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Windsor , Berkshire, United Kingdom (UK)
A royal home and fortress for over 900 years, Windsor is the largest occupied castle in the world, and remains a working palace, with over 150 staff. Rumoured to have been Queen Elizabeth II’s favourite address – she spent most of her private weekends at the castle.
The ornate state apartments, lined with works of art by painters such as Van Dyck, Holbein and Rubens, were built for Charles II and his Queen, Catherine of Braganza, as an attempt to rival the achievements of his cousin, Louis XVI, at Versailles. Visitors can also see the semi-state rooms – the private apartments of George IV.
The Changing of the Guard at Windsor is a spectacle worth seeing, with guards marching up to the castle complete with a band. It takes place at 11am on different days each month, and last 30 minutes. Check the website for specific dates and time your visit accordingly.
A visit to Windsor gives you two classic slices of British history in one; alongside the castle, the town of Windsor is also home to Eton College, the UK’s most renowned boarding school and alma mater of twenty British Prime Ministers. Take a walk from the castle across the river and along Eton High Sreet, and you’ll find yourself stepping into a bygone era, with masters and boys from the world-famous school strolling past in gowns, with shopfronts that haven’t changed in over a century.
Follow the Eton Walkway, a 2-mile / one-hour circular walk, following bronze markers set into the pavement, that connects 18 points of interest in the town starting at Windsor Bridge.
Windsor is about a 1-hour drive from London. Trains from London Waterloo to Windsor & Eton Riverside take about an hour.
Book tickets in advance on the website to guarantee entry. Allow about 1.5-2 hours for your visit.
Free audio tours are available with admission (take your own headphones if possible). Before you go, read the informative sections on the website about who built the castle and why and who has lived there.
Windsor Castle is open all year round, Thursday to Monday. Closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays. More rooms are open in the winter months.
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