Best time to visit Windsor Castle

[Iamthesea]

What would be the best time for us to visit Windsor Castle during a 4 night trip in London, pre-cruise? This is in late October. We will be staying in Central London - Montague St.

We will not be renting a car, so all transportation will be either by public (taxi/bus/train) or private (tour) transportation.

 

Options:

 

#1 - Take a day trip, possibly by private tour that includes other areas around the outskirts of London. Suggestions?

 

#2 - Take a tour on our first day in via private transportation from Heathrow to our hotel. Is there such a company that does this and what happens with our luggage?

 

#3 - Take a tour via private transportation from London to Southampton? Is there really enough time? The castle does not open until 10:00 am and we would need a minimum of 2 hours to tour. It's at least an hours drive from the castle to the port of Southampton. Our cruise leaves at 4:30 and we would want to be there at least 2 hours before sailaway. :eek: My husband prefers to plan 4 hours ahead of time!

 

Or... Is there such a thing as a " drive by " of the castle that we could take on the way to or from London and not do an official tour? We could be satisfied with just being able to see the castle.

Edited April 28, 2015 by Iamthesea

[John Bull]

Visiting Windsor from central London is easy by train. There are options from London Paddington or London Waterloo - including direct trains every half-hour from London Waterloo. Journey time 35 to 55 mins, day-return fare £10 - £12.

Changing of the Guard ceremony in the Castle quadrangle at 11.30, after the new Guard has marched up the main street to the Castle.

No Changing of the Guard on sundays - mebbe they go to the beach on sundays ;)

 

Can be done by car, but town & castle would be worth a big chunk of the day, and there are few places between there & central London worthy of a drive-by. Eton College can be visited from Windsor on foot (pedestrian bridge over the river & a ten-minute walk) or by a 3 - 4 mile drive via the nearest road bridge.

 

Can be done as part of a private transfer from Heathrow to central London, it's in the opposite direction but only about 7 miles away. Problem is that neither I nor Google know of anywhere to leave luggage in Windsor - a little can be left at the castle reception, but they'd not want to store full vacation luggage. Which means either:

- leaving luggage at your airport terminal, pre-booked taxi to Windsor about £30, taxi back to Heathrow to retrieve luggage, then various options to central London. Time-consuming & complicated to tie timings together

- or keeping the car/driver from airport to hotel. Shouldn't be desperately more expensive for a drive-by of the Castle (good views from several different points), but keeping the car while you're touring the Castle will rack up the cost.

 

Ditto en-route from central London to Southampton. It adds only about 5 miles / 20 minutes to the journey, plus mebbe another 20 mins driving in the area, including Runnymede which is where Magna Carta was signed & there's an American (USAAF, I think) War Memorial.

Subject to ship's registration deadline, you do have the time to tour. Castle 10 am to 11.30, town 11.30 to 12.30, drive to Southampton about 75 minutes gets you to the ship before 2pm. But again the meter will be ticking.

 

No simple or inexpensive answer

 

JB :)

JB

Edited April 28, 2015 by John Bull

[Bob++]

I think that Windsor Castle and its environs is worth a whole day, especially if the weather is good.

 

http://www.londontoolkit.com/whattodo/windsor.htm

 

It's only 20 miles - get there by train or bus.

 

http://www.londontoolkit.com/whattodo/windsor_transport.htm

[dogs4fun]

I agree - Windsor Castle is magnificent and deserves a day! There is so much to see of historical significance (the state apartments, Queen Mary's doll house, St. George's Chapel, Round Tower).

We have taken both the train and the bus to Windsor (on separate trips). I believe both are described in the London Tool Kit link previously provided.

[Iamthesea]

I agree - Windsor Castle is magnificent and deserves a day! There is so much to see of historical significance (the state apartments, Queen Mary's doll house, St. George's Chapel, Round Tower).

We have taken both the train and the bus to Windsor (on separate trips). I believe both are described in the London Tool Kit link previously provided.

 

Thank you to all that contributed. :)

 

I think y'all are correct in that we should make a day out of Windsor. We fly into London on Saturday, so could go to Windsor on Sunday. Perhaps it would not be as crowded since the changing of the guard is not held that day. We have seen the changing of the guard at a few other places, so it's not a big deal to us to miss.

 

That would leave us 2 full days to tour London (Monday and Tuesday) and one partial day (Saturday.) Wednesday would be our day of travel to the port. We are not interested in seeing Stonehenge, but would not mind seeing a place I read about early today...Avebury. Appears to be in the same vicinity as Stonehenge. Any other suggestions for on the way to Southampton?

 

Now to see if the London 3 Day Pass and Oyster Card are worth purchasing. :confused: I just happened to stumble on their website this afternoon and discovered a 10% discount that ends tomorrow. ;)

 

Does anyone know if the Oyster is good for the train to Windsor? How about the HOHO buses?

[John Bull]

If you're keen to see Windsor & its castle, yes a day-trip from central London is the best & most economical way to do it. Central London's sights can be worth up to a week, but you can certainly make a good fist of it with your remaining time.

 

Stonehenge is a little ways off the London to Southampton route, Avebury is much further off-route & the drive alone will cost you an extra hour.

And if Stonehenge doesn't appeal I do wonder whether Avebury will. It's of about the same age (around 4000 years) & a series of concentric circles but just stones set in the ground & nowhere near as spectacular or as iconic as Stonehenge.

If you do choose to go there, add Silbury Hill & the West Kennett Longbarrow, both are nearby.

 

But I'd suggest you choose somewhere that's more convenient, more interesting & more eye-pleasing.

Try Winchester, just two miles off the simple London to Southampton route. Its a historic city with a magnificent old cathedral that has a chequered history & is the burial place of Jane Austen.

Or do a drive-by of Stonehenge on the way to Salisbury, another historic city with a wonderful cathedral that has the tallest spire in the UK & houses amongst other things an original of the Magna Carta. That would add mebbe a half-hour to your travelling time.

 

London ho-hos don't go anywhere near Windsor, the local Windsor ho-ho goes to a few places outside the town but the route doesn't look particularly interesting & the historic part of the town itself is very easy to walk.

Can't help with Oyster cards or the London Pass, I find such things way too complicated. :rolleyes:

 

JB :)

Edited April 29, 2015 by John Bull

[wowzz]

Totally agree about Avebury. We used to live about 10 miles away, and it was nice to take visitors to see it, but unless you are really interested in the ancient Celts, it is a little mundane. There always seemed to be loads of Japanese wandering about, looking a little bemused, as if they were expecting to see another Stonehenge.

One other suggestion I would make for a day out from London, is to go to Bath. The train station is near the middle of the city, and the Abbey, Royal Circle etc will give you plenty to see, in a reasonably compact area.

[Gaznjo]

When we visited Windsor castle we booked the taxi mentioned in London toolkit that picked us up from our hotel in morning took us to Windsor... Kept our suit cases then picked us up later in the day and took us to Heathrow airport for our flight home that evening... You could always do it the other way around if you fly in early...

 

If you follow my link below and choose the adventure 2014 blog you will find our visits to Stonehenge and Avebury ... Haven't got Windsor castle up yet...

[Steirisch]

We were ending a cruise in Dover last year, and staying aboard for the next cruise. We decided to see Dover castle on a Sunday and took a taxi from the pier, however, getting back to the ship presented a problem in that there were no taxis at the two taxi stands we went to. Finally went to the ticket office and they called a taxi company who told the ticket office that they were booked up for the next two hours. Finally, the kind woman at the ticket office told us to wait for the bus that takes visitors around the Castle grounds and ask if the bus could take us to the pier. The driver was just getting off, so agreed to take us for free. Of course, we tipped him well.

 

So if it's a nice summer day and a Sunday (or even, possibly, Saturday) make sure you book a taxi in advance to return to where you're going.

[Iamthesea]

Steirisch - I know you had heart failure with that episode! :eek: That's why we prefer to book a private tour that will have a car waiting for us. Or take the train. Who would have thought that you would not be able to get a taxi, from a tourist site, back to the ship. How far was the drive?

 

packetau - That's helpful information. I assume that the taxi was trustworthy to have your bags for a few hours. We do get into Heathrow early, but perhaps too early. Our flight arrives at 7:40. I do not know how long it will take us at the airport, but if Windsor is only 15 minutes away, we might have a good wait until the castle opens.

 

If you're keen to see Windsor & its castle, yes a day-trip from central London is the best & most economical way to do it. Central London's sights can be worth up to a week, but you can certainly make a good fist of it with your remaining time.

 

Stonehenge is a little ways off the London to Southampton route, Avebury is much further off-route & the drive alone will cost you an extra hour.

And if Stonehenge doesn't appeal I do wonder whether Avebury will. It's of about the same age (around 4000 years) & a series of concentric circles but just stones set in the ground & nowhere near as spectacular or as iconic as Stonehenge.

If you do choose to go there, add Silbury Hill & the West Kennett Longbarrow, both are nearby.

 

But I'd suggest you choose somewhere that's more convenient, more interesting & more eye-pleasing.

Try Winchester, just two miles off the simple London to Southampton route. Its a historic city with a magnificent old cathedral that has a chequered history & is the burial place of Jane Austen.

Or do a drive-by of Stonehenge on the way to Salisbury, another historic city with a wonderful cathedral that has the tallest spire in the UK & houses amongst other things an original of the Magna Carta. That would add mebbe a half-hour to your travelling time.

 

London ho-hos don't go anywhere near Windsor, the local Windsor ho-ho goes to a few places outside the town but the route doesn't look particularly interesting & the historic part of the town itself is very easy to walk.

Can't help with Oyster cards or the London Pass, I find such things way too complicated. :rolleyes:

 

JB :)

 

OK, we will scratch Avebury. I had not looked at a map and assumed it was closer to Stonehenge and Southampton. I had read that Stonehenge is a bunch of ruins that cannot be touched. We have seen more ruins than needed in our travels. LOL Avebury looked interesting because of the pretty grounds and buildings.

 

Winchester sounds interesting. Again, we would have to find a tour or taxi service from our London hotel and then be willing to stay around and watch our luggage and then take us on to the ship.

 

You misunderstood about the HOHO. My question was confusing, I guess. I did not mean to take the HOHO to Windsor. I was curious if the Oyster Card provided service to Windsor by train, and if the card included rides around London on the HOHO. It says buses, but are the HOHO included...anybody know?

 

Totally agree about Avebury. We used to live about 10 miles away, and it was nice to take visitors to see it, but unless you are really interested in the ancient Celts, it is a little mundane. There always seemed to be loads of Japanese wandering about, looking a little bemused, as if they were expecting to see another Stonehenge.

One other suggestion I would make for a day out from London, is to go to Bath. The train station is near the middle of the city, and the Abbey, Royal Circle etc will give you plenty to see, in a reasonably compact area.

 

We did think about Bath, but it is a bit out of the way when heading to Southampton.

 

Now I have another interest...especially if we were able to take in Windsor Castle on the way into London from the airport. I would love to take a day trip by train to The Cotswolds. :) Or, if you had to choose one over the other, which would you choose?

 

We will be back to London possibly next spring, so I am not too worried about missing some of the sites in London. However, we do want to hit the major sites in those two days, and can save the others for another trip. ;)

Edited April 29, 2015 by Iamthesea

[FritzG]

One more tip--check the royal calendar to be sure that the castle will be open. On our last trip there was a state visit, and the most of the castle was closed to tourists for both of the days we were staying in Windsor. We were there 2 days pre-cruise so we couldn't change the dates of our stay.

[Bob++]

The problem with visiting the Castle en route to London is that not only will you be pretty tired, you will have to pay the taxi to wait with your luggage.

 

JB suggests Winchester or Salisbury on the way to Southampton and I think that Salisbury is the best one to choose. Your driver should be able to drop you near the door and come back at an agreed time to collect you. It really is an amazing building.

Edited April 29, 2015 by Bob++

[John Bull]

For Winchester you'd just have to allow for waiting time on top of the cost of a simple London to Southampton transfer.

 

For Salisbury you'd also have to add about 20 mins of extra driving time & distance, but it's a popular diversion for cruise transfers.

And you'll pass so close to Stonehenge that it'd seem rude not to give it a drive-by.;)

 

There's more to these two cities than just their cathedrals, & both are compact & easy to walk. Ask Google about them & get transfer prices eg http://www.smithsforairports.com or http://www.westquaycars.com then decide.

 

No, the Oyster card doesn't include the ho-hos, they're not part of London Transport (or Transport for London or whatever mickey-mouse name they give themselves nowadays). I think you'll find the same anywhere in the world.

 

By train to the Cotswolds doesn't really work, you have to take to the roads. There are plenty of day-trips by coach from London, or you could combine a train to Oxford & a coach tour from there. A day trip from & back to London by rental car has its problems & is best not considered, combining it in an inbound private transfer would be expensive & in your outbound transfer couldn't be done in the time. Personally, I'd recommend you put the Cotswolds on the back-burner.

 

Yes, Bath is probably too far for one of your transfer days.

wowzz suggested it as an alternative for a day-out from your London hotel - the direct train service from London Paddington is half-hourly, takes about 90 minutes, costs about £40 return.

 

But if you were keen to incorporate a brief visit to Bath fairly economically in your transfer to Southampton & don't mind getting up that morning at daft o'clock, it can be done. Train from London Paddington to Bath (station name is Bath Spa) at 7am gets you to Bath at 8.30, fare £30. You can stash your bags at a back-packers' hotel near the station, its left luggage service is available to non-residents. Explore Bath then collect your luggage & take a direct train to Southampton Central at 11.35am (arrives Southampton 1.04pm) or 12.35pm (arrives Southampton 2.04pm), fare £8.50. Five minute taxi ride to your ship.

Total cost for two is less than a simple private transfer direct to the ship, though it demands a bit more effort & would only allow you 3 to 4 hours in Bath.

 

Train details for any journey at http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/

Instead of trying to figure which London station - there are dozens - just type London & in the drop down click on "London (182)", this is a code for "all stations" & will automatically choose the appropriate station. Why they can't make it more obvious by calling it "London (all stations)" defeats me. :rolleyes:

 

JB :)

Edited April 29, 2015 by John Bull

[Iamthesea]

Oh WOW...lot's to think about. :eek: Thank you.

 

The problem with visiting the Castle en route to London is that not only will you be pretty tired, you will have to pay the taxi to wait with your luggage.

 

JB suggests Winchester or Salisbury on the way to Southampton and I think that Salisbury is the best one to choose. Your driver should be able to drop you near the door and come back at an agreed time to collect you. It really is an amazing building.

 

According to packetau, that would be included in the service.

 

packetau - I am looking forward to reading your reviews. Since the Windsor portion is not up, could you tell me the approximate cost of the taxi service?

 

Bob - I'll look into Salisbury and Winchester and compare. ;)

 

One more tip--check the royal calendar to be sure that the castle will be open. On our last trip there was a state visit, and the most of the castle was closed to tourists for both of the days we were staying in Windsor. We were there 2 days pre-cruise so we couldn't change the dates of our stay.

 

I am not sure where to look, but there only appears to be a state visit in October as far as I can tell. ;) There was one in March, and only one in 2014.

[Gaznjo]

http://www.londontoolkit.com/tours/heathrow_windsor_tour.htm

 

this is a link to the page...

 

last night I wrote the above message in bed on my ipad ... now I am on my normal computer with better resources LOL...

 

I think the cost was under 100 pound but as mentioned

 

they picked us from London and drove us to Windsor... the driver told us where to meet later that day and if we wanted to leave earlier we were just to call the office. He takes the luggage and leaves in their office and then the next driver picks it up before he picks us up....

 

Arriving at 7 should be fine... Windsor is not just a castle but a village and when you first arrive you will able to find a pub, coffee shop to sit and rest... the little crooked coffee shop was cute... Then head up to the castle ... we joined one of the free walking tours and we managed to be there for the changing of the guard.. which was great as we actually saw it .. not like in London where it is so crowded all you see are the guards moving down the mall and in and out of the gates...

 

The Cotswolds is an area that we drove around, I guess you would have pick a village and catch the train to that one and spend the day..

 

We have family that live in Amesbury ( near Stonehenge ) and we hired a car for 2 days... we drove up through the Cotswold visiting the little villages along the way ... stayed the night in Bath... ( just loved bath ) then drove back to Amesbury.

 

Stonehenge might be just a bunch of rocks .... but they left me in awe.... We actually like that no one can walk straight up to them now... The way they have the board walk now you can walk around and from certain angles you can take photo's and it looks like no one else is there... The day we were there it was very crowded but you wouldn't guess from the photo's

 

When we arrived in England we flew into Gatwick after 18 hours from cape town via Dubai..... we decided to hire a car to drive to Dover where we stayed the night before boarding the Ryndam the next day.

 

We were tired but excited too ... it was early and we couldn't get into the B& B till 4 pm.... on the motorway we noticed a sign that said leeds castle... something we missed on our last visit... we made a last minute decision took the exit and spent the next few hours there ... just lovely.... Getting to Dover with enough time to check into the B & B and then take the car to our drop off point....

 

I have included the links that will take you directly to the parts of the blog that cover our road trips LOL

 

this is the first post about the Cotswolds

http://gaznjograndadventure2014.blogspot.com.au/2014/06/69-england-cotswolds_25.html

 

 

Avebury

http://gaznjograndadventure2014.blogspot.com.au/2014/06/60a-england-avebury-photos.html

http://gaznjograndadventure2014.blogspot.com.au/2014/06/60b-england-avebury-or-stonehenge-that.html

 

Stonehenge

http://gaznjograndadventure2014.blogspot.com.au/2014/06/61-england-stonehenge.html

Edited April 29, 2015 by packetau

[Iamthesea]

Good tip about the early morning café stop in the Windsor village. I can already envision that coffee after a long flight over the pond. :)

 

I have found a couple of tours with Premium Tours that go to the Cotswolds. So if we can work out Windsor for the drive in from airport, we can spend a day in the Cotswolds. I am looking for tours or a private driver to take us to one of the suggestions on the way to Southampton.

 

Thank you for the links. I hope to have time to read them tomorrow.

 

Still cannot decide if the London Pass and Oyster card are worth getting. :rolleyes:

[PaulaJK]

There is a ton of info & ideas here. Since your original post expressed worry re: luggage I just wanted to share our experience.

 

We disembarked in Southampton and had rented a pvt car for the transfer/day. We went to Windsor, viewing some of the countryside...visited the castle...took lunch in a pub...and then wended our way into London. We found the castle itself quite doable in 2-3 hours. There is an audio guide. Our luggage remained

in the car with our driver.

[Iamthesea]

There is a ton of info & ideas here. Since your original post expressed worry re: luggage I just wanted to share our experience.

 

We disembarked in Southampton and had rented a pvt car for the transfer/day. We went to Windsor, viewing some of the countryside...visited the castle...took lunch in a pub...and then wended our way into London. We found the castle itself quite doable in 2-3 hours. There is an audio guide. Our luggage remained

in the car with our driver.

 

Who did you use for that transfer? :)

[Steirisch]

Oh, Lordy, I do apologize to everyone. The OP asked about Windsor Castle and I was writing about Dover Castle. Big difference.

Edited May 1, 2015 by Steirisch

[PaulaJK]

We used Eddie Manning...everything was fine. He has a web site which a search hopefully will lead to..

[Iamthesea]

Oh, Lordy, I do apologize to everyone. The OP asked about Windsor Castle and I was writing about Dover Castle. Big difference.

 

Lol...That's OK. We enjoyed your story and it's a good warning for everyone to be aware of. ;)

[Cotswold Eagle]

 

By train to the Cotswolds doesn't really work, you have to take to the roads. There are plenty of day-trips by coach from London, or you could combine a train to Oxford & a coach tour from there. A day trip from & back to London by rental car has its problems & is best not considered, combining it in an inbound private transfer would be expensive & in your outbound transfer couldn't be done in the time. Personally, I'd recommend you put the Cotswolds on the back-burner.

 

JB :)

 

Steady on, old boy :)

 

There are several driver/guides who will pick up from Moreton-in-Marsh station (1 hour 40 minutes from London Paddington). That's the way I'd do it from London for a day, although Oxford is an option as you say. There used to be a minibus tour from Oxford, but they sold up last year, I believe. I'm not allowed to recommend the guys round me, although I know a couple of them, because of course I have never taken their tours. Google will find them, I'm sure.

Edited May 1, 2015 by Cotswold Eagle

[John Bull]

Steady on, old boy :)

 

There are several driver/guides who will pick up from Moreton-in-Marsh station (1 hour 40 minutes from London Paddington). That's the way I'd do it from London for a day, although Oxford is an option as you say. There used to be a minibus tour from Oxford, but they sold up last year, I believe. I'm not allowed to recommend the guys round me, although I know a couple of them, because of course I have never taken their tours. Google will find them, I'm sure.

 

Yep, hourly service from Paddington. But no-one would want to spend the day in Moreton-in-Marsh, hence the need to hit the road.

 

Correct, CC rules are that locals can't quote names of tour operators unless asked.

Can I ask, my feathered friend, for any suggestions of local tour operators? ;)

 

JB :)

Edited May 1, 2015 by John Bull

[Iamthesea]

Packetau - I loved your reviews! Now I know that we must go visit The Cotswalds villages and Stonhenge. :)

 

We used Eddie Manning...everything was fine. He has a web site which a search hopefully will lead to..

Thank you. I'll try a Google.

 

Steady on, old boy :)

There are several driver/guides who will pick up from Moreton-in-Marsh station (1 hour 40 minutes from London Paddington). That's the way I'd do it from London for a day, although Oxford is an option as you say. There used to be a minibus tour from Oxford, but they sold up last year, I believe. I'm not allowed to recommend the guys round me, although I know a couple of them, because of course I have never taken their tours. Google will find them, I'm sure.

 

Yes, please share the names and contact info. :)

[Gaznjo]

Thanks for that.... We really did have a great time....