We are heading back to London in May and wish to travel to Windsor Castle. We have Oyster Tube Cards, so we can take a train from any station in Central London.
Does anyone know of a train route that goes from a central London train station, to either train station in Windsor (Elton), WITHOUT having to switch trains during the journey?
Thanks for your help!
Kirk
Options may vary between weekdays/weekends, but I checked for next Monday and found some direct trains from London Waterloo to Windsor & Eton Riverside. Go to nationalrail.co.uk, enter London (All Stations) as your origin and Windsor & Eton Riverside as your destination. Choose an appropriate date and see what's available at a suitable time of day.
The only direct trains are from London Waterloo - every 30 minutes, takes about 1 hour.
Elton does indeed live in Windsor, are you going to see him?
London Waterloo to Windsor & Eton Riverside station (no 'l') is direct, no changes needed.
London Paddington to Windsor & Eton Central station is quicker but requires a change of train at Slough.
The two stations in Windsor are a few hundred metres/yards apart and equally convenient.
I would choose a route based on which London station is easier to get to from your hotel. What is your aversion to changing trains?
Oyster cards are not valid to Windsor as it is outside London (only just).
Unless your hotel is within walking distance of Waterloo, you're going to take some sort of public transport to Waterloo which is essentially changing from one public transportation to Waterloo and then taking another form of public transport which is the train to Windsor.
So why the aversion to switching trains at Slough when the ride from Paddington is much faster than Waterloo? The only thing that I can think of is your hotel is much closer to Waterloo than Paddington.
THANKS FOR YOUR HELP, EVERYONE!
LOOKS LIKE THE WATERLOO TRAIN WILL BEST SUIT OUR NEEDS.
BTW, WE ARE STAYING AT THE HAMPTON INN WATERLOO; A GREAT LITTLE HOTEL...VERY QUIET AND EXCELLENT STAFF.
THANKS AGAIN!
CHEERS,
KIRK & LINDA
Note that you can't mix and match the routes eg depart from Waterloo but arrive back at Paddington. The route from Waterloo is not only slower, but also a little more expensive. Although if right by it the cost and time penalty probably doesn't come into play.
