Windsor and Eton

Windsor and Eton are twin towns, in Berkshire, in the South East of England, separated by the River Thames and joined by Windsor Bridge. Windsor is an ancient town most famous for its castle, construction of which began in 1075, and which is the largest and oldest occupied castle in the world. The royal standard flies from the keep of the Castle when the King is in residence.

Eton is a smaller town, dominated by Eton College, the ancient public school which educates many of England's establishment, especially those who go on to become politicians, judges and diplomats.

By plane
Windsor and Eton is well served by London's collection of airports and actually under the flight-path of Heathrow. For travellers coming directly to Windsor, the most convenient (in declining order of convenience) are:
 * Heathrow Airport is about  drive straight down the M4 (westbound) motorway. Alternatively the First bus route 77 and First bus route 71 both connect Heathrow Terminal 5 and Windsor, the former quicker routing via Slough and the latter via Staines. They both leave approximately every half hour taking about 35 – 55 minutes.
 * Gatwick Airport is about an hour's drive away via the M23 (northbound), M25 (clockwise), and M4 (westbound) motorways. With no through train or bus service, your best bet by public transport is to take the train into London and then follow the directions under Get in By Train below.
 * Stansted Airport is about 90 minutes drive away via the M11 (southbound), M25 (anti-clockwise) and M4 (westbound) motorways. With no through train or bus service, your best bet by public transport is to take the train into London and then follow the directions under Get in by train below.

By train
In Windsor and Eton, there are two railway stations, and   (see the National Rail website for up-to-date information about stations, fares, and schedules). Both stations are within walking distance of each other and Windsor Castle. Assuming that you will be coming from London the choice of which route to use probably comes down to how far from Waterloo and Paddington stations you will stay; depart from the nearest.


 * From London Waterloo – take any train to Windsor & Eton Riverside (two per hour, journey time approximately 50 min).
 * From London Paddington – take any train calling at Slough, then change to the connecting shuttle service to Windsor & Eton Central (two per hour, journey time approximately 30 min from London if you pick the right train)
 * From Reading – take any train to Slough. Change at Slough for the connecting rail service to Windsor & Eton Central.

Fares

 * London Paddington (PAD) to Windsor & Eton Central (WNC) £9.40 single
 * London Waterloo (WAT) to Windsor & Eton Riverside (WNR) £9.50 single
 * A return ticket costs £13.20 (as of 2013) regardless of which London station you come from or travel to. Nowhere else in England has seen such a steep rise in prices as this rail route, as the new fare system sees an increase of £4 for the return journey and is surely for operators to reap as much money from tourists eager to go to Windsor Castle.
 * Alternatively, if you do not mind mixing and matching tickets, or getting blank looks from ticket selling staff (you can avoid this by buying the tickets at the machine), you can lower the costs of the journey by buying a ticket from PAD to WAT (or vice versa) via Windsor [All Stations].
 * If you buy a return ticket from PAD to WAT via Windsor [All Stations], you should depart from PAD, change at Slough, and arrive at WNC. For the return journey, you can depart from WNR and arrive at WAT; you can also depart from WNC, change at Slough, and arrive at PAD. (If you choose to return from WNR, you can visit Windsor again on the same day (with trains in the opposite direction) or sell it to another person willing to go to Windsor, thus halving the cost of your journey to £4.20.)
 * If you buy a return ticket from WAT to PAD via Windsor [All Stations], you should depart from WAT and arrive at WNR. For the return journey, you can depart from WNR and arrive at WAT; you can also depart from WNC, change at Slough, and arrive at PAD. (If you choose to return from WNC, you can visit Windsor again on the same day (with trains in the opposite direction) or sell it to another person willing to go to Windsor, thus halving the cost of your journey to £4.20.)
 * A single ticket (which in fact covers a return journey) costs £5.30. You should only use this option if you do not mind departing London from one station and returning to another. If you include the Underground in your ticket, it costs only £4.30. For example, starting/finishing your journey at Marylebone (for the PAD part) or London Bridge (for the WAT part). You can get this ticket for as little as £2.80 if you buy it for the early morning hours, but then you may have to use private transit for a part of your journey in London.
 * If you buy a single ticket from PAD to WAT via Windsor [All Stations], you should depart from PAD, change at Slough and arrive at WNC. For the return journey, you should depart from WNR and arrive at WAT.
 * If you buy a single ticket from WAT to PAD via Windsor [All Stations], you should depart from WAT and arrive at WNR. For the return journey, you should depart from WNC, change at Slough, and arrive at PAD.

By bus

 * From London (Buckingham Palace Road, Victoria): Greenline coach 700/701/702 (journey time approximately 1 hour).
 * From London (Heathrow Airport): First 77 (journey time approximately 40 minutes).

By car
Windsor is served by the M4 motorway (freeway) which runs from London to Bristol and South Wales. It is about an hour's drive from central London. The best junction to use is J6.

Park and ride facilities are available at 2 sites; see National Park and Ride Directory.

By bicycle
Windsor lies on National Cycle Route 4 (London — St David's).

By tour
There are numerous sightseeing tour companies that offer tours by coach from London to Windsor in a day and these tours can also include Stonehenge and Bath.

Get around
If you are planning to do any visiting or exploring beyond central Windsor and Eton, you will probably want to obtain a decent map of the area. You should ensure that any map you buy clearly shows the national grid reference lines, and explains how to use them, as grid references are frequently used to indicate out of town locations. For driving or cycling, Ordnance Survey Landranger 175 (scale 1:50000) covers Windsor and to the west, including all the places mentioned below except Runnymede and Ordnance Survey Landranger 176 (scale 1:50000) covers the area to the east, including Runnymede. For walking, Ordnance Survey Explorer 160 (scale 1:25000).

By foot
Neither Windsor nor Eton is desperately large and walking is a good way around the central area. For example it will take you no more than 15 minutes to walk from Eton College Chapel to Windsor Castle. Several streets, including Windsor Bridge and Peascod Street (the main shopping street) are pedestrianised. Short walk in central Windsor using map with pop-up images

By bus
Windsor has a reasonable bus service, both within the town and to the surrounding area, although frequencies can be quite low with little service in the evenings or on Sunday.
 * First Berkshire,, provides most bus services in the area.
 * Traveline, from within the UK, provide an impartial online travel planner and telephone query service for all local bus services.

By car
Neither Windsor nor Eton is big enough to get really congested, although traffic delays can be severe on summer weekend mornings and evenings, when Legoland is popular, and on evenings when there is horse-racing at Windsor racecourse. One issue that you may find in driving around Windsor and Eton is that Windsor Bridge is for pedestrians only. To get between Windsor and Eton requires you to drive out to the Windsor by-pass, cross the river on that, then go most of the way into Slough before taking the old Windsor Road from that town back into Eton; it is easily quicker to walk.

Central Windsor and Eton
These places to see are all within the central area of Windsor or within Eton just across Windsor Bridge. They are all within easy walking distance of each other, the main shopping centre and both railway stations.



No photography or video recording in the State Apartments and St George's Chapel.





Surrounding areas
These places to see are a little further out; some are accessible by longer walks, others will require the use of car, bike or public transport.

Buy
Windsor is definitely not a "clone-town" centred on a shopping centre. Rather, its shopping is centred on Peascod Street (the high street), King Edward Court, Thames Street, Windsor Royal Station and St Leonard's Road. It has many independent fashion boutiques such as Michael Chell and Coco; and of course large retail chains such as H&M and Monsoon. It also has a variety of specialist retailers such as Molton Brown, Hotel Chocolat (extremely tasty handmade chocolate), Havana House Fine Cigar Merchants, and Oil and Vinegar. There are far too many different shops that a visitor can step into, so they are not all named, instead take a walk through the places listed and enjoy the atmosphere of one of the most beautiful towns in England.



Eat

 * opened in 2021 on Crimp Hill in Old Windsor. It serves modern British cuisine and is open M-F 12:00-15:00, 17:00-22:00, Sa Su 12:00-21:00.
 * opened in 2021 on Crimp Hill in Old Windsor. It serves modern British cuisine and is open M-F 12:00-15:00, 17:00-22:00, Sa Su 12:00-21:00.
 * opened in 2021 on Crimp Hill in Old Windsor. It serves modern British cuisine and is open M-F 12:00-15:00, 17:00-22:00, Sa Su 12:00-21:00.
 * opened in 2021 on Crimp Hill in Old Windsor. It serves modern British cuisine and is open M-F 12:00-15:00, 17:00-22:00, Sa Su 12:00-21:00.
 * opened in 2021 on Crimp Hill in Old Windsor. It serves modern British cuisine and is open M-F 12:00-15:00, 17:00-22:00, Sa Su 12:00-21:00.
 * opened in 2021 on Crimp Hill in Old Windsor. It serves modern British cuisine and is open M-F 12:00-15:00, 17:00-22:00, Sa Su 12:00-21:00.
 * opened in 2021 on Crimp Hill in Old Windsor. It serves modern British cuisine and is open M-F 12:00-15:00, 17:00-22:00, Sa Su 12:00-21:00.
 * opened in 2021 on Crimp Hill in Old Windsor. It serves modern British cuisine and is open M-F 12:00-15:00, 17:00-22:00, Sa Su 12:00-21:00.
 * opened in 2021 on Crimp Hill in Old Windsor. It serves modern British cuisine and is open M-F 12:00-15:00, 17:00-22:00, Sa Su 12:00-21:00.
 * opened in 2021 on Crimp Hill in Old Windsor. It serves modern British cuisine and is open M-F 12:00-15:00, 17:00-22:00, Sa Su 12:00-21:00.

Drink
Windsor is a small, compact and cosy town, so you won't need a taxi if you're thinking of going from bar to bar.

Windsor is peppered with pubs, bars and a couple of clubs, some of these nestle neatly on the bank of the Thames, these are definitely worth a visit, especially come the summer months - they are expensive mind, so make sure your packing plastic if you're up for more than a couple of rounds.

There are a handful of venues to be found under the shadow of the Castle (Thames street) most of these are of the chain variety, one of which is the cheapest place in town to eat and drink, all the venues on Thames street are popular with Windsor's smartly dressed workers and picture happy cosmopolitan tourists.

The arches (2 minutes walk) from the Castle are home to Windsor’s late night venues, clubs and style bars, most of these will require you to be smartly dressed. Expect queues on busy nights of the week and higher than average drinks prices! The arches are well worth a visit, the bars found here are housed inside old Victorian railway arches, which make them a really atmospheric choice and a great place to wind up or wind down - depending on your mood.

The edge of town, bottom of Peascod Street, just 2 minutes walk from the arches, is where you’ll find Windsor’s affluent residents socialising, cafe culture is certainly alive in this part of town, and in the summer months people spill onto the pedestrianised streets till very late 7 nights a week, it’s a great spot for people watching and unwinding from a day out. There is a good selection of restaurants to be found down here, probably the best in town, so well worth the short walk. If you’re looking to tap in the local scene and fill your belly this is where to go.

Windsor is also home to some excellent traditional English pubs serving great real ale and good English pub grub, a comprehensive guide to Windsor’s pubs, bars and what’s on is WindsorGo.



Sleep
There are many hotels in Windsor, some are right opposite the Castle, but don't expect cheap rooms from them. Contact the Royal Windsor Information Centre for further information on guest houses, hotels and self-catering accommodation. .

Connect
There a lots of cafés, pubs and bars in Windsor with free WiFi internet hotspots.

Windsor's area code (for landline numbers) is +44 1753 when dialled from outside the United Kingdom or 01753 from within.

Go next

 * Ascot