Windsor: St. George's Chapel and Windsor Castle - Day Trips from London, England

Windsor saw an increase in it’s average annual visitors this year courtesy of the past two Royal Weddings (Meghan Markle + Harry, Eugenie + Brad) that took place in St. George’s Chape at Windsor Castle.

On a particularly hot weekday in London, I decided to take an impromptu trip to Windsor the following day to see the castle for myself. I booked a train ticket, booked a ticket to see the castle, and voilà - I was ready!

I was very fortunate for the clear blue skies and sunny weather I had when visiting in early July. Upon arrival, I did have to line up for security, but it had helped that I bought my ticket in advance. There is still the possibility of buying a ticket when you arrive, however!

Below are some views of the castle. It looked wonderful against the sky. You are allowed to take as many photos as you want of the exterior of the Castle or Chapel.

Now, one downside to visiting Windsor Castle and St. George’s Chapel is that you are not allowed to take any photos inside. I found this out the hard way when I took one shot inside of the Chapel and had a security guard inform me this was not allowed. I’ve included the photo, but I didn’t take any others.

As you can see, the Chapel itself was a lot smaller than it looked on television. I was very surprised as the perspective made it look huge during the Royal Wedding broadcast (I must confess - I didn’t see it all. I only saw about 3 minutes when I popped into a café because I was in Paris at the time).

The Chapel itself is very pretty, with an emphasis on the details. It was done in high-medieval gothic style. The ceiling is exquisite, and truly worth a viewing in real life if you enjoy gothic architecture (I adore it)! The floors are also a delight, and they contrast beautifully with the dark mahogany wood work and pale coloured stones used throughout.

The Chapel began being made in the 14th century under the order of King Edward III, and it continued to be built well into the 15th century.

Below, there’s a photo of the Chapel’s exterior:

Now, on to Windsor Castle itself. Again, I don’t have any photos of the interior as we were not allowed to take any.

The Castle was very nice, and I enjoyed seeing the collection

of Royal Porcelain near the entrance. However, I found it very similar to Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh. If you’re trying to save some money and are visiting both London and Edinburgh, I’d perhaps suggest picking one or the other (I’d be more inclined to recommend Palace of Holyroodhouse, but that’s a personal preference).

In the end, I settled on the cream tea at the Sir Christopher Wren Hotel. The service was impeccable, and because it was still early in the day, there weren’t too many people in the tea-room.

As for the food itself, the gluten-free scones were a bit hard, but the strawberry preserve and the clotted cream was nice. The hotel’s signature blend of tea was also a nice touch.

Although the taste of the scones wasn’t completely to my liking, the presentation of the food, the ambiance of the hotel, and the phenomenal view made up for it. Look at the lake! I took this photo from my seat; I had a perfect view and it really made it a wonderful experience.

Overall, I really enjoyed my trip to Windsor. If you are not averse to the somewhat steep price, I’d recommend a visit to both Windsor Castle & St. George’s Chapel to any fans of high-medieval gothic architecture, fans of the royals, or simply people who want to do something outside of London that encourages them not use their phones as they feel transported back in history.

Something I found absolutely delightful was that the RAF (Royal Air Force) celebrated it’s 100th anniversary while I was walking outside the castle grounds, and I had the pleasure of seeing 100 aircrafts grace the sky. It was a complete surprise, but it really added something special to my day-trip!

As for the town of Windsor itself, it is quite pretty. By the time I had visited both St. George’s Chapel & Windsor Castle, three hours had surpassed, and I was craving something to eat.

Cream Tea just seemed appropriate.

As someone who is gluten free, it was a bit of a bother trying to find a place that offered a gluten free version of what I was craving, but a few google searches and popping into a number of places and asking the staff if they had gluten free offerings did the trick.