The perfect day trip to Windsor Castle

• We were gifted our tickets to Windsor Castle in return for this post. All opinions are our own.

Most people will have heard of Windsor Castle at one time or another, be it for Royal Weddings, such as that of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, the Covid-19 restricted funeral of Prince Phillip, or the later part of the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II it certainly features on the World stage quite often.

In its day job, it was, until her death in 2022, one of Queen Elizabeth’s royal residences. It is now owned by King Charles III but he does not live there.

Where is Windsor Castle

Windsor Castle is in the historic town of Windsor in Berkshire, England, and is approximately 25 miles from central London. The train station is a short walk from the Castle, and there is ample parking locally (however, none that is dedicated solely to the Castle). It sits alongside the river Thames, from where you can get beautiful river cruises if you so wish.

Changing of the Guards

We arrived just as the Changing of the Guard was about to take place at 11 am. So before we entered the Castle we stood with the crowds outside to watch the soldiers march by. You can see them from inside the castle too if you happen to be inside by 11 am.

Audio Guide

One of the first things we did on arrival was collect a free audio tour. There is an adult audio tour or a family audio tour. We went for the family one and we found it excellent, especially for the children. There were interactive games, activities, and bite-sized bits of audio spoken in a way that was perfect for children. It gave us an excellent history of Windsor Castle, and even my 5-year-old stayed engaged the whole time. I also liked that it meant we could take our tour at our own pace.

St. George’s Chapel

This was probably our main reason for wanting to visit. Sadly no photos are allowed inside, although the benefit of that is that the people keep moving and you’re not constantly dodging cameras. Also, it makes you really focus on where you are rather than obsess about getting the perfect picture. It’s an absolutely stunning chapel and is the final resting place of an impressive list of Royals. This includes Henry VIII, Edward II, Edward III, King George VI, Charles II, and most recently the late Queen Elizabeth II. It is also the burial place of Jane Seymour, The Queen Mother, Princess Margaret, and Prince Phillip, the Duke of Edinburgh. It is really quite something.

Worth noting that the chapel is only open Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. Entrance numbers are limited post 2.30 pm due to high numbers currently.

It took us about an hour to walk through the whole chapel, and we were in a pretty constant stream of people the whole time. It wasn’t overwhelming though and the movement of people was managed really well.

State Apartments

The lavish state apartments are another reason to visit the Castle and are quite spectacular. I’ve visited a number of state apartments in various castles and palaces and I think these were the most impressive that I’ve seen.

Again the Audio Tour walks you through it, and it is pretty essential to get the full experience. Otherwise, it would be easy to miss the relevance of each room. There were some fantastic stories. Throughout the apartments there are regular places to take a seat as it can be a long time on your feet, sometimes it was nice to just sit down and take in the splendour of the room.

Some of the most poignant rooms are the ones that were damaged in the fire of 1992. I remember it so well and it is strange to see where the fire destroyed, and its subsequent rebuild.

Mary’s Doll House

The longest queue was to get to see Queen Mary’s Dolls House. However, it moved quickly and we were inside within 20 minutes. The dolls house is a sight to behold and the detail would take hours to fully take in.

Cafe

Within the State Apartments is the Cafe which had delicious fresh sandwiches and cakes. There were ample places to sit and options for most tastes. We always try to eat a bit earlier to avoid the rush and when we got there at midday there was lots of seats free.

Grounds

The grounds of the Castle are impressive, it is very imposing yet beautiful at the same time. I expect this is largely because the grounds are so carefully maintained and the flowers were starting to bloom in early March. In the summer months, it would be lovely to really explore the grounds and perhaps take a walk down the Long Walk which you can access from St Catherines Gate. This long elegant path stretches over 2 miles into Windsor Great Park and you get stunning views of Windsor Castle from it.

Summary

We had a great time at Windsor Castle and highly recommend a Windsor Castle day trip. This could easily be done as a day trip from London, or as a weekend break. There are lots of things to do in the surrounding area including Legoland Windsor which is just a few miles down the road. I would definitely suggest making sure you allow time to explore the beautiful Berkshire town of Windsor and perhaps do a bit of souvenir shopping in the quirky gift shops.

If you’d like to find out a bit more about visiting Legoland Windsor check out our comprehensive guide here.