Windsor

Windsor is a small Berkshire town of roughly 30,000 people that carries the weight of a capital city. The reason stands on the chalk bluff above the High Street: Windsor Castle, founded by William the Conqueror in the 1070s, lived in by forty monarchs since, and still one of the working residences of the King. Nothing else in the town is allowed to compete with it. Streets fall away from the castle walls in short cobbled runs, the rooftops stay low, and from almost any corner of the centre you can look up and see the Round Tower.

What surprises most first-time visitors is how compact the place is. The two railway stations, the castle entrance, the parish church, the riverside and the bridge across to Eton all sit within about ten minutes of each other on foot. Peascod Street, the old market street running downhill from the castle, is now the main shopping run; Windsor Royal Station, the restored Victorian trainshed built for Queen Victoria's arrivals, has been turned into a covered arcade of shops and restaurants. Cross the iron bridge and you are in Eton, which is a different animal again - one long Georgian high street of antiquarian booksellers, galleries and pubs, ending at the walls of Eton College.

Behind the castle the town simply stops and Windsor Great Park begins, nearly 5,000 acres of former royal hunting ground with red deer, ancient oaks, ornamental gardens and a lake. That combination - a dense historic centre you can walk in half a day, then open parkland immediately beyond it - is what makes Windsor work as a base rather than a day trip. Add Heathrow twenty minutes west, London under an hour by train, and the Michelin kitchens of Bray four miles upriver, and the case gets stronger still.

Top things to do in Windsor

The castle absorbs half a day on its own, but the town and its surroundings hold plenty more.

• Windsor Castle - the oldest and largest occupied castle in the world. The visit takes in the State Apartments, Queen Mary's Dolls' House and, on most days, St George's Chapel. Because it remains a working royal residence, opening varies with the season and with royal engagements, so book ahead and check before you travel.
• St George's Chapel - the spiritual home of the Order of the Garter and one of the finest pieces of late Perpendicular architecture in the country. Ten monarchs are buried here, including Henry VIII and Elizabeth II. It closes to visitors on Sundays, when it is open for worship only.
• Changing the Guard - the guard change takes place on the castle forecourt on set days, with the detachment marching up from Victoria Barracks along the High Street. It is free to watch from the street and worth arriving early for a position on the corner of Sheet Street.
• The Long Walk and Windsor Great Park - a dead-straight avenue of trees running nearly three miles from the castle's George IV Gateway to the Copper Horse statue on Snow Hill. Walk it in one direction for the classic view back to the castle, then carry on into the wider park for deer, ancient woodland and the Savill Garden.
• Eton College - founded by Henry VI in 1440 and still a working school, so general access is limited, but guided heritage tours run at certain times and take in the school yard, the chapel and the old schoolrooms with generations of pupils' names cut into the panelling.
• LEGOLAND Windsor Resort - built on the site of the old Windsor Safari Park, about two miles from the town centre, and the main reason many families come. It is seasonal, and a shuttle bus runs from Windsor's stations in season.
• A river trip on the Thames - boats leave from the promenade below the bridge for short circular cruises past Eton College's playing fields and Romney Island, or longer runs upriver towards Maidenhead and Boveney Lock.
• Runnymede - three miles downriver, the water meadow where Magna Carta was sealed in 1215, now National Trust land with the American Bar Association memorial, the JFK memorial and Lutyens' lodges.

Getting to Windsor

Windsor has two stations and neither has a direct fast link to London, which catches people out. Windsor and Eton Riverside runs to London Waterloo in around 55 minutes with no change, via Staines and Richmond. Windsor and Eton Central runs a short shuttle to Slough, where you change onto the Elizabeth line or a Great Western service into London Paddington; total journey time is usually 35 to 45 minutes, and it is the quicker of the two if the connection is kind. Both stations are inside the town centre, a few minutes from the castle entrance.

By road, Windsor sits between junction 6 of the M4 at Slough and junction 13 of the M25 at Runnymede, roughly five miles from each. Traffic through the town centre is slow and much of it is one-way, so aim straight for a car park rather than trying to park on the street. The two long-stay options are River Street, close to the bridge, and Alexandra Gardens by the riverside; both fill by mid-morning at weekends and in school holidays. Legoland has its own parking.

Heathrow is the nearest airport at around 20 to 25 minutes by car, or a bus ride from Windsor bus station. Gatwick is roughly an hour and a quarter by road via the M25. Because the town is so walkable, most visitors who arrive by train never need a car at all - the only trips that really want one are Windsor Great Park's southern gates, Bray and the wider Thames villages.

Best time to visit Windsor

Spring is arguably the strongest season. The Long Walk comes into leaf, the Savill Garden's rhododendrons and azaleas peak in May, and the castle is open on more days than in winter without the summer queues. Easter and the May bank holidays are busy, but midweek in April and early May is comfortable.

Summer brings the crowds, the river traffic and the longest castle opening hours, along with Royal Windsor Racecourse's Monday evening meetings and the racing at nearby Ascot in June. It is the best time for boat trips and for eating outside on the promenade, but the High Street around the castle entrance can be shoulder to shoulder between eleven and three. Book accommodation well ahead for June and July.

Autumn is the quiet reward. The Great Park turns colour through October, the deer rut brings the herds into the open, and hotel rates soften noticeably once the school holidays end. Light on the Long Walk in late afternoon is at its best in this season.

Winter is short on daylight but strong on atmosphere. The castle's State Apartments are dressed for Christmas, the town puts on a market and lights, and the parkland is empty on a cold weekday. Some outdoor attractions, Legoland among them, close or run reduced hours from November, so check before committing to a winter trip built around them.

Where to stay in Windsor

The High Street and Castle Hill is the obvious base and the most expensive: the hotels here look directly at the castle walls, you can walk out to the guard change in your own time, and the restaurants of Peascod Street are a minute away. It suits short breaks where the castle is the point, and couples who do not mind paying for the view.

The riverside and Thames Street, running down towards the bridge, is a little quieter and puts you between the water and the town. Rooms here often come with river or bridge views, and the walk to both stations is short. Good for a first visit if you want to mix the castle with boat trips and walks along the towpath.

Eton, over the bridge, is the choice for people who want the evenings calm. The High Street's pubs and small hotels empty of day visitors by six, the college and its playing fields are on the doorstep, and Windsor Castle is a seven-minute walk back across the water. It suits second-time visitors and anyone who prefers a village feel.

The residential streets north and west of the centre - Alma Road, Clarence Road, Oxford Road and Peascod Street's upper end - are where most of the guest houses and B&Bs sit. Victorian terraces, on-street or off-street parking, and a five to ten minute walk into town. This is the best value in Windsor by some margin.

Out of town, Water Oakley, Bray and Old Windsor hold the country-house hotels and riverside inns. You will need a car, but you get grounds, quiet and easy access to the Great Park's southern end and to Bray's restaurants. Families heading for Legoland often prefer this ring too, since it avoids the town-centre traffic.

Food and drink in Windsor

Windsor eats better than a town of its size usually would, largely because of who passes through it. The independent end concentrates on Peascod Street, Thames Street and the Windsor Royal Station arcade, with a broad run of Italian, Indian and modern British kitchens and a good number of pavement tables in summer.

Beer is the local speciality worth seeking out. The Windsor and Eton Brewery, founded in 2010 a few streets from the castle, brews Knight of the Garter and Guardsman and supplies pubs across the town; its taproom runs opening sessions and tours. The Two Brewers on Park Street, tucked against the gates of the Long Walk, is the classic Windsor pub - small, old, adults only, and worth timing a walk around. Down by the water, the Boatman on Thames Side has a terrace over the river and does straightforward pub food well.

Cross into Eton for the more interesting evening. Gilbey's on the High Street has been serving modern British cooking from the same address for decades and has its own wine label; the George Inn, run by the Windsor and Eton Brewery, does pub food and eight rooms above. Several of the antiquarian bookshops and galleries along the street stay open late on summer evenings.

For a proper occasion, Bray is four miles upriver and holds two of the country's most celebrated restaurants in the Fat Duck and the Waterside Inn, both of which need booking months ahead. Closer to home, the Crown Estate's Windsor Farm Shop on Datchet Road sells beef, lamb and game from the royal farms, along with bread and preserves, and is the best place to assemble a picnic before heading into the Great Park. Windsor also runs a farmers' market in the town centre on Saturdays, with growers and producers from across Berkshire and Buckinghamshire.