Windsor Castle
 

Is this a full day trip? I plan on going from Paddington Station to Windsor. Should we allow an entire day for this?

You can plan a full day - or if you have limited time it could be a 1/2 day.

If all you are doing is visiting the Castle you could be back in London 4 or 5 hours after you started out. But if you wander around the town, walk over to Eton, or take a stroll in the Great Park it would easily fill a day. So wait and see what the weather is like and what else you want to see in London - and decide once there how long to spend.

We were just out there, we took the train from Waterloo Station & bought a combined castle and train ticket. I think it is pretty much a full day, but you could manage to do it in less I suppose. We went early to avoid the crowds (by afternoon it was pretty crowded). Be aware that it can be slow getting in because you must go through security (like airports). There is no place to eat on the castle grounds so you might do what we did and go early and leave about 2:00 and have a late lunch in town.

It depends if you want to linger in town or not. We did it in about 4 hours, including travel time. We went in the afternoon, getting to the castle around 2pm, stayed there for about 2 hours, wandered around town for a little while, then headed back. We also went in January, so there were no crowds anywhere!

Have fun,
Karen

We spent a full day at Windsor, but like some others have said, you could probably squeeze it into five hours or so. I did want to add that we took a regional bus rather than the train. It cost about 70% less and got there 30 minutes quicker.

The train only took 55 minutes - where did you find a bus that took less then that? Was it from Central London? I can't imagine any bus getting out there in 30 min. from London ... but anything is possible I guess.

Lori: The bus station was near Victoria. Perhaps this information was too old to be helpful as our trip was March 2001. At that time, the reasonable a.m. train required a train change and took 90 minutes. The Green Line bus took about an hour. It cost 7 pounds RT (about $10 at that time) whereas the train was 20 or so pounds. Perhaps you can now get a direct train from Victoria or as the original poster plans, Paddington, and the prices for the bus and the train are the same.

In the way from the station to the castle, you'll find a shop where they sell home-made fudge (unfortunately, I don't remember the name). It's delicious! Do not forget to buy some, if you have a sweet tooth.

We've been to Windsor Castle twice and both times spent the whole day; depends on how long you typically linger over the details. There is a very charming, very old small restaurant down one street from the Castle...English style food but good...don't remember the name, but one of the guards directed us there. It is in a very old building, small and crowded, but a great experience as the building is nearly 300 yrs old.

We just returned from our first trip to London and found our day at Windsor our favorite. Besides the castle and the charming town, do walk over the bridge and see Eton College. Unfortunately when we were there the boys were on easter break...much to my 16 yr old's heartbreak ( wanted so much to see Prince Harry) The tour of the school was interesting but the town of Eaton was so charming. We loved shopping and browsing there. There are wonderful restaurants with outdoor decks overlooking the river. I would recommend the train. It was quick and very direct. We had a travel card and were staying in Victoria, so we simply paid an additional chg for traveling outside of the 6 zones. We went from Victoria to Chattem Junction and then from there a train to Eton. Enjoy and if you are lucky enough to get a day that's sunny and 80 degrees f like we did it will be wonderful! If you are there when the Queen is in residence, you might inquire as to her Sunday service schedule..we went back on Easter Sunday and were able to see the royal family go into the cathedral...all extremely exciting, got wonderful pics of fergie's girls, the Queen and Duke and Princess Anne and Princes Andrew and Phillip...my poor daughter ( again) Charles and the boys were expected but Charles took them to Scotland to "bond" with Camela for Easter...let me tell you what an unhappy teenager I had that day! Plus...the locals were quite upset with Charles!

I have been to Windsor several times. I generally plan to go for the entire day and have yet to take the tour of Eton College.

When you are done visiting the Castle, do not miss St. Georges Chapel (on the right as you walk down the hill). St. Georges is the site of the annual Knights of the Garter ceremony and the place is festooned with flags. The vergers there can give you all sorts of information.

In the basement of St. Georges are buried all of the "modern" monarchs and members of their families (the ones post those buried in Westminster Abbey). You can spend a couple of hours in St. Georges itself if you are interested.

Next time, I'll do Eton.