Windsor works as a half day: about six hours door to door, of which four are in Windsor. Leave Paddington at 09:30, be inside the castle by 10:30, and you can walk part of the Long Walk, cross the bridge to Eton and still be back in London by 17:00. What you cannot do is go on a Tuesday or a Wednesday, when the castle is shut.
Most visitors treat Windsor as a full day out, and the castle rewards that. But a great many people are in London for three or four days and do not want to give one of them up. The good news is that the Royal Collection Trust itself suggests allowing between an hour and a half and two hours for the castle, which leaves room for the rest of the town.
Our full Windsor Castle guide covers the tickets, the State Apartments and what to see inside. This page is about the clock: what fits into half a day, in what order, and what has to go.
The half day in numbers
- Fastest train
- Paddington to Windsor & Eton Central, 38 minutes with a change at Slough, from £8.30 single
- Direct train
- Waterloo to Windsor & Eton Riverside, 56 minutes, from £8.90 single
- Castle open
- Thursday to Monday. Closed every Tuesday and Wednesday
- Time inside the castle
- 1½ to 2 hours, as recommended by the Royal Collection Trust
- Last admission
- 16:00 from March to October, 15:00 from November to February
- Adult ticket
- £32.00 booked in advance, £36.00 on the day (2026)
A half day that actually fits
This is the version we would use, built around the fast route from Paddington on a Thursday or Saturday, which are the September 2026 guard-change days at Windsor.
| Time | What you are doing |
|---|---|
| 09:30 | Leave Paddington, change at Slough onto the shuttle |
| 10:10 | Arrive Windsor & Eton Central, which comes out beside the castle wall |
| 10:20 | Join the security queue at the admission centre with a pre-booked ticket |
| 10:50 | Position yourself on the High Street for the guard march (10 minutes), or go straight in |
| 11:15 | State Apartments, St George's Chapel and the precincts, about two hours |
| 13:15 | Lunch in the town, or in the Undercroft Café inside the castle |
| 14:00 | Out through Cambridge Gate and up the Long Walk for 25 minutes, then turn round |
| 15:00 | Over Windsor Bridge to Eton High Street |
| 16:00 | Back to the station |
| 17:00 | Paddington |
From Waterloo the same plan works with an extra twenty minutes at each end, and Windsor & Eton Riverside is the better station if Eton and the river matter more to you than the castle: it stands at the Windsor end of the bridge. Our guide to getting to Windsor by train compares the two routes in detail, and if you want a third view of the same journey, the route guide at Viamo's London to Windsor page sets out the coach and driving options as well.
Three things that eat the time you have not allowed for
The castle's own timings assume you are already inside. Three stages come before that, and together they can take the best part of an hour.
Security. Everyone and everything goes through airport-style screening at the admission centre. The castle asks you to bring as little as possible and to pack cameras, phones, keys and wallets into a bag before it goes through the scanner, which is faster than emptying pockets at the arch. Very large suitcases and heavy luggage are admitted only at staff discretion, and the castle's advice is blunt: if you are coming to or from an airport, use left luggage at the airport or in central London instead. Our guide to left luggage in London lists the options.
The hill. The castle sits at the top of a slope and the visitor route is long. The walk from the admission centre to the cloakroom at the entrance to the State Apartments takes about ten minutes, is largely uphill and ends with a flight of stairs. Pushchairs and large backpacks have to be left in that cloakroom; baby carriers and hip seats can be borrowed free, subject to availability.
The one-way system. A one-way route operates inside the castle for security reasons. You cannot double back for the bit you rushed, so decide in advance whether the State Apartments or St George's Chapel matters more to you.
Two days of the week remove the reason to come. Windsor Castle opens Thursday to Monday and is closed every Tuesday and Wednesday, plus a handful of dates each year for official functions. It was also closed completely on 14 and 15 June 2026 and will be on 25 and 26 December 2026. Check the closure list before you book a train.
What each day of the week actually gives you
Windsor is the rare day trip where the weekday changes the content, not just the crowds.
- Tuesday and Wednesday. No castle. Everything else in this article still works, and there is a different half day described below.
- Thursday and Saturday. The Windsor guard change. The September 2026 schedule published by the Household Division lists Guard Changes at 11:00 on Thursdays and Saturdays, usually with a band.
- Sunday. St George's Chapel is closed to visitors all day because services are held throughout it, so you cannot see Queen Elizabeth II's burial place. In exchange, Sunday is the only day Eton College's museums open to the public.
- Friday and Monday. The quietest combination: castle open, chapel open, no guard change and fewer coach parties.
The Household Division's headline still lists Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday as Windsor guard days, but its own month-by-month schedule for September 2026 shows Guard Changes only on Thursdays and Saturdays, with a Captain's Inspection on the other listed days. Read the schedule for your month rather than the headline.
The Long Walk: how far to go before you turn round
The Long Walk is the straight avenue of trees running south from the castle into Windsor Great Park. It was created in 1682 to 1685, and it stretches almost 2.5 miles, or 4.02 kilometres, down from the Copper Horse statue of George III at the far end to the castle.
That number is the whole point. Walking it there and back is five miles and takes most people well over two hours, which is a half day by itself. People set off after the castle, assume the statue on the hill is twenty minutes away, and either give up halfway or miss their train.
The view that everybody photographs works from the first five hundred metres. Walk out through Cambridge Gate, go twenty to twenty-five minutes up the avenue, turn round and look back at the castle sitting square at the end of it, then walk back. That is forty-five to fifty minutes in total and it gets you the thing you came for.
If you have more time, the Deer Park along the route holds around 500 red deer, descended from forty hinds and two stags introduced in 1979. The estate asks visitors to keep their distance, keep dogs on short leads and never approach or follow the animals, which is the same advice that applies to the herds in Richmond Park inside London. Rutting season starts in September and runs into early November, when stags become aggressive and the park is sometimes closed at short notice. Cycles, scooters, rollerblades and skateboards are not allowed on the Long Walk or in the Deer Park at all, pushed or ridden.
Crossing the bridge to Eton, and what is closed in 2026
Windsor Bridge carries no motor traffic, so the walk across the Thames into Eton is quiet and takes a few minutes from either station. Eton High Street on the far side is a single row of old buildings with independent shops and cafés, and it is the easiest half hour to add to a half day.
Eton College itself is a different matter this year, and the situation is worth knowing before you plan around it.
- There is no Heritage Tours programme in 2026. The college has suspended its guided tours because of essential building works and says it will publish an update about the 2027 visitor offer.
- The college's museums and galleries are open to the public free of charge on Sunday afternoons from 13:30 to 16:00. You can walk in without booking.
- The Museum of Eton Life is closed from May to November 2026, also for building works. The Verey Gallery, the Natural History Museum and the Museum of Antiquities are the ones still open on those Sunday afternoons.
So if the school is the reason you want to cross the bridge, come on a Sunday, accept that St George's Chapel will be closed to visitors that day, and treat it as a swap rather than an addition.
Watching the guard without paying for it
There are two separate things here and only one of them costs money.
The guards march from Victoria Barracks on Sheet Street, up the High Street and into the castle. Visit Windsor, the official tourism service for the Royal Borough, names the High Street and the Corn Exchange underneath the Guildhall as the best places to watch, and says the march itself takes about ten minutes. It is free and you need no ticket.
The changing ceremony happens inside the castle, in the Lower Ward outside the Guardroom, except when the monarch is at Windsor during Easter Court, when it moves to the Quadrangle. To see it you need a castle ticket and you need to be through security in good time, and Visit Windsor puts the ceremony at about thirty minutes.
On a half day the honest calculation is this: if you have a ticket anyway, be inside by 10:40 and watch the ceremony. If you are visiting on a Tuesday or Wednesday, or you do not want to pay, stand on the High Street at 10:50 for the march and spend the saving on lunch. Our guide to the Changing of the Guard explains how the London version differs.
What to cut
Four things look tempting and do not fit into half a day.
- The add-on tours. The Round Tower and Great Kitchen tours are separately timed extras at a higher ticket price, run only in limited summer windows, and they tie your schedule to a fixed slot.
- The Savill Garden and Virginia Water. These are the paid and ticketed parts of Windsor Great Park and are several miles from the castle. They belong to a full day with a car or a bus, not to a half day on foot.
- LEGOLAND. Two miles out of town, reached by a chargeable shuttle, and the resort says you need at least a full day for it. Our page on day trips that work with children explains why it never combines with the castle.
- A river trip. Passenger boats run from the Windsor promenade, but a return sailing plus waiting time is an hour you will want for the Long Walk.
One thing not to cut: before you leave the castle, print and sign your name in the spaces provided on your ticket. That converts it to a 1-Year Pass at no extra cost and gets you free re-admission for a year, which matters if you might come back.
Half a day in Windsor without the castle
If your only free day is a Tuesday or a Wednesday, the trip is still worth making, and it costs a great deal less.
The castle precincts are closed but the town is not. Windsor Great Park is open all year and free to enter, so the Long Walk and the Deer Park are available whatever day it is. The bridge to Eton is open. The Windsor and Eton walking trail marked by circular studs in the pavement takes you round both towns, and Visit Windsor lists guided walking tours with local guides that run whether the castle is open or not.
That version is a genuinely good three hours for the price of a train ticket. It is also the one to keep in reserve if the castle closes at short notice, which it can: it is a working royal residence and the Royal Collection Trust says opening arrangements may change without much warning.
What half a day costs
| Item | Adult | Child 5 to 17 | Two adults, two children |
|---|---|---|---|
| Return train from Paddington, roughly | about £17 | about £8 | about £50 |
| Castle ticket booked in advance | £32.00 | £16.00 | £96.00 |
| Castle ticket bought on the day | £36.00 | £18.00 | £108.00 |
| Long Walk, Eton High Street, the guard march | free | free | free |
Young people aged 18 to 24 pay £21.00 in advance or £24.00 on the day. Booking ahead saves £4.00 a head, which is £16.00 for a family, and it also gets you through the admission centre faster. Check current prices and the closure list on the Royal Collection Trust website before you travel. Train fares are the cheapest singles shown by the journey planner for an October 2026 weekday and will vary; our guide to buying UK train tickets explains when an Off-Peak return beats two singles.
If you are weighing Windsor against the other royal palace within reach of London, our comparison of Hampton Court or Windsor Castle is the place to start, and Tower of London or Windsor Castle answers the other common version of the question. For fitting a half day out into a longer stay, see our five-day London itinerary, and if the forecast is poor, the rainy-day list has better indoor options than an uphill castle queue. In genuinely good weather, the other half-day-sized trip out of London is the coast, and the rest of the choices are in our day trips section.
Frequently asked questions
Can you really do Windsor in half a day from London?
Yes. Allow about six hours door to door from Paddington: 40 minutes each way, two hours in the castle, and roughly two hours for the Long Walk, Eton and lunch. The Royal Collection Trust recommends one and a half to two hours for the castle itself, which is what makes the half day possible.
Which London station is best for Windsor?
Paddington is faster, at about 38 minutes with a change at Slough, and Windsor & Eton Central comes out beside the castle wall. Waterloo takes about 56 minutes but runs direct with no change, and Windsor & Eton Riverside sits by the bridge to Eton. With luggage or a pushchair, the direct train is usually worth the extra time.
Is Windsor Castle closed on any days?
It is closed every Tuesday and Wednesday, and completely closed on some individual dates for official functions, including 25 and 26 December 2026. St George's Chapel is closed to visitors on Sundays because services run throughout the day, although the chapel is open for worship and for evensong at 17:15.
How long is the Long Walk at Windsor?
Almost 2.5 miles, or 4.02 kilometres, each way between the castle and the Copper Horse statue of George III. Walking the whole thing and back takes well over two hours. For the famous view of the castle, twenty to twenty-five minutes out and the same back is enough.
Can you visit Eton College?
Not on a guided tour in 2026: the college has suspended its Heritage Tours programme because of building works. Its museums and galleries open free to the public on Sunday afternoons from 13:30 to 16:00, although the Museum of Eton Life is closed from May to November 2026. Eton High Street itself is a public street and always open.
Sources
- Royal Collection Trust - Opening times and closure list (PDF, June 2026) (checked September 2026)
- Royal Collection Trust - Practical information for visiting Windsor Castle (checked September 2026 via the Internet Archive copy of 28 July 2026; rct.uk blocks our research requests)
- The Household Division - Changing the Guard schedule (checked September 2026)
- Visit Windsor - Windsor Guard March and Changing the Guard (checked September 2026)
- The Crown Estate - The Long Walk and Deer Park, Windsor Great Park (checked September 2026)
- Eton College Collections - Heritage Tours (checked September 2026)
- Eton College Collections - Museum and gallery openings (checked September 2026)
- National Rail Enquiries - Paddington to Windsor & Eton Central, times and fares (checked September 2026)