Windsor Castle Historical and Royal Tour

We booked this tour several months before making this trip and were looking forward to it. The weather was great, and we got a chance to see the rooms open to the public at Windsor Castle and St George's Chapel. Security to get onto the premises is airport level with metal detectors, etc. We were able to see the final resting place of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip. I was disappointed that pictures were not allowed inside Windsor Castle or St. George's Chapel. This was a good tour, and the guide was knowledgeable. On the return drive, the guide also took us past the field of Runnymede which students may recall is the location where the Magna Carta was signed and that was not advertised as part of the tour. My only complaint was that on the walk from the bus parking lot to the gate entrance to the Castle, the guide stopped several times to point out irrelevant things such as a locomotive, the Shambles house and an old guild hall which no one really one cared about. I estimate that 45 minutes were wasted on that part of the tour- and that is time that could have been better spent inside the castle. The tour is brief enough due to the drive to and from London, and folks come to see the Castle and St. Georges Chapel, not those other things. Overall, Evan Evans took care of us and I recommend this tour. It could be improved by eliminating the wasted time en route to the entrance.

This was not a enjoyable or entertaining experience at all. It just seemed like minimal effort was expended by the operator to get money out of the tourists. If you want a fun and relaxing day to explore the castle and the town then skip this tour and visit the place using some other conveyance (train) and see it at your own pace. Maybe hire a guide as well. There is no of extra value added by this tour. It's just a rushed and altogether unpleasant race from the bus to the castle and back and not even worth half the cost. There was no tour guide on the bus providing any kind of commentary or help - just a driver more interested in getting back on time than anything else. You can't bring food on the bus or a hot drink. It's an 45 minute ride to get to the castle and get through security screening. Only 30 minutes on the way back. There is very little time to walk around the town or explore outside of the main tour path to/from and through the castle. (Maybe 30 minutes?) The headset you get for the walking tour inside the castle is stupid. Of the 6 of us, only 2 of us could get the thing to work and they got tired of it in short order. By the time you figure out it's not working you too far away to walk back for another one. No photo taking is allowed inside the castle. Staff at the castle are worn out and need to be replaced. It's a tourist site. People will have stupid questions and do silly things like walk in he middle of the driveway but that does not give staff the right to treat 'customers' like a bothersome nuisance and yell at them. (Every time I turned a corner some member of staff was yelling at a tourist about something). Staff need a better way of of conveying their rules and messages and need to keep in mind that they probably wouldn't have their job if tourists weren't paying a good portion of their salary.

My husband and I attended the Royal Windsor Afternoon Tour on Monday, October 24th. It was definitely not as advertised. • The bus went through known traffic areas causing our arrival to be late. Knowing there was construction on route, the tour should have started earlier to ensure guests would have adequate time to experience what was advertised. • There was no wifi or charging ports on the bus as indicated (we boarded a bus that had both, but then had to get off and re-board on a bus that didn't have either) • There was no "expert guide to bring the history of this historic town to life". Other than direction to the entry of the castle, we were on our own in the town. The only real tour commentary was on the bus. Most of the information provided by Oliver was about London, not Windsor. • By the time we got our entry bracelets, the queue to go inside St. George's chapel was closed (they weren't allowing more people to join the queue as ithe chapel closed at 4pm) so we were unable to enter - we literally beelined it directly as this was the main reason we booked the tour. • There were no disposable masks or hand sanitizer available on the bus (apparently they were available in the office, but that isn't what was advertised, and wasn't helpful in destination) • There were no "personal audio headsets so distancing can be maintained when listening to the guide's live commentary". To say we are disappointed, not to mentioned wholly dissatisfied with this tour is an understatement.

We had an amazing trip to the Windsor Castle. Robert and Idris were fantastic. They gave us a little tour of London before heading to Windsor. Robert was very informative and shared a lot of historical facts about the Castle. The tour of the castle was great and we had a great time.

Our tour guide had so much passion it brought our entire family and kids into the experience. Can not say enough good things about this tour. The time will fly by so don’t linger too long, even with skipping the chapel we ran out of time because there is so much to see in the castle. We spent an hour shopping and found so many great gifts. The queen was in residence which was a huge bonus. Norma thought us so much about the royal family.

Not enough time!! Poorly managed and poorly advertised experience. Should only have 1 tour per day to fit everything. The guide was informative but as she was unable to go into castle we were uninformed about the history and had no time to collect headset (weren’t told we had to).

Phill, our guide and Wadere, iur coach driver were excellent. Phill was great at explaining the history of Windsor castle, london and the English language. Since it is restricted for any private/certified guide to enter the chambers, it was a bit of a pity not to hear descriptions from Phil. (I think which would be really funny haha) But he was nice to guide us right to the entrance. Next time it would be a bit more chill, if the guide could give us time to go to the bathroom right after the 1hr bus ride. Other than that, very satisfying and worth the price!!

We had Oliver as our guide for the Windsor tour today. He provided a seamless start and finish to the day. Our tour left at 1pm from London which meant we missed the morning tourist rush and long queues. The time allotted within the castle was self guided and plenty of time to checkout the castle and St George’s Chapel without feeling rushed. Oliver shared some great facts with us and even ended the trip with some dinner recommendations to finish off the day

Our tour guide should have told us that St George’s Chapel was closing early for a ceremony. As a result we only saw the state rooms and didn’t get a chance to see the Chapel. This was a huge disappointment. Secondly, the tour bus could have stopped on the way back without going out of their way. Instead they made my 85 year old mother walk over 1/2 a mile to get back to the hotel. The staff at the Chapel said that the major tour companies where contacted and told of the early closure.

We enjoyed seeing the castle but were surprised how the area immediately surrounding the castle was so commercialized. Especially since this was a favorite residence of the Queen. Our guide was very knowledgeable and included a Magna Carta bonus.

I don’t usually write reviews, but I feel like I needed to address some of the bad ones here because it almost made me cancel. I was scared the trip would be bad after seeing the massive amounts of people in the waiting area, but then realized it was a few groups, so don’t be scared. Got on a very clean bus and the driver (Sam) did very well the entire trip. The guide (Dorothy) was fantastic. Couple things to note. Was she stern with us? Absolutely, because she had to keep track of 37 people and most people don’t listen. So I completely appreciated the reminders. Did she talk the entire way? Yes, because that’s what guides do. Being a huge history buff, we loved it. She knew all the best ways to get around at the 1pm time and we had more than enough time. So I feel like I got what I paid for. And I very much appreciated Dorothy, cause let’s face it. There are always a few in the group who are idiots. Thanks Dorothy!!

I gave our tour a higher rating because of the tour guide. Shelagh was absolutely wonderful. She was so sweet and personable, so informative, and gave us a whole informal bus tour of London on our way out of the city to Windsor. Unfortunately, our tour of the castle itself was canceled when we arrived at the gates for some private event there. Nothing she could do but we were very disappointed that the tour group did not contact the castle ahead of time to confirm availability. Shelagh made the best of it, showed us around the village, and gave us some free time to enjoy ourselves…which we did.

This was more an escorted trip rather than a guided tour as guiding is not allowed in the castle and audio guides are available. I would recommend just taking the train from London on your own as the experience would be very similar and less expensive.

The tour has been canceled without any notice and we are still waiting for refund. We decided to visit the castle by ourselves, the decision was good and we had a pleasant afternoon. We hope that in the future there will be more communication and assistance from the tour operator.

Well organised tour with Evan Evans and Fiona as guide. She was patient with responding to questions and kept everyone fully informed. Too many people at Windsor Castle and have to go through security which took quite a while due to someone arguing over a knife he had in possession and obviously not allowed. Common sense people! Statesrooms were magnificent but wouldn’t allow photos inside which was slightly disappointing though common practice in most palaces/castles. Highlight was seeing St George Chapel and where Queen is buried.

We loved this tour and were very impressed with the audio guide, which had a family option that was interactive and fun. Our guide, Oliver, gave wonderful commentary to and from Windsor, making the drive interesting and at times very entertaining. He was quite kind and informative. I would suggest this tour starting sooner just to give guests more time to take the tour of the State Rooms and St. George’s Chapel. The chapel closes at 4 and State Rooms around 4:30 so by the time we arrived and began the tour we had only 1 1/2 to see both. The town of Windsor is lovely so having time to walk the streets, get some food, and take the long walk in front of the castle would be perfect. Definitely would do this tour again.

The castle itself was astonishing! Being part of this history it’s just amazing. HOWEVER, there is unfortunately a downside to this tour. The tour guide, Eileen, I believe her name is, TALKED NON STOPPP THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE TRIP! It was just TOO overwhelming! She is knowledgeable but honestly it was adjust toooo much. Lot of irrelevant details, jumping from one subject to the other, no participation of the crow whatsoever. DRIVER as well, ash, @ arrival I wasn’t sure if I was @ the right place. I knocked the door and his reaction was very RUDE & COLD. Was t even willingly okay with opening the door. I guess he was already overwhelmed with the idea of the guide speaking non stop. I mean, no water breaks whatsoever! I am doing this review as honest as possible so they can reach her out and address the issue. The CASTLE & STAFF AGAIN AMAZING!