Help Needed with planning for visit to Windsor Castle

I never booked a Europe Cruise less then 3 months before, so now I have to book my airfare and before doing that I need to plan what I want to do pre and post cruise. Our cruise leaves from Southampton Sept 17th on The Jade. We were in London post-cruise a few years ago and never had the time to go to Windsor Castle and would like to do it this trip. When would be the best time to do this? I was thinking about possibly staying in Windsor post cruise or maybe going there on our way to Southampton from Heathrow with an airport pick-up and tour combined. The only thing with that is being tired from the flight. We're planning on coming in a day prior

Normally, I'd have all this planned out before I made final payment and wouldn't be stressing about when to do what. Most likely, we wouldn't be spending time in London on this trip. I'd love to hear any suggestions to get to Windsor.

We stayed in Dover on our last cruise from the London area and loved the small town and being able to walk the streets the day before our cruise. Is Southampton like this? We stayed at The Churchill Inn in Dover and it was such a wonderful, personal experience. We'd love to have that this time if it's at all possible.

Thanks a bunch!!!

First thing: find out when HMQ and/or family will not be in residence there, as more parts of the castle will be open to the public when the owners are away.

First thing: find out when HMQ and/or family will not be in residence there, as more parts of the castle will be open to the public when the owners are away.

Oh, thanks! I didn't think of that! I guess we're limited with times. It would either be Sept 16 or the 29th. I guess there's a site to find that out? I could google it.

Hre is their website https://www.royalcollection.org.uk/visit/windsorcastle

They have excellent advice on planning a visit.

16th Sept is a sunday.

29th Sept is a saturday.

Neither is a holiday weekend.

It's out-of-season, but being a weekend both days will be quite busy with day-trippers in Windsor.

Pre-cruise.

..........You could book a local Windsor taxi from LHR to Windsor (they're generally cheaper and more reliable than airport outfits), a hotel in Windsor, and a private transfer to Southampton next morning. A car to Windsor will cost around £30, a car to Southampton around £90, hotels in Windsor are quite expensive. With luggage, none of the public transport options are suitable.

...........Probably more economical, you could book a Heathrow hotel, take a local bus (from Terminal 5) or a taxi to Windsor and back, then take a pre-booked coach https://www.nationalexpress.com/en to Southampton next morning for under £20 pp. Add about £8 for a taxi from Southampton coach station to your ship. A private transfer from Heathrow is about the same as from Windsor, about £90. Or you could book ship's airport transfer to the ship, though that'd probably wipe out any savings by not booking a Windsor hotel. Airport hotels are pretty soul-less but would suit the circumstances. Travel from Heathrow or Windsor on embarkation day is perfectly safe & normal, but altho this is out-of-season there may still be a lot of traffic heading to the south coast on a Saturday, so don't cut it fine - you'd want to leave Windsor or Heathrow by about 10am. If the drive is easy, you'll be on-board in time for lunch.

............. probably the most expensive option is a private transfer from Heathrow to Windsor, wait for you there, then continue to Southampton. That means paying for waiting time. But it might be worthwhile to get quotes.

........... If you choose to travel direct to Southampton (mebbe leave Windsor til post-cruise) you have the same coach or private transfer options from Heathrow. Book a hotel in the city centre - like Dover, Southampton is a port city, but much bigger. It's not a tourist city but it has a lot more to offer than Dover. No castle, but enough sights for a lazy day and plenty of hotels, pubs, restaurants, shopping malls, etc.

Post-cruise.

Depends very much on your flight time.

To do justice to Windsor you need 2 hours there at the very least. So it's not really worth considering unless your flight time is later than about 3pm.

You'll need either

- a private transfer from Southampton, then the same car waiting for you and taking you to Heathrow. This is because with luggage and a limited time-frame there's no suitable public transport and there's no left-luggage facility in Windsor.

- or, if your flight-time is after about 7pm, a tour-transfer offered at https://www.londontoolkit.com/travel/southampton_to_london_shared_bus.html

This allows three hours in Windsor. Arrival time at Heathrow is pretty-well guaranteed - the operators know that arrival time at airports is paramount, and if the tour is unduly delayed they'll cut the time in Windsor to suit.

For private transfers to or from Southampton try www.smithsforairports.com or www.westquaycars.com or www.aquacars.co.uk

They're frequently used by CC members. They are all based at the Southampton end, so not suitable for journeys between Heathrow & Windsor

There are many other options instead of Windsor - if you wanted to consider Winchester or Salisbury or Portsmouth or a dozen other places it'd be much more convenient to book a hotel there rather than Southampton, so don't commit to a Southampton transfer or hotel until you've decided.

JB :)

- or, if your flight-time is after about 7pm, a tour-transfer offered at https://www.londontoolkit.com/travel/southampton_to_london_shared_bus.html

This allows three hours in Windsor. Arrival time at Heathrow is pretty-well guaranteed - the operators know that arrival time at airports is paramount, and if the tour is unduly delayed they'll cut the time in Windsor to suit.

JB :)

We did the International Friends shared bus tour (London Toolkit) a year ago April and it worked out fine. We were picked up where we disembarked in Southampton, then the bus went to Salisbury, Stonehenge, and Windsor. You could then get dropped off at Heathrow for your flight, or at a London hotel. It was convenient, pretty reasonable, and the guide was really quite good. At each of the sites, everyone went off on their own, then met back up at the designated time. It's a good way to kill a day and see some very interesting places to boot.

JOHN BULL, THANK YOU for going into such detail to give me all this info! I very much appreciate it! I know you helped me about 5 yrs ago for our last cruise from London. Having someone with a wealth of information is so great for me and everyone else that comes to this board. I will look through it all and I'm sure I'll be back with more questions!

A big thanks to everyone else that posts with info and their experiences! I don't know what we did before the internet! I depended on travel guides for most things and still have shelves of them in my bookcase. I'll still never get rid of them!

Just to add that the Queen can be in residence (although unlikely in September) and the castle is still open to the public. It's when there are state occasions or special occasions such as Prince Harry's recent wedding, or the Order of the Garter Ceremony that the castle's closed.

For anyone going in the near future, I really would recommend purchasing tickets online before you go. I've been to Windsor several times recently, and the queues for on the day tickets have reached down Castle Hill and almost all the way to the Curfew Tower.

Just to add that the Queen can be in residence (although unlikely in September) and the castle is still open to the public. It's when there are state occasions or special occasions such as Prince Harry's recent wedding, or the Order of the Garter Ceremony that the castle's closed.

For anyone going in the near future, I really would recommend purchasing tickets online before you go. I've been to Windsor several times recently, and the queues for on the day tickets have reached down Castle Hill and almost all the way to the Curfew Tower.

True story: In 2015, we spent an extra night at Heathrow post cruise and went to Windsor in a minicab. The ticket line was so horrible one of the helpers suggested booking online. I pulled up the mobile page on the phone, booked the tickets, and marched to the front of the line with the booking number. In the castle in less than 10 minutes.

Book ahead, or at least on the way...

Hre is their website https://www.royalcollection.org.uk/visit/windsorcastle

 

They have excellent advice on planning a visit.

Thank you for the link!

We did the International Friends shared bus tour (London Toolkit) a year ago April and it worked out fine. We were picked up where we disembarked in Southampton, then the bus went to Salisbury, Stonehenge, and Windsor. You could then get dropped off at Heathrow for your flight, or at a London hotel. It was convenient, pretty reasonable, and the guide was really quite good. At each of the sites, everyone went off on their own, then met back up at the designated time. It's a good way to kill a day and see some very interesting places to boot.

I think we went with London Toolkit after our cruise from Dover. They picked us up at the port and we went to Leed's Castle and I think another stop in there. They dropped us off at our hotel in London. All went smoothly. I'd use them again.

Our friends are taking a ship transfer from Dover to a Heathrow area hotel the morning after their cruise. Their flight home is not till the next day. They were planning on trying to go to London for the day, but they will see very little in that small time frame. Another option is spending the day at Windsor. Any suggestions for 3 not so young women to get to Windsor from the airport hotel area and then back again? They will not have any luggage.

The best plan would be to book a taxi. They could ask the concierge at the hotel to do it for them and either make an arrangement to be picked up or, more flexibly, get the phone number of the taxi and call them when you are ready. Uber is another option.

It is possible to go by bus but it takes longer and may need them to go to the airport to catch it, depending on which hotel they are using.

The best plan would be to book a taxi. They could ask the concierge at the hotel to do it for them and either make an arrangement to be picked up or, more flexibly, get the phone number of the taxi and call them when you are ready. Uber is another option.

 

It is possible to go by bus but it takes longer and may need them to go to the airport to catch it, depending on which hotel they are using.

Perfect, they are very used to using Uber. About how long is the drive?

15 to 30 minutes depending on which hotel and traffic on the day.

16th Sept is a sunday.

29th Sept is a saturday.

Neither is a holiday weekend.

It's out-of-season, but being a weekend both days will be quite busy with day-trippers in Windsor.

 

Pre-cruise.

..........You could book a local Windsor taxi from LHR to Windsor (they're generally cheaper and more reliable than airport outfits), a hotel in Windsor, and a private transfer to Southampton next morning. A car to Windsor will cost around £30, a car to Southampton around £90, hotels in Windsor are quite expensive. With luggage, none of the public transport options are suitable.

...........Probably more economical, you could book a Heathrow hotel, take a local bus (from Terminal 5) or a taxi to Windsor and back, then take a pre-booked coach https://www.nationalexpress.com/en to Southampton next morning for under £20 pp. Add about £8 for a taxi from Southampton coach station to your ship. A private transfer from Heathrow is about the same as from Windsor, about £90. Or you could book ship's airport transfer to the ship, though that'd probably wipe out any savings by not booking a Windsor hotel. Airport hotels are pretty soul-less but would suit the circumstances. Travel from Heathrow or Windsor on embarkation day is perfectly safe & normal, but altho this is out-of-season there may still be a lot of traffic heading to the south coast on a Saturday, so don't cut it fine - you'd want to leave Windsor or Heathrow by about 10am. If the drive is easy, you'll be on-board in time for lunch.

............. probably the most expensive option is a private transfer from Heathrow to Windsor, wait for you there, then continue to Southampton. That means paying for waiting time. But it might be worthwhile to get quotes.

........... If you choose to travel direct to Southampton (mebbe leave Windsor til post-cruise) you have the same coach or private transfer options from Heathrow. Book a hotel in the city centre - like Dover, Southampton is a port city, but much bigger. It's not a tourist city but it has a lot more to offer than Dover. No castle, but enough sights for a lazy day and plenty of hotels, pubs, restaurants, shopping malls, etc.

 

Post-cruise.

Depends very much on your flight time.

To do justice to Windsor you need 2 hours there at the very least. So it's not really worth considering unless your flight time is later than about 3pm.

You'll need either

- a private transfer from Southampton, then the same car waiting for you and taking you to Heathrow. This is because with luggage and a limited time-frame there's no suitable public transport and there's no left-luggage facility in Windsor.

- or, if your flight-time is after about 7pm, a tour-transfer offered at https://www.londontoolkit.com/travel/southampton_to_london_shared_bus.html

This allows three hours in Windsor. Arrival time at Heathrow is pretty-well guaranteed - the operators know that arrival time at airports is paramount, and if the tour is unduly delayed they'll cut the time in Windsor to suit.

 

For private transfers to or from Southampton try www.smithsforairports.com or www.westquaycars.com or www.aquacars.co.uk

They're frequently used by CC members. They are all based at the Southampton end, so not suitable for journeys between Heathrow & Windsor

 

There are many other options instead of Windsor - if you wanted to consider Winchester or Salisbury or Portsmouth or a dozen other places it'd be much more convenient to book a hotel there rather than Southampton, so don't commit to a Southampton transfer or hotel until you've decided.

 

JB :)

After going over all your great information I think we're going to take your suggestion of booking Windsor cabs to Windsor and booking either The Clarion Hotel or MacDonalds Windsor Hotel for a night. Do u know any of these properties or other suggestions? We'd like to be close to the castle. Windsor Taxi fare quoted was $63. from the airport to Windsor. Then transfer to Southampton late morning. Taxi fare quoted was $216. Maybe we would have time before the cruise departs to look around the port. After the cruise I'm not sure if we'll try to do a stop-over somewhere or go right to the airport. Taxi fare quoted was $224. I didn't book our flights yet, but, we have the choice of 2 departure times. One is 10am and the other is 2pm or there's also a 2:30pm. One of our port stops is Portland, England. I was looking at the ships shore excursions and one of them is to Stonehenge, which is on our list to do. On that stop is Winchester, too, so it would be one or the other. Since we depart at 3:pm we'd probably do a ships tour.

This is as far as I got. Gee, things add up! Thank you, again for your help! Hope this could help others, too!

After going over all your great information I think we're going to take your suggestion of booking Windsor cabs to Windsor and booking either The Clarion Hotel or MacDonalds Windsor Hotel for a night. Do u know any of these properties or other suggestions? We'd like to be close to the castle. Windsor Taxi fare quoted was $63. from the airport to Windsor. Then transfer to Southampton late morning. Taxi fare quoted was $216. Maybe we would have time before the cruise departs to look around the port. After the cruise I'm not sure if we'll try to do a stop-over somewhere or go right to the airport. Taxi fare quoted was $224. I didn't book our flights yet, but, we have the choice of 2 departure times. One is 10am and the other is 2pm or there's also a 2:30pm. One of our port stops is Portland, England. I was looking at the ships shore excursions and one of them is to Stonehenge, which is on our list to do. On that stop is Winchester, too, so it would be one or the other. Since we depart at 3:pm we'd probably do a ships tour.

 

This is as far as I got. Gee, things add up! Thank you, again for your help! Hope this could help others, too!

Sorry, don't know the hotels in Windsor.

Fares of $216 and $224 between Windsor or Heathrow and Southampton seem to be pretty high - was that with Windsor Taxi? Around £90 to £100 for a car is closer to the mark - try www.smithsforairports or www.westquaycars or www.aquacars.co.uk

Don't book a 10am flight home - you have little chance of making that flight even on a saturday.

A 2pm or 2.30pm flight will be easy, and also gives you the options of a National Express https://www.nationalexpress.com/en or ship-sponsored coach.

A 3pm sailaway from Portland is a shame, it rules out a lot of choices - I'm surprised it doesn't rule out Stonehenge or Winchester (about 1hr 40 each-way), but on a ship's tour of course there's no problem. How long do you get at Stonehenge or Winchester?

Ship's tour prices will include admission and no need to worry about "timed tickets" for Stonehenge.

Alternatively your ship probably offers a shuttle service to Weymouth, about 10 - 15 minutes away. A very pleasant Victorian seaside resort - beach promenade, harbour, little lanes, smugglers' museum, pubs, fish & chips etc. A good place for an inexpensive relaxing day wandering at will, but nothing iconic.

Winchester is only 15 minutes from Southampton - and it's on the route to Heathrow. You could drop by on a private transfer to Heathrow at the end of your cruise though even with a 2pm/2.30pm flight you'd probably have time for little more than a photo-stop - an early departure from the ship wouldn't help much cos the cathedral doesn't open til 9.30am and you'd need to leave Winchester around 10.30 on a Saturday for a 2pm flight

JB :)

Sorry, don't know the hotels in Windsor.

 

Fares of $216 and $224 between Windsor or Heathrow and Southampton seem to be pretty high - was that with Windsor Taxi? Around £90 to £100 for a car is closer to the mark - try www.smithsforairports or www.westquaycars or www.aquacars.co.uk

 

Don't book a 10am flight home - you have little chance of making that flight even on a saturday.

A 2pm or 2.30pm flight will be easy, and also gives you the options of a National Express https://www.nationalexpress.com/en or ship-sponsored coach.

 

A 3pm sailaway from Portland is a shame, it rules out a lot of choices - I'm surprised it doesn't rule out Stonehenge or Winchester (about 1hr 40 each-way), but on a ship's tour of course there's no problem. How long do you get at Stonehenge or Winchester?

Ship's tour prices will include admission and no need to worry about "timed tickets" for Stonehenge.

Alternatively your ship probably offers a shuttle service to Weymouth, about 10 - 15 minutes away. A very pleasant Victorian seaside resort - beach promenade, harbour, little lanes, smugglers' museum, pubs, fish & chips etc. A good place for an inexpensive relaxing day wandering at will, but nothing iconic.

 

Winchester is only 15 minutes from Southampton - and it's on the route to Heathrow. You could drop by on a private transfer to Heathrow at the end of your cruise though even with a 2pm/2.30pm flight you'd probably have time for little more than a photo-stop - an early departure from the ship wouldn't help much cos the cathedral doesn't open til 9.30am and you'd need to leave Winchester around 10.30 on a Saturday for a 2pm flight

 

JB :)

Thank you, John, again! I did get a quote from Windsorcars.com from the airport to Windsor for $37 and Windsor to Southampton for $125. Yes, the 10am flight would be way to early! I think the ships bus is about $67pp. I will check out your recommended car services. The ship lists very few shore excursions for Portland. If we did any, we'd do theirs because of the early departure. The one they list for Stonehenge is about 7 hrs long. I really do appreciate you putting things in perspective for me, especially, time wise. I'm sure I will be back with more and will be reading through older posts!