London to Windsor Day Trip

There are a lot of grand-sounding day trips you can do from London, and most of them eat your whole day in transit. Windsor doesn’t. You can be standing in the shadow of the largest occupied castle on Earth less than an hour after leaving central London, watch a guard change at eleven, walk a tree-lined avenue that a king once rode down, and still be home for dinner.

A London to Windsor day trip is the easiest royal outing you can build from the city. The town is small, walkable, and stacked: a working castle the King still uses, a chapel where Henry VIII and Queen Elizabeth II are both buried, a river you can cruise, and — if you’ve got kids in tow — a Lego theme park a short bus ride away. Half a day covers the headline. A full day lets you breathe.

I’ve done this trip more times than I can count, from both train stations, with friends, alone, and once dragging two over-excited children toward Legoland. Here’s how I’d plan it now, what’s worth your money, and the small decisions (which station, which day) that make the difference between a smooth outing and a frustrating one.

Quick Answer: Is a London to Windsor Day Trip Worth It?

Yes — a London to Windsor day trip is one of the best-value half-day escapes from the city. Trains run from Waterloo direct (around 55 minutes) or from Paddington via Slough (around 35-40 minutes total). Windsor Castle, the Changing the Guard ceremony, the Long Walk and the riverside are all within a short stroll of each other.

At a Glance: The Two Train Routes Compared

You have two honest options, and they land you at two different stations on opposite sides of town. Neither is “wrong” — it depends on where you’re starting in London and whether you mind a short walk.

	South Western Railway	Great Western Railway
From	London Waterloo	London Paddington
To	Windsor & Eton Riverside	Windsor & Eton Central (change at Slough)
Journey time	Around 55 min, direct	Around 35-40 min total (with the change)
Changes	None	One, at Slough (cross-platform, ~5-7 min)
Walk to the castle	~8-10 min, slightly uphill	~2-3 min, basically opposite
Rough off-peak return	Around £13 (as of 2026)	Around £12-14 (as of 2026)
Frequency	Roughly every 30 min	Roughly every 20-30 min

Fares and times shift, so check South Western Railway, GWR or National Rail before you travel. A Railcard knocks roughly a third off either route, and off-peak tickets generally kick in after the morning rush (around 09:00 out of London).

Getting There: Waterloo or Paddington?

This is the one decision people overthink. Let me make it simple.

If you’re near the West End, Bayswater, or anywhere on the Elizabeth line or the Bakerloo/Circle/District/Hammersmith & City lines, go from Paddington. The fast GWR train to Slough takes around 17-22 minutes, then you cross the platform for a short shuttle (about 6 minutes) into Windsor & Eton Central. When it all connects, the total can be under 40 minutes — sometimes closer to 30 if the shuttle is waiting. The big advantage: Central station sits almost directly opposite the castle entrance. You step off the train and you’re basically there.

If you’re south of the river or it’s easy to reach Waterloo, go from Waterloo. South Western Railway runs a direct train, no changes, to Windsor & Eton Riverside in around 55 minutes. It’s slower but simpler — you sit down once and get off in Windsor. The trade-off is a walk from Riverside up to the castle. It’s not far, maybe 8-10 minutes, but it’s gently uphill, which matters if anyone in your group struggles with slopes.

My honest take: I prefer the direct Waterloo train when I’m not in a hurry, because changing at Slough with luggage or tired kids can feel fiddly. But if I’m trying to maximise time in Windsor, Paddington via Slough wins, and Central station’s position right by the gate is hard to argue with.

Either way, don’t drive. Windsor’s car parks fill and the trains are genuinely easy. Buy tickets on your phone, tap in, done.

Windsor Castle: What to See and How to Plan It

Windsor Castle is the reason most people come, and it deserves the billing. It’s been a royal home for over 900 years, it’s the largest inhabited castle in the world, and unlike a lot of “castles” that are really ruins or museums, this one is genuinely lived in. The King still uses it. That fact shapes everything about visiting — including when you can and can’t get in.

Tickets and prices

Buy online in advance through the Royal Collection Trust (rct.uk). As of 2026, an adult ticket is around £32 in advance and around £36 on the day; under-18s are roughly £16 advance / £18 on the day; under-5s go free. Booking ahead is cheaper and lets you skip the ticket queue, which on a busy summer Saturday is reason enough on its own. Prices change, so confirm on rct.uk.

One quirk worth knowing: your ticket usually converts to a 1-Year Pass if you get it stamped on the way out — handy if you somehow end up back in Windsor within twelve months.

When it’s open (and when it isn’t)

This is the bit people get wrong. As of 2026, Windsor Castle is generally open Thursday to Monday and closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Opening is roughly 10:00, with last admission in the early-to-mid afternoon (it’s earlier in summer than you’d expect, often around 15:00 in peak months), and the castle clears by late afternoon.

Because it’s a working royal residence, the whole castle — or just the State Apartments — can close at short notice when it’s in official use. When the State Apartments are shut, tickets are usually discounted, but you’ll have travelled for less. The Royal Collection Trust publishes closures, so it’s genuinely worth a thirty-second check on rct.uk the night before, especially around major royal occasions.

The State Apartments

These are the showpiece: room after room of gilded ceilings, Old Master paintings, armour, and the kind of scale that’s hard to photograph. St George’s Hall, with its run of heraldic shields along the ceiling, is the one that stops people in their tracks. Give the apartments a proper hour — there’s a free multimedia guide, and rushing them is a waste.

Queen Mary’s Dolls’ House

Don’t skip this on the way in. It’s an enormous, absurdly detailed miniature house built in the 1920s, with working lights, running water, tiny bottles of real wine in the cellar and a library of miniature books written by famous authors of the day. It sounds like a curiosity; it’s quietly astonishing. The queue for it can bottleneck, so it’s often smartest to do it early.

St George’s Chapel

A masterpiece of late Gothic architecture and one of the most important royal churches in the country. Ten monarchs are buried here, including Henry VIII (alongside Jane Seymour) and, since 2022, Queen Elizabeth II. It’s also where Harry and Meghan married in 2018.

Crucial planning note: St George’s Chapel is closed to sightseers on Sundays — it’s reserved for worship that day, and services are open to anyone free of charge, no castle ticket needed. So if seeing the chapel’s interior matters to you, don’t come on a Sunday. Inside the castle on other open days, chapel access can also be limited later in the afternoon, so see it before mid-afternoon to be safe.

Realistically, allow two and a half to three hours inside the castle to do the apartments, the chapel and the dolls’ house without sprinting.

Changing the Guard at Windsor

Most visitors associate the Changing the Guard with Buckingham Palace, but Windsor’s version is, in my opinion, better — you’re closer, the crowds are thinner, and the soldiers march right through the town to get there.

As of 2026, the Windsor Castle guard change happens provisionally on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays at around 11:00. The catch: Tuesdays the castle itself is closed, so on a Tuesday you can watch the ceremony from outside but can’t go in. For most day-trippers, Thursday or Saturday is the sweet spot — castle open and a guard change on the same day.

The procession starts before the ceremony: the New Guard steps off from Victoria Barracks on Sheet Street at around 10:45 and marches up through the town centre, band playing, to the castle. Position yourself along the route or near the castle for the best view. It’s a real ceremony, not a performance, and it’s free.

It can be cancelled in bad weather, and the schedule does change. Check the official Household Division site (householddivision.org.uk) before you build your day around it — that’s the source the rest of the internet copies from.

The Long Walk, the Town and the River

Once you’re out of the castle, don’t just head straight back to the station. The best free thing in Windsor is right there.

The Long Walk to the Copper Horse

From the castle’s George IV Gateway, a dead-straight, tree-lined avenue runs about 2.64 miles into Windsor Great Park to a hilltop statue of George III on horseback — the Copper Horse. The full out-and-back is over five miles, which is more than most day-trippers want. But you don’t need to do all of it. Walk ten or fifteen minutes down the avenue, turn around, and you get the picture-perfect view back toward the castle that you’ve seen in a hundred photos. It’s flat, it’s free, and it’s the single best way to understand the scale of the place. If you’re feeling energetic and have a full day, the walk to the Copper Horse and back is a lovely way to fill an afternoon.

The town

Windsor’s centre is compact and genuinely pleasant — cobbled lanes, independent shops, plenty of pubs and cafes for lunch. The old Guildhall (where Charles and Camilla married in 2005) is worth a glance; locals will tell you about the famous “leaning” columns that don’t quite reach the ceiling. You can fill a happy hour here without trying.

Boat trips on the Thames

If the weather’s kind, a river cruise is a lovely, low-effort way to see Windsor from the water. French Brothers run frequent trips from Windsor Promenade on Barry Avenue — the standard 40-minute round trip costs around £13.50 on the day or roughly £11.90 booked online (as of 2026), with cheaper child and family fares. It glides past Eton College, the racecourse and the meadows. It’s not a must-do, but on a sunny afternoon with an hour to spare it’s a small pleasure, and it gives your feet a rest after the castle’s hills.

Across the Bridge: Eton and Eton High Street

Walk five minutes from the castle, over the pedestrian bridge across the Thames, and you’re in Eton — a single long, handsome high street of antique shops, galleries, pubs and old buildings, leading up to Eton College, the famous boarding school founded in 1440.

Be realistic about visiting the college itself, though. As of 2026, Eton College’s public Heritage Tours are suspended for the year due to building works, so you can’t tour the historic interiors the way you could before. What you can still do is wander Eton High Street, see the college buildings from outside, and — if you happen to be there on a Sunday afternoon — visit Eton’s museums and galleries, which are open free to the public on Sundays roughly 1:30-4:00pm. Confirm details on the college’s own site before relying on it, as access changes.

Even without a tour, Eton High Street is worth the short stroll. It’s quieter than the Windsor side, the architecture is lovely, and the pubs are good. If you see boys in tailcoats, that’s just the school uniform.

Windsor With Kids: Legoland

If you’ve got children, Windsor has an ace up its sleeve: Legoland Windsor Resort, a proper theme park a couple of miles outside town. It’s a brilliant family day out — but be warned, it’s its own full-day commitment, not a castle add-on. Trying to do both Windsor Castle and Legoland in one day with kids is a recipe for meltdowns. Pick one.

Tickets: As of 2026, day tickets start from around £34 when booked in advance online, with prices rising on weekends and school holidays (dynamic pricing means dates vary). Buying at the gate is much more expensive — often around £68 — so always book ahead on legoland.co.uk. Under-3s usually go free.

Getting there: From Windsor town centre, the easiest option is the shuttle bus. The 702/703 Green Line service runs roughly every 30 minutes from near the Theatre Royal and takes around 10-15 minutes; it’s about £3 for an adult one way, and children often travel free (check current fares). GWR also sells combined train-and-bus deals to Legoland, which can work out tidy if you’re coming straight from London.

For more on building a trip around younger travellers, our guide to England with kids has ideas beyond Windsor, and the broader England with kids itinerary helps if Legoland is one stop on a longer trip.

Is Half a Day Enough? And Combining Windsor

Half a day is plenty for the headline. If you train out mid-morning, tour the castle (2.5-3 hours), catch the guard change, and grab lunch in town, you can be back in London by late afternoon. That’s the trip most people do, and it’s a good one.

A full day lets you add the Long Walk properly, a river cruise, a wander into Eton, and a relaxed lunch. If you like to linger, take the whole day — Windsor rewards it.

What about combining Windsor with somewhere else? Honestly, doing Windsor and Hampton Court Palace in one day under your own steam by train is awkward — the connection between them isn’t direct and you’ll spend the day rushing two large sites. I’d do them on separate days. The exception is an organised coach tour: several full-day tours from London pair Windsor with Hampton Court (or with Stonehenge and Bath) and handle all the logistics for you. If your time in England is tight, a guided tour that bundles Windsor with Stonehenge can be an efficient way to tick off several icons in one go — though you’ll trade flexibility for convenience.

If you’re weighing Windsor against other options, our hub on the best day trips from London by train lays them out side by side, and the wider full day trip guide pillar covers everything from coast to countryside. For castle lovers specifically, Windsor is a highlight in our roundup of England’s castles and historic sites.

Practical Tips and Accessibility

A few things I’d tell a friend before they go:

• Pick your day around the closures. Avoid Tuesday and Wednesday (castle shut), avoid Sunday if you want inside St George’s Chapel, and aim for Thursday or Saturday if you want the guard change and castle access.
• Book the castle online the night before, and check rct.uk for any short-notice closures.
• Allow for airport-style security on entry to the castle — bags are checked and there are restrictions on what you can bring.
• Wear comfortable shoes. Windsor is hilly in places, and the castle grounds involve a fair bit of walking and some cobbles.
• Eat in town, not at the station. Windsor and Eton both have good pubs and cafes.

On accessibility: Windsor Castle is broadly wheelchair accessible. The Royal Collection Trust offers free loan manual wheelchairs on a first-come basis, and there’s step-free access to the State Apartments via lifts and a platform lift on the North Terrace, though the route up from the admission centre is uphill with limited seating. The Long Walk is flat and step-free and is one of the more accessible attractions in town. If you’re travelling with specific mobility needs, the castle’s own mobility-access pages on rct.uk are detailed and worth reading, and our guide to accessible England travel covers wider trip planning.

For getting around the capital before and after, our London public transport for tourists guide explains the Tube and contactless tapping, and the broader England transport pillar covers the national rail network if Windsor is part of a longer journey. First-timers building a city base might also like our London guide.

Final Thoughts

Windsor is the day trip I recommend most often to first-timers, and for good reason: it’s close, it’s easy, and it delivers a genuine royal experience without a long slog. Get the train sorted, book the castle ahead, dodge the closed days, and you’ll have one of the most satisfying half-days England can offer — a real working castle, a guard change, and a walk down an avenue fit for a king. Stay for the river and Eton if you can. It’s worth every minute.

Research and Source Notes

Train times and fares checked against South Western Railway (southwesternrailway.com), Great Western Railway (gwr.com) and National Rail. Castle tickets, opening days, State Apartments and St George’s Chapel access verified via the Royal Collection Trust (rct.uk). Changing the Guard schedule from the Household Division (householddivision.org.uk). Legoland prices and shuttle details from legoland.co.uk and GWR; boat trips from French Brothers (frenchbrothers.co.uk). All prices, times and opening days are approximate and “as of 2026” — they change frequently, so confirm with the official sources before you travel.

Photo Credits

• Windsor Castle seen from the town on a London to Windsor day trip — Photo: Diego Delso / CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons. Source
• Windsor & Eton Central station, a short walk from the castle on a London to Windsor day trip — Photo: mattbuck (category) / CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons. Source
• St George’s Chapel inside Windsor Castle, burial place of ten monarchs — Photo: Immanuel Giel (CC0) via Wikimedia Commons. Source
• The Long Walk leading from Windsor Castle toward the Copper Horse — Photo: Bill Boaden / CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons. Source
• Legoland Windsor, an easy family add-on to a London to Windsor day trip — Photo: Dave Catchpole / CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons. Source

? Frequently asked questions

How long does it take to get from London to Windsor by train?

Around 55 minutes direct from London Waterloo to Windsor & Eton Riverside on South Western Railway, or roughly 35-40 minutes from London Paddington to Windsor & Eton Central via a change at Slough on GWR (as of 2026). The Paddington route is faster and drops you right by the castle; Waterloo is slower but direct. Times change, so check before travelling.

How much time do you need at Windsor Castle?

Allow around two and a half to three hours inside Windsor Castle to see the State Apartments, St George’s Chapel and Queen Mary’s Dolls’ House without rushing. Add the Changing the Guard, lunch and the Long Walk, and a comfortable half day in Windsor runs about four to five hours, plus your return train to London.

What days is Windsor Castle closed?

As of 2026, Windsor Castle is generally closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and open Thursday to Monday. Because it’s a working royal residence, the whole castle or just the State Apartments can also close at short notice for official use. St George’s Chapel is additionally closed to sightseers on Sundays. Always check rct.uk before you go.

What days is the Changing the Guard at Windsor?

As of 2026, the Windsor Castle guard change takes place provisionally on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays at around 11:00, with the New Guard marching through town from about 10:45. It can be cancelled in bad weather, and the castle itself is closed on Tuesdays. Confirm the schedule on the Household Division’s official site before planning your visit.

Can you visit Eton College on a day trip from Windsor?

You can walk across the bridge to Eton in about five minutes and stroll the high street and see the college from outside any day. However, as of 2026 the college’s public Heritage Tours are suspended for building works, so interior tours aren’t running. Eton’s museums and galleries open free to the public on Sunday afternoons. Check the college website for current access.

Is Windsor or Hampton Court better for a day trip?

Both make excellent day trips, but I wouldn’t try to combine them by train in one day — the connection is awkward and you’ll rush. Windsor offers a working royal castle, the guard change and a riverside town; Hampton Court offers Tudor history and famous gardens. Do them on separate days, or take an organised coach tour that pairs them.