Windsor Castle - Worth It?
 

We will be in London (first time) for 3 days and planning to go to Windsor Castle. In your opinion, is Windsor Castle worth to be included on those 3 days? If so, please advise on how to do independent tour (i.e., transportation/cost from London, best time to go, etc.) Thank you.

Yes. It's worth millions.

I think the castle is worthwhile, and the town of Winsor is interesting. You can also stroll through Eton while there. It is an easy train ride from London, don't know cost right off hand but not too much. If you want a nice out of town trip (and it isn't really very far, right by Heathrow airport) then this is a good one. Given only three days it will depend on what you want to see in the city as well.<BR><BR>You can take train, walk over to castle, tour the grounds and parts of the buildings (access to interiors depends on if the Queen is in residence or not), maybe see changing of the guards, have a nice lunch at a local pub, and head back to London. Ejoyable day out.

You won't be disappointed by a trip to Windsor Castle. It's a lovely day trip. Take the train from Paddington Station. There are a couple of trains an hour and the ride is under 60 minutes one way. I don't recall the fare.<BR><BR>If it were my first trip , however, I'd spend the time in central London. There's way more than enough to do over the course of three days.

I really thought Windsor was lovely, and one of the highlights of our three days in London. We took the train from Paddington, and I remember it being a very short ride to a lovely train station filled with shops and bistros. We spent most of the day at LegoLand, but returned in time for some tours of the Windsor Castle grounds. The Changing of the Guard here was much more interesting than Buckingham, as we could get closer. The tour of the castle itself was very interesting. I would have liked to have toured the "Doll House," but it was closing.<BR>

Celeste:I have a differing opinion.Although Windsor is wonderful I would not burn one of three days there on my first trip to London.There is plenty to see in London to fill 3 days.If you are intent on a sidetrip I would recommend Bath & Stonehenge.But then again its all very nice.Enjoy.

Recently returned from our first trip to England and spent 8 days in London with Windsor castle being one of attractions we visited. It was interesting; however, I would recommend several of London's other attractions (the Tower, St. Paul's, Westminster and Hampton Court) before spending a day in Windsor. <BR>P.S. Whatever you decide for your itinerary, you will love London.

For a longer trip, I would definitely suggest visiting Windsor Castle (and walking through Windsor itself). However, as others have said, if you will only be in London for 3 days, you might want to put Windsor off until the next time. It is a fairly short train trip - although with a few stops at other stations along the way - with a reasonable fare, but I am just afraid this would eat too much time out of the short time frame. If you really want to just go through the castle and not take the time to explore Windsor and/or Eton, I suppose you could make it a half day trip?

When I was 16 years old in 1970, my sister and I were in London on our way back to the states. We had a two day stay and sqeezed in a trip to Winsor. It was absolutely remarkable and a highlight I remember to this day even after many return trips.

Yes, Windsor would definitely be worth your time IF you had more than 3 days in London. We were in London for 4 days in May and opted to see Hampton Court Palace instead of Windsor Castle. But we barely touched the surface of London in the remaining 3 days.

Windsor is worth it. Just one point - St George's chapel is closed on Sundays and it is one of the "must sees" of Windsor. It is here that many monarchs have been buried including Henry VIII, Charles I and all the recent ones (except Victoria) such as George VI and the Queen Mother. Go early, and if you have time for tickets to be posted to you then book on-line (www.royalgov.uk). To get there from London, you have to change trains at Slough. Take the train from Paddington (I think. If i'm wrong, someone will correct me).

<BR><BR>I've enjoyed a number of times . . particularly now that the tours thru the Castle are open once again. The town is very interesting and the walk thru Eton and Windsor.<BR><BR>However, I agree with others that with only three days in London, you have more than enough to stay busy just in London itself. <BR><BR>Have a pint and a chip and enjoy! . . Rich

Just checked the site for Windsor, FYI - the chapel is close for tour but open for worship. So it would not hurt to just sit there quietly and observe if you're only available day is Sunday.

<BR><BR>Also . . if you get there at the right time, you can get much closer to a changing of the Guard than at Buckingham. <BR><BR>Rich

Yes, you can visit St George's chapel for worship on Sundays, but get there on time because they lock the doors once it starts and don't let anyone in for the rest of the day.

From my experience, I'd recommend you go on your own rather than a tour. I felt that our tour operator ripped us off because we (and a busload of others) reserved a morning tour of Hampton Court then took a boat up the Thames with lunch included ending up at Windsor to tour the castle. Everything up to this point was good. However, when we arrived at the castle to get our tickets to get inside the castle, we were told that due to the queen's entertaining the president of Africa, we would not be able to tour the castle's interior. I felt that the tour operator must have been aware of the queen's schedule and knew we would not be able to tour the castle. And the tour guides acted as "surprised" as us-I'm sure they've experience this before so I don't believe they were genuinely surprised. In other words, had it been broadcast that Windsor Castle was off limits that day for touring, probably no one would have purchased the tour. And no one received a refund for this portion of the tour. Anyway, it was a good lesson learned.

Sorry. I thought it was just huge and kind of boring. I didn't take a tour, but I felt herded around in there, shuffling along with all the other tourists. The fee was steep, like Queenie really needs more money. The place is all tourists, all the time -- rather depressing. St. George's chapel is very beautiful, though and there are some exquiste masterpieces hanging on the walls in the castle, Rembrandts, for instance.

I would skip Windsor castle on a three day trip. I actually liked the town of Windsor itself more than the castle. The admission fee is unusually high when you consider what you actually get to see.

With limitied time, is a full day for Windsor Castle absolutely necessary or can it be done in a half day? It sounds like it would be rushed, especially not being able to explore the town. I plan on doing one day trip out to Bath and really am not sure I want to devote another full day to this? I'll be in London 5 days.

Just a suggestion: Windsor is very near Heathrow airport. If the timing is right, perhaps you can make it your last stop before catching a later afternoon flight home.