Heathrow to Windsor and Legoland

Published 28 September 2026 · By the Guide to London editorial team · Editor: Terje Moy

Windsor is twelve miles from Heathrow, and the direct bus from Terminal 5 takes up to an hour. The train takes about fifty minutes with two changes. It is not a fifteen-minute hop, whatever you may have read, but it is still the best first or last day of a London trip, because you can do it with your suitcase and without going into London at all.

The Royal Borough's own visitor service puts it well: Windsor is twelve miles from Heathrow and makes a sensible first or final stop on a tour of Britain. The practical case is stronger than that. You land, you store your bags or take them with you, you spend an afternoon at a castle, and you arrive at your London hotel in the evening when the room is actually ready.

There is also a bus from Terminal 5 that stops at LEGOLAND, which is the single most useful fact on this page for anyone travelling with children.

The bus from Terminal 5, and which one to take

Two routes matter, and both start at Terminal 5 rather than at the Central Bus Station.

Route 8, run by First, goes direct from Terminal 5 to Windsor town centre, with departures up to every thirty minutes and a journey time given as up to one hour. It continues to Slough. The stop in Windsor is at the Parish Church, in the middle of town and a few minutes from the castle entrance.

Flightline 703, run by Reading Buses, runs from Terminal 5 through Colnbrook, Langley and Slough to Windsor, then on to LEGOLAND, Ascot and Bracknell. It is up to hourly, and the whole run to Bracknell is under an hour, so Windsor comes rather sooner than that.

The Royal Borough describes both as fast and direct links, notes that the buses are air-conditioned with space for luggage, and says they run seven days a week from early until late. That last point is what makes this work for an arriving flight.

Where the buses go from, and how to pay

At Terminal 5 the buses leave from outside, on the arrivals level, close to the Underground, Heathrow Express and Elizabeth line station entrances. Heathrow publishes a route map for each terminal's bus stops; the stop numbers change from time to time, so look at the board rather than a guidebook.

Payment is simple: every non-TfL bus route at Heathrow accepts contactless when you board, and First's own app also sells tickets. Heathrow says most of the bus companies serving the airport take part in the national bus fare cap scheme, so a single fare on these routes is low. Neither the operator's fare table nor its timetable pages could be read for this article, so we are not printing a figure; expect a few pounds rather than a few tens.

One thing to be clear about: this is not a TfL journey and the London daily cap does not cover it. Our guide to Oyster and contactless explains where the TfL fare system stops, and it stops well short of Windsor. If you are coming from Terminal 5 the bus is at the door; from any other terminal take the free inter-terminal train to T5 first.

The train, and the two changes nobody warns you about

There is no direct train. The Royal Borough's route is: from Heathrow, change at Hayes & Harlington onto a train towards Reading or Oxford, then change again at Slough for the short branch line to Windsor & Eton Central. Two changes, about fifty minutes.

Fifty minutes beats the bus on paper, but two changes with a suitcase and a child do not beat a single bus ride. Take the train only if you are travelling light and are confident with British stations. Note also that Oyster and contactless are not valid to Windsor: you need a National Rail ticket for the whole journey, which our page on London to Windsor by train explains in full, along with the two Windsor stations and which one is nearer the castle.

A taxi, and what it should cost

Twelve miles by road, so this is a genuine option for a family with luggage. A licensed black cab at Heathrow must accept any hire up to twenty miles, so a driver cannot refuse Windsor. The meter applies unless you agree a fare first, and Transport for London's published mileage fares make £50 to £80 a reasonable expectation for the distance; that is our estimate for September 2026, not a quoted price. There is an extra £1.60 for hiring from a Heathrow rank.

Agree the fare before you set off if you can, which TfL allows for journeys of this kind. Our guide to black cabs, minicabs and Uber explains the difference between a metered fare and a quoted one, and why the licensed rank is the safer choice at an airport.

Getting to LEGOLAND, specifically

The Flightline 703 from Terminal 5 stops at LEGOLAND itself, according to Heathrow's own list of local bus routes. That is an unusually clean arrangement: one bus, no changes, straight from the airport to the park gate.

Everything else about the park, including the age range it is built for, what a family of four really pays and which dates it closes, is in our guide to LEGOLAND Windsor. The two facts worth repeating here are that the resort's own shuttle bus from the Windsor stations is chargeable and not run by the park, and that arriving without a pre-booked ticket costs roughly double. If you are combining the airport and the park in one day, book the park tickets before you fly.

What to do with the suitcases

Both buses have luggage space and Windsor is a small town, so carrying a case is possible but tiring. The better answer is to leave the bags at the airport: Baggage Storage operates at Terminals 2, 3, 4 and 5 in Arrivals, from 05:00 to 23:00 seven days a week. Note that Heathrow's own listing for its check-in desks gives narrower hours than that, so if you are cutting it fine in the evening, check on the day rather than assuming eleven o'clock.

This works for a first day and not for a last one. If you are flying out, your bags go with you to the airport anyway, so Windsor is better done on the way in. Our page on left luggage in London covers the alternatives if you want to store them in the city instead.

The timings that make this a first day rather than a last one

Windsor Castle is closed every Tuesday and Wednesday, which is the first thing to check. From 1 March to 31 October it opens 10:00 to 17:15 with last admission at 16:00. An adult ticket is £32 booked in advance or £36 on the day, and a child aged 5 to 17 is £16 or £18.

So the shape of a workable first day is: land before noon, store the bags, take the bus, be inside the castle by two, out by half past four, and into London for the evening. Landing after three in the afternoon does not work, because last admission is at four and the bus takes an hour. Our page on Windsor in half a day sets out what to cut, and the castle itself covers the State Apartments, St George's Chapel and the queue.

For a departing flight the maths is worse but not impossible: Windsor in the morning, back to Terminal 5 by early afternoon, allowing the full hour for the bus plus the three hours Heathrow asks for before an international departure. Only do it hand-luggage only.

From the other London airports

All of those times come from the Royal Borough's own visitor information. The pattern is clear: Heathrow is the only London airport from which Windsor is a sensible arrival-day trip, and it is one of the better reasons to choose Heathrow in the first place. Our comparison of which London airport suits you weighs the rest, and our Heathrow arrivals guide covers the border and the baggage hall you have to get through first.

Or stay the night out here instead

The unconventional version of this plan is to skip the first London night altogether. Windsor has hotels, the LEGOLAND resort has two of its own, and the airport hotels are twelve miles away rather than twenty from the centre. That turns a jet-lagged arrival into a quiet evening and a proper start the next morning. Our page on staying near Heathrow covers what the airport hotels cost, and your arrival day in London makes the general case for not trying to do too much on day one.

Frequently asked questions

How long does the bus from Heathrow to Windsor take?

Up to one hour on route 8, which runs direct from Terminal 5 to Windsor town centre up to every thirty minutes. Flightline 703 also links Terminal 5 with Windsor and runs up to hourly. Windsor is twelve miles from Heathrow, and no bus does it in fifteen minutes.

Is there a direct bus from Heathrow to LEGOLAND Windsor?

Yes. Heathrow lists Flightline 703, run by Reading Buses, as calling at LEGOLAND on its way from Terminal 5 through Slough and Windsor to Ascot and Bracknell. It runs up to hourly, so check the timetable against your landing time, and book park tickets before you fly.

Can I use contactless on the bus from Heathrow to Windsor?

Yes. Heathrow says all bus routes at the airport accept contactless payments, and the Royal Borough confirms you can pay by contactless on boarding or through the operator's app. This is not a TfL journey, though, so the London daily fare cap does not apply to it.

Is Windsor worth doing on the day I land?

Yes, if you land before about noon and Windsor Castle is open that day: it is closed every Tuesday and Wednesday, and last admission is 16:00 from March to October. Store your bags at Heathrow, which has Baggage Storage in Arrivals at all four terminals from 05:00 to 23:00, and go into London in the evening.

How much is a taxi from Heathrow to Windsor?

There is no published fare. It is twelve miles, the meter applies unless you agree a price first, and licensed Heathrow cabs must accept any hire up to twenty miles. From Transport for London's published mileage fares we would expect £50 to £80 in September 2026, plus £1.60 for hiring at a Heathrow rank. Agree the fare with the driver before you set off.

Sources

• Visit Windsor (Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead) - Travelling by plane: buses, trains and times from each London airport (checked September 2026)
• Heathrow - Local buses, including route 8 and Flightline 703 (checked September 2026)
• Royal Collection Trust - Windsor Castle: prices and opening days (as recorded in our September 2026 fact sheet; the live page now blocks our requests)
• Transport for London - Taxi fares and extra charges (checked September 2026)
• Heathrow - Checking in: recommended arrival times (checked September 2026)