myst

Leaving in two weeks. We have three and a half days in London (my third trip) and my dad would like to see a castle.

We are a party of six so I don't want to try anything too complex, because to be honest, they are a fussy bunch (LOL).

Anyway thought we might take the train from Paddington to Windsor, see the castle and either have tea, or take a short Thames cruise (is it nicer than trip to Greenwich?)

Following digression.... How much are the tickets roughly per person, do they need to be purchased in advance, or can we just purchase @ Paddington in the morning?

How much time should this take assuming train both ways and a rather leisurely look? Full day, or half day? Would a boat trip back to London be worthwhile?

I could easily spend a month in London, so I realize it is all relative how much time to spend, but opinions appreciated!

flanneruk

Windsor Castle is 26 miles from central London. The fact that this is identical to the length of a marathon is no coincidence: the official marathon distance is the course run in the 1912 London Olympics, and not that run by Pheidippides.

Apart from brightening up your morning with information you ptrobably have no interest in, I make the point to illustrate the impossibility of a leisurely boat return to London.

Really it's the train both ways: changing at Slough (painlessly, by crossing the platform). No need to book, and no point anyway since there's no reservation syastem on that line. Go to www.nationalrail.co.uk fot timetables and for fares at the time you're planning to travel (fares vary through the day, so play with different times)

Half a day might be cutting things a bit fine, but you will have time to something else. Walk over to Eton, for example, whose Chapel is far lovelier than the largely reconstructed castle. Or do a couple of hours' worth of something in London first.

Kristi

You can see Windsor in a 1/2 day but I'd suggest playing it by ear and just seeing how the day goes. I recently visited, 2nd time to the castle, and I stayed in the area until at least 2 pm, stopping for a quick bite and taking a walk over to Eton.

I'm not sure if the crowds pick up in the afternoon, I went in the morning and it was refreshingly uncrowded so I could spend some time looking at Queen Mary's dollhouse and the State Rooms. There's also a short guided tour that leaves from the entrance that I would recommend picking up.

http://www.royal.gov.uk/output/page576.asp

Trains leave from either Paddington or Waterloo, the Paddingon train requires a change at Slough (very well marked, takes about a 1/2 hour), the Waterloo train does not require a change but I think it comes into a station further from the castle and takes longer (50 mintues). You can get an all in one ticket for train and castle for slightly less on the Waterloo departure, not sure about Paddington but if you leave from there ask about a cheap day return with admission to the castle

Waterloo
http://www.southwesttrains.co.uk/far...oPageSelect=24

Paddington
http://www.firstgreatwestern.co.uk/home/index.php

Kristi

And you might want to take a look at this website

http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/groups.../groupsave.htm

myst

Thanks for the response. Almost ready to go!