.com/whattodo/windsor_transport.htm

These two links explain what’s to see at the Windsor Castle https://www.londontoolkit.com/whattodo/windsor_castle.htm
https://www.royalcollection.org.uk/visit/windsorcastle

How long you spend there is up to you.

I overheard a guard telling a tourist that since he didn't buy his ticket directly from their box office, that he couldn't enter late in the day. Just so you know.
The green coach bus from Victoria station to Windsor was an easy trip, about 40 minutes, and the castle and grounds and St George's is set up to tour it at your own pace. It's still like a thousand years of history, and even my daughter wanted to go back and spend a 2nd day there (we got our tickets validated and could go back for free). She actually wished she had a hammock and could stay a while. :) We have some Knights of the Garter in our family tree, so we spent extra time in St George's Hall, finding their coat of arms on the ceiling :) I use my binocular to see the details of the architecture both inside and out. Dollhouse was nifty. Horse and carriage ride nifty, hop on hop off bus tours a lot of the outskirts of the town, does get over to Price Phillip's farm stand, but seems a time waster with a lot of other rural-looking areas on the route. Nice to see Eton, but not a direct route.
Nice town, good shopping, and the Eton side of the river is nice too.
As always, travel's based on what you really personally love. We stayed for days in Windsor, great prices and sales in Sept, great prices at restaurants too.
Lots o' options :)
Have fun!
-Alison

We used the London Pass to see Windsor Castle. I found it handy to not have to worry about transportation as it’s included (we had Oyster cards too). We arrived shortly after opening time, had taken some sandwiches and fruit to avoid the need to spend an hour in a restaurant, and were back on the train around 2 or 3 I believe. We stopped at Harrods when we got back to London.

Word of advice - if you want to see Queen Mary’s Dollhouse that is the FIRST queue you should look for. Once the bus tours arrive it is horrendous. We missed it as with two younger children we weren’t willing to stand in line for what looked like an hour.

Enjoy - it was one of the highlights of our trip for sure.

Check to see if there is a changing of the guard the day you go. It’s easier to see thannat Buckingham Palace if that’s of interest.

Here’s a link to the schedule.

https://www.householddivision.org.uk/changing-the-guard-calendar

We just returned from England on Thursday, and one of our day trips from London was to Windsor. We made a day of it, but you wouldn’t necessarily have to. Some tips/answers to your questions:

• The tours are not guided ... you are free to go at your own pace. That said, the summer crowds may slow your pace a bit!
• We took the train from Paddington to Windsor-Eton Central, changing at Slough. It was easy, took less than an hour to get there, ride both trains, and walk to the castle in Windsor.
• There are two entry lines ... one for people traveling independently, and one for those who are part of larger groups. Ask which is which or you may end up waiting in a longer-than-needed line.
• Once you go through security and enter the castle grounds, you can go one of three ways—to Queen Mary’s dollhouse, to the State Apartments, or to St. George’s Chapel. The longest line was for the dollhouse, and the shortest was for the apartments.

There is a lot more interest in Windsor since the royal wedding, so be prepared for crowds! But it’s a beautiful place and worth seeing! The town of Windsor is nice too—we spent all day there and went back to the chapel for evensong at 5:15. Gorgeous! Have fun!

Knights wearing garters that is funny!

Thanks for the insights we'll make this a full day.

Thank you, Emma.

I get a little nervous about making train connections, because if there is a way to screw it up I'll figure it out.