Windsor Castle Tours from London

Decide first how much of the day Windsor deserves. Royal Collection Trust suggests allowing 1½ to 2 hours for the castle, which covers the State Apartments and St George's Chapel but not much of the town. On a combo tour, Windsor is one stop of two or three, so expect the castle and little else.

• Windsor + Stonehenge (9 hours): the sweet spot. Two stops, less time on the bus, back in London for dinner.
• Windsor + Stonehenge + Bath (11 hours to 12.5 hours): the classic, and long. The Premium Tours version adds a pub lunch in Lacock.
• Windsor + Stonehenge + Oxford (11.5 hours): trades Bath for a guided walk past Oxford's colleges, seen from outside.

Read the option names before you pay. The same tour is usually sold with no entries, Stonehenge only, or all entries included, and only the last gets you inside Windsor Castle. Expect an early start, too: Evan Evans Tours boards from 8am at Victoria Coach Station for an 8:30am departure.

Windsor Castle opens five days a week, Thursday to Monday, and is closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Combo tours still run on those days, but you won't get inside: Premium Tours, for example, gives you free time in Windsor town instead on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and December 25–26.

St George's Chapel is open to visitors on Monday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday and closed to sightseers on Sundays, when it's used for services. It also closes at 4pm, earlier than the rest of the castle.

The wild card is short-notice closures. Royal Collection Trust warns that, as a working royal palace, opening arrangements can change at short notice. Operators plan for it: Premium Tours swaps in Queen Mary's Dolls' House and the castle precincts if the State Apartments are shut. Check rct.uk the day before, and see our full guide to Windsor Castle opening days and closures.

If your dates are flexible, aim for a Thursday or Saturday: the castle and St George's Chapel are both open, and Changing the Guard is on the schedule. Mondays and Fridays get you the castle and chapel without the ceremony, and Sundays the castle without the chapel.

The two Windsor-only coach half days we found both leave from Victoria, and neither matches the combo tours on reviews. Premium Tours's 6.5 hours trip includes castle entry and a local guide, from $131, with optional upgrades to a pub lunch back in London or a London Eye ride. It's rated 4.13.

Evan Evans Tours's half day is the cheapest coach option at $53, but read the fine print: there's no tour guide, castle entry is only on the "including entry" option, and inside you're on your own with the multimedia guide. It's rated 3.86, the lowest here. If you're happy to go solo inside the castle, the train gives you more freedom for similar effort.

Windsor is the easiest castle trip from London to do yourself. Royal Collection Trust puts the train at under an hour, and there are two stations, both less than 10 minutes' walk from the castle: Windsor & Eton Central (from Paddington, changing at Slough) and Windsor & Eton Riverside (direct from Waterloo, with a steep walk up the hill).

Book castle tickets on rct.uk. For 2026, adult admission is £32 booked in advance or £36 on the day. If you'd like the town's stories too, Walking Tours in England runs a 90 minutes walk from the Guildhall at 11am and 2pm for $19; castle entry isn't included.

The Household Division schedules Changing the Guard at Windsor Castle at 11am on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, weather permitting, and never on Sundays. It takes place inside the castle precincts, so you need a castle ticket to watch, and with the castle closed on Tuesdays, Thursday and Saturday are the realistic days.

None of the coach tours above promises you'll be in place at 11am. If the ceremony matters, go by train on a Thursday or Saturday and be through security well before it starts. For the London ceremony at Buckingham Palace, see our Changing of the Guard guide.

Timescape Tours runs a 4.5 hours private half day with hotel pickup, rated 4.97. Options are priced per party (four to six people), from $847 for the group, and castle tickets are extra: the guide tells you which time slot to book. Inside the State Apartments and chapel you use the castle's audio guide, so the guiding happens on the drive and around the precincts.

If you'd rather spend a private day further afield, compare our Stonehenge tours and Oxford day trips.