Windsor and Oxford

I don't have any hotel recommendations, but Windsor is about a 20-minute taxi ride from Heathrow. Avoid the black taxis waiting at Heathrow and have the number of a local Windsor taxi company to call when you arrive. They are much cheaper. I believe there is also a public bus between Heathrow and Windsor.

I dont know if you plan on sticking around and just soaking up the atmosphere- but Windsor is only a half day worth of sightseeing (probably a little more if you can get in to tour the palace). there is the castle, including the Chapel; Changing of Guards; ONE High street; lunch or tea; bridge to Eton and back to the train.
All worth seeing, but not much to keep you there (unless you know the family). Oxford is a big town with lots to see in all the different colleges, but you probably need to hook onto a tour first as they can get you into places and then stick around and do some more on your own. Busy town center, but thats where the colleges are. Probably much more to see in Oxford, but much busier than Windsor

Windsor is 15 minutes from Heathrow. You can spend a whole day there or longer......tour the castle, state rooms, etc.,.....St. George Chapel......a walk to Eton (about 8 minutes), you could tour Eton College (which is a middle and high school where the upper class and royals send their sons) it was founded 1440 by King Henry VI, you probably would seen some of the boys wearing their distincitve pinstripe trousers and swallow-tail coats, the Gothic Chapel there is so pretty....you could walk down to Windsor Great Park (8 minute walk) which is where you get a fantastic view of the royal residents part of Windsor Castle and the Long Walk which is the private road for the royal family to use to enter and leave the castle.... changing of the guards which is much better to see here then at Buckingham Palace..... just outside of the Castle on St. Albans is the Royal Mews where the royal horses are kept along with coaches.....if you like gardens Savill Garen is great, it's 4 miles from Windsor but you could take a taxi there. There are great pubs to eat at....having tea at the Crooked House on High Street is great, this house is 300 years old. You would have a great day.

The cheapest place to stay in Windsor itself is the Travelodge Windsor yards from the castle and one of the train stations. There are buses from Heathrow Terminal 5 about every 30 minutes to Windsor Castle that takes about 45 minutes and goes past Runnymede. A local Windsor taxi will charge about 20-25 GBP, a journey of about 15 minutes. You really need longer than a day to see everything in Windsor, Eton, Runnymede and Windsor Park has to offer. Staying overnight is excellent, there is a theatre that has shows prior to going to London and sometimes evening racing (horse) at the racecourse. From the train station by the Travelodge you can get a train to Oxford. There are buses between Oxford and Heathrow about every 30 minutes.
From Oxford Bus Station you can get a local bus to Blenheim Palace.

Ashley, bear in mind that Oxford is about an hour from London (Paddington Station) by train and about 90 minutes by bus (called the "Oxford Tube"). So it is very easy to spend a day in Oxford and then return to London. Oxford station is a short walk from the town center. The bus makes 3 or 4 stops in Oxford. You probably want to use the High Street stop. The bus back to London loads across the street.

If you can't find anywhere to stay in Windsor, try next door Slough (rhymes with "how") - there are more hotels there and they are cheaper. My favourite is the "Christopher" in Eton, but it's a bit expensive.

Thanks for all the responses! Helpful! The reason we were thinking of staying in Windsor the first night is because our flight comes in late- almost 11 pm. We wanted to do Windsor the first day and so I thought it made sense to stay around that area.
I'm not sure what else we want to do in Oxford- but I thought it might be cheaper to stay a night in Oxford than in London. We are interested in CS Lewis sights/walking tour. Anyone know of a good one? The only one I have found online is through the visitor's center and its only once a month and not while we are there.

Ashley, I'd guess you might save on a hour or three of time by staying in Windsor versus staying in London and then traveling out to Windsor the next day. Because you are arriving at 11pm, double check that your transport to your destination that first night is actually operating that late. You will need to grab your luggage and clear passport control. Hard to say how long that will take, but since it will be late at night I'd guess you'll be clear by midnight or so. But, you should add in more time. Your flight might be delayed. There might be a very long queue at passport control. You never know. If it looks like you will need transport at Heathrow after the buses and the Tube and the Heathrow Express stop running for the night, your alternatives get more expensive. You can take a taxi. Or, you can reserve a car and a driver who will meet you at Heathrow. I did the latter last year and it was just under 40 pounds to my London hotel. (There's also the advantage of being delivered to your destination's doorstep, rather than walking around past midnight trying to find it from a Tube or a bus stop.) If I had to do it myself, I'd take a cab from Heathrow to Windsor. It's only a few miles west. The fare should not be prohibitive. Oxford: Hotel prices are not amazingly lower than London: Many fewer hotels and a guaranteed stream of visitors to the colleges, etc. With a bit of research, you ought to be able to put together a self-guided Lewis tour. I wouldn't at all be surprised if the local tourist office hasn't already done that for you.

You might think about staying at a hotel at Heathrow the first night since you're arriving so late and if you're concerned about cost. From what I've seen they're very inexpensive and you wouldn't have to worry about late night transportation to Windsor, especially if your flight is delayed at all. You could then take a taxi to Windsor in the morning.

windsor is cross river from eaton or a couple of mins by car from slough. either place have rooms cheaper than windsor. i once stayed at an old hotel in eaton which is pretty cool - there is a bar downstairs and the bartender said prince harry used to come and drink and sneak out when teachers come to drink. i don't recall the name of the place, but if you google place in eaton you should find it. it's a budget place, and there is another more modern place just a couple of doors down. windsor is very close to london, take bus it drops you right in front of the castle.