A Royal Castle with a thousand years of royal history, Windsor Castle is still an active palace and royal residence. It is both grandiose and beautiful. From the sheer height and size of the stone walls, the monumental central tower, to just seeing the palace guards in their furry hats and red outfits, visiting the Windsor Castle is a special experience and something you should plan a full day for.
Windsor Castle History
Windsor Castle is huge! It is the oldest and largest working castle in the world. William the Conqueror started construction of the palace in 1070, and it took 16 years to complete the initial castle. He selected the strategic spot based on height as a good location to protect the western entrance to London. The castle is located only 22 miles from Buckingham Palace.
Over 40 reigning monarchs have lived in the palace. It has been a royal residence since King Henry I. King Henry VIII used it as an entertainment venue and Queen Victoria spent much of her time at Windsor. It was a favorite weekend retreat for Queen Elizabeth II.
Visiting Windsor Castle
The castle has over 300 working fireplaces, 400 clocks, and over 1,000 rooms. It also has the oldest working Royal Kitchen (which you can tour). You can also see the Changing of the Guard at Windsor on Thursdays and Saturdays at 11 am if you time your visit accordingly.
A Devastating Fire at Windsor
While there have been various fires over the years, a serious and damaging one occurred in 1992 that destroyed several rooms. We were told it was due to a hot lightbulb touching a curtain and further exacerbated by old timbers stored inside the stone walls that were not known about at the time.
The fire damaged over 100 rooms but fortunately the timing was such that some of the rooms were under renovation and most of the artwork had been removed and was thus saved. It cost today’s equivalent of over 70 million pounds to repair and was financed by the opening of Buckingham Palace to visitors.
Windsor Castle Collections
The castle hosts an amazing collection of artwork by Reubens, Michelangelo, Rembrandt and more. From paintings to furniture to antique collectibles and displays of gifts to the monarchy. All can be viewed when touring the State Apartments.
We would recommend you get the audio guide as there is very little signage and this will help you recognize the many masterpieces. Alternatively, they also sell a guidebook.
The China Collection
One of the first exhibits as you make your way into the State Apartments is the display of various sets of China dishes. Intricately made with delicate flowers and all manner of decorations these sets were stunning.
Great Kitchen Tour
The immense kitchen is the oldest known working royal kitchen in existence. Much had to be rebuilt following the 1992 fire including the huge kitchen roof. When replacing some of the destroyed wooden beams, they carbon-dated them and came to realize the roof was the original from the 13th century.
The kitchen tour guides were great! They shared a few tidbits about everything from the facilities to the celebrations and the processes showing us pictures of the humongous 162-seat table used for royal banquets.
The large fireplace had a spit that was rigged to be automatically driven by the escaping heat going up the chimney of the fireplace. Very innovative for the times!
It wasn’t until just a few years ago that a lift was added to carry trays of food. Up until then each tray with perhaps 6-8 servings was brought up the stairs on foot. The kitchen would make an extra 20 plates over the 162 servings ‘in case’ of any mishaps.
In 1671 King Charles II served ice cream to his esteemed guests on the Windsor Castle’s menu. It is the first known recorded serving of this delicacy.
Princess Margaret as a child would help make the butter packs with her sister Princess Elisabeth. The children would enjoy stamping them with the Royal Crown emblem.
State Apartments Tour
This is the main highlight of the Windsor Castle tour as you get to enter the furnished and decorated State Apartments used by the royal family. Of course, only a subset of rooms is available for the visit as the royal family uses the more private buildings that are well fenced in and always guarded.
What has been made accessible to the public is also beautifully furnished with lots of amazing artifacts and heirlooms put into displays. This rich collection is on the same level as what we’ve seen touring castles such as Chantilly, Versailles, Fontainebleau, Buckingham Palace and the Royal Palace of Turin.
Because it’s a working palace, all the riches remain in the castle unlike some of the ruins and emptied royal castles that we’ve seen such as Hampton Court Palace that is no longer used.
Since it is a private residence and still in use, photography and videography is strictly prohibited. There are multiple guides in each room, and it seems that they must say ‘no photos’ at least 100 times an hour. It was both funny and sad to see the people of all ages trying to sneak photos everywhere and getting caught and reprimanded.
The items are stunning, and we can understand the temptation. If it would have been allowed, we’d have hundreds of photos ourselves. If you really want a record and a souvenir, buy the guidebook that cost only £6 and also gives historical facts and descriptions of various highlighted artifacts.
All the guides are knowledgeable and helpful, and you also get the sense that they would know what they are doing should any trouble arise.
While the audio guide has helpful info, do ask questions. For example, we saw some white tiles in place of crests on the ceiling in the immense St George’s Hall. We thought they might be in restoration but no, these represent disgraced families who had been beheaded so their coats of arms were removed. Gruesome indeed.
Unless being used for royal functions most of the rooms in the State Apartments tour are open. The Semi-State Rooms are closed in the summer months reopening in September.
The Ceremonial Rooms include the gilded Grand Reception Room with its huge malachite urn received from the tsar of Russia in 1839. And the Waterloo Chamber which are both breathtaking.
The historic rooms include the Queen’s Drawing Room with its intricately painted ceiling. Historically only the smallest of inner circles would have had access to these rooms and the close proximity to the queen. The King and Queen’s bedchambers include historic beds, paintings and artifacts.
St George’s Chapel
We were lucky enough to get access to St George’s Chapel. Normally closed Sundays, except for services, we were told by a kind guide that it was exceptionally open on the Sunday we visited. Great news. This spectacular chapel is where many monarchs are buried including Queen Elizabeth II, George VI, Henry VIII alongside his favorite wife, Queen Jane Seymore.
In 1475 King Edward IV commissioned the construction of St George’s Chapel as it looks today. It’s one of England’s finest examples of Gothic architecture and we were delighted by its lavish interior. The audio guide was helpful to point out the highlights.
Conquer the Tower Tour
This tour takes you up to the top of the Round Tower at Windsor Castle. In the flag room, we got a closer look of the 25-meter flagpole made of Douglas fir, a gift from Canada in the 1800s.
Climbing the 200 steps to the rooftop terrace of the tower was well worth it for the spectacular panoramic vistas of the historic city of Windsor, the Thames River, Winsor Castle, St George’s Chapel, and on a clear day even the London skyline.
Finally, we were allowed to take some pictures but only of the surrounding area as taking photographs in the direction of King Charles’ private buildings was prohibited.
It is imperative to book this tour ahead.
Queen Mary’s Dolls’ House
Probably the most famous dollhouse in the world, Queen Mary’s Dolls’ House is a must-see at Windsor Castle. The house was built between 1921 and 1924 for Queen Mary. It’s fully furnished with lavish décor and all content are miniature work of arts. It has everything you would expect to see in a Royal Palace. It even includes electricity and running water!
Not what I expected at all. This miniature doll house is a gem and worth waiting in the long queue to get to see it.
Moat Garden
Well worth the nominal £3 entry fee, the Moat Garden was filled with beautiful blooms, a small pond, and great views of the castle. Moneys collected go to charity.
Good to know
- Timed tickets are sold every half hour starting at 9:30am and we’d strongly recommend you get these in advance if visiting in the busy summer months. When checking online the day of our pre-booked visit, we noted that tickets were unavailable for over a week. Be sure to book these in advance.
- There is a general admission ticket that allows you into the main areas of the castle inclusive of the State Apartments. You can also top up your tickets with a Conquer the Tower Tour and/or a Great Kitchen Tour. While our tickets didn’t originally include these, we were lucky enough to get those while on site. Pre-booking would be recommended for these tours also. On the day of our visit, we were able to get the late 4 pm the tower climbing tour which was all that was available. Fortunately for us we had the whole day allocated to the visit, so it was not a problem. There was also a separate Moat Garden entrance fee which is paid at the gate (and goes to charity). This was also well worth a few pounds to visit.
- Windsor Castle is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, and St George’s Chapel is usually closed on Sundays. We were very lucky to find it open on the Sunday of our visit. And it was amazing to see so one should definitely plan a visit around being able to access it.
- There are also additional apartments, the Semi-State Rooms, that are not accessible in the summer months that reopen in September. This would probably be a great time to visit with less tourists, lower hotel rates, and cooler weather.
Conclusion
We are so glad that we included Windsor Castle in our road trip itinerary in Southern England. Windsor is by far one of the United Kingdom’s most impressive castles that we have had the pleasure of visiting. A must-see royal medieval palace with a thousand years of history! Founded by William the Conqueror in the 11th century, Winsor Castle has been home to 40 monarchs. And it’s still one of the official residences of His Majesty King Charles III.
Windsor is connected to London by train so it can also be possible to visit as a day trip from London. There is also a bus (Flightline 703) that links Heathrow Airport to Windsor (alternatively, you can take a taxi but be ready to pay the piper!). So perhaps with a bit of advance planning the castle could also be visited during a long layover in London.
We certainly had our share of these (10 to 12 hours layovers) while flying to Johannesburg, South Africa. It would be a lot more fun to head to Windsor or even into London instead of just sitting around at the airport. The nearby Kew Royal Botanic Gardens would also be another idea on how to spend a long layover in London.