Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle Day Trip from London

London, United Kingdom

Visit two of England's most royal attractions on this day trip combining Windsor Castle and Buckingham Palace. You'll be one of the first to enter Windsor Castle and discover centuries of royal history, before heading to Buckingham Palace, where you will be able to explore the rooms of this working palace at your leisure, soaking in the fine paintings, porcelain and furniture.

After an early start, you'll visit Windsor Castle, where more than 900 years of royal history await. Windsor Castle, the largest and oldest occupied castle in the world, is today one of the official residences of Her Majesty The Queen. Walk through the magnificent grounds and explore the State Apartments. If you're lucky you may catch the official Changing of the Guard or soak up the splendor of St. George's Chapel. After your visit to Windsor, you'll take a drive through Runnymede, where King John signed the Magna Carta.

Next, immerse yourself in the lavishly furnished rooms from the Royal Collection at Buckingham Palace! The palace hosts many official events and receptions held by the Queen, so areas are exclusively opened for limited time only during the summer so book early!

Buckingham Palace has served as the official London residence of Britain's sovereigns since 1837, and today it is the Queen's official residence. Take the audio tour and learn about the royal history. Your visit is independent and will conclude here so you can explore at leisure.

Diamonds: A Jubilee Celebration

This spectacular exhibition shows the many ways in which diamonds have been used by British monarchs over the last 200 years. It includes a number of The Queen's personal jewels - those inherited by Her Majesty or acquired during her reign. The exhibition reveals how many of these extraordinary stones have undergone a number of transformations, having been re-cut or incorporated into new settings during their fascinating history.

USD $134.30

Traveler Reviews

Review by: Shane M	October 2011
Windsor Castle was fascinating, with an incredible amount of history and interesting things to see. Buckingham Palace was fortunately open when I was in London, and it was truly amazing. We had access to many of the state rooms and saw the Duchess of Cambridge's wedding dress on display. I would thoroughly recommend this tour.

Review by: Georgeo	October 2011
great tour!

Review by: Elaine B	October 2011
Tour was vastly over priced. We could have done this on our own. The lines were still huge.our gudes for our two tours were a waste they just gave us a ride to the sites. Tours were audio tours anyway. Mass chaos and confusion at viator buses. One couple was left behind because they were late..we would recommend the tours but with someone else.overpriced!!!!!!!

Review by: Susan M W	October 2011
Windsor castle was great. Left stranded at Buckingham palace with no ticket, we all got in but nobody new what was happening. Also need to be taken back to our hotels, when you buy the ticket there is no mention of not being taken back to your hotel you need to make that very clear when somebody buys a ticket. The guide for Windsor castle was great, but was unaware of what happens at Buckingham palace or the transport arrangements following the tour.

Review by: Peter L	October 2011
Barry was an excellent guide and the entire tour was exceptional. It might help some elders and slightly impaired walker to know A) How much walking was involved and how strenuous a level. and B) How long the tour takes, and C} Where you will be dropped off.

Review by: William J	September 2011
The tour guide and bus driver were excellent and the reason for even two stars. The tour guide had some excellent stories and again, did a great job. The problem with the tour was it isn't a guided tour. It's a guided bus trip. We paid a lot of money for just a guided bus trip. The tours of both the Castle and Palace are self guided tours paid for with a general admission ticket. If you are one who doesn't mind arranging your own bus trip or go via the train (and that's very easy to do), you can do this for a whole lot less money. Again, if the bus trip tour guide wasn't as good as he was, I would have been really really upset. He saved what little there was to save. We could easily have done this ourselves for 25% of the price or probably even much less. I didn't actually price the train or bus trip to the Castle and we stayed within a couple blocks of the Palace and could have walked there.

Review by: Martin B	September 2011
Loved the tour, but really no benefit to skip the line. We waited in line like everyone else.

Review by: Jeffrey L	September 2011
Interesting and informative. It was really good to have background information on Kate's dress! Great guide.

Review by: William N	September 2011
Good day. On the particular day though because we were in a group we had some waiting, where the normal entry line was empty. The Buckingham section we were just dropped of and had to make our own arrangements to get back to our hotel. We were unaware that this would be the case.

Review by: Midas	September 2011
Very Poor.

Review by: Lily F.	September 2011
So glad we were able to take advantage of the opportunity to see both of these magnificent royal residences!

Review by: Mary D	September 2011
Our guide to Windsor Castle was so imformative! All of our questions were answered.She spoke about the culture and the way of life of the people of London of yesterday and today. She was excellent!!

Review by: Lia C	September 2011
Tour was excellent. Very happy.

Review by: BRADLEY R	September 2011
We were very disappointed with the tour which turned out to be just a bus ride with some commentary. The commentary was interesting but for the price it was not worth it. The line skipping did not exist. The general public line was nonexistent and the tour line was huge so we were delayed by at least half and hour. Then when returning to Buckingham the lady with the tickets was late again cutting our time at the palace. Why didn't the 1st guide just go in and buy the tickets and hand them out before leaving. Very bad planning.

Review by: sandy	September 2011
the tour was great. no waiting in line. Paul was a fantastic guide. lots of time in buckingham palace, could have used a bit more time in windsor castle though.

Review by: Michelle S	September 2011
I enjoyed the tours and the driver and host were both great. Our tour began at Windsor then continued at Buckingham. I think it would have been much better to have had lunch in Windsor rather than in London. We were rather rushed in Windsor to jump on bus and go to London to get off and find a restaurant near Buckingham Palace that wasn't packed at lunch time! I would recommend that extra time was given in Windsor that could either be spent at the Castle, in the town or eating then go straight to Buckingham.

Review by: robert w. t	September 2011
Bus picked us up at the appointed time and guide quite pleasant and knowledgeable. All went well until we attempted to locate our guide and bus to return us to our hotel at the end of the tour; neither could be located and we found it necessary to get back on our own. Even though we should have known from the description stating "hotel pickup" with no mention of return, it would have been helpful if the guide had stated this fact.

Review by: William H	August 2011
Excellent tour and day. The guide was very helpful and helped cope with the large crowds.

Review by: sarah e	August 2011
We were not impressed. We did wait in line for a very long time at Windsor Castle while others just walked up and went in. The same at Buckingham. The worst was trying to find where to get on the bus. Had we not had a cell phone we would never got to the meeting place. We were told Victoria Station where the buses pick up. There are numerous sites with buses collecting people. I had to get a person on the phone and talk us to the proper place. Very nerve racking considering we had paid alot of money and were in jeopardy of missing a bus that was nowhere to be found. We felt we were not given proper instructions especially beening from another country. Other than having the guide talk to us on the ride we were on our own. Could have easily done the whole thing ourselves.

Review by: Judith P	August 2011
Tour guide was worthless....did not even mention that one should see the FRONT of Buckingham Palace or how to get there. Was NOT worth the money

Review by: jennifer f	August 2011
You have the worse service. tour guides were great! getting to the tour, finding the tour, knowing that the tour has been subbed out, not knowing the tour's name, no phone# for the local tour company, ect. For example, I didn't know where to meet the tour. I called viator 5 times at international rates. Finally, after a 10 minute + hold time, I get a guy who tells me your not the tour and its the tour operator who knows where it is; yet, the tour operator is closed since viator's london hours are until 2am. Then he puts me on hold for 15 minutes only to tell me that there is a large office at the bus depot and it will be easy to find the tour operator. Guess what? they have no office. The Tour Operator randomly walks around. I finally spotted a small name tag on a woman and that's how i found the tour operator at victoria station after walking in circles for 30 minutes. PS Our tour was not listed on the departures board. I would never use your service ever again.

Review by: Spencer G	August 2011
A little disappointing our first guide was good the second not so good, but thought it was expensive for what we got.

Review by: Peter S	August 2011
This would have been a five start reviewe except that the local vendor did not communicate to his tour guide well. The guide who took us to Windsor and back was excellant. However, he did not know the name of the guide who was to provide our afternoon tickets to Buckingham She had no idea where to meet us, was 15 minutes late and did not know exactly what tour we were taking. So, skip the loine a wait on a totally incompetent who got us entry but never tickets, knew nothing about the tour or where we would end up. and then took off without so much as a "cheerio"!

Review by: Ann-Maree O	November 2010
Windsor tour was excellent. On the way back sadly there was a mix up and we were left sitting by ourselfs at the entrance of buckingham palace and the tour guide left without clarrifying what was to be done next. The group was waiting for her and she never came back. The bus back was terrible, far too small for the number of people.

Review by: Sue L	October 2010
Just a magnificent day. Would look at visiting Buckingham Palace without paying this company as they only dropped us at the door,met by the guide who promptly disappeared after giving the tickets to the reception desk

Review by: Connie R	October 2010
I thought this was great. After pounding all around London by ourselves, it was wonderful to climb on board a coach and let someone else do all the navigating. Getting right into the Palace and the Castle is worth a lot - no standing in long lines. We definitely would recommend this as a great use of time.

Review by: Shane H	October 2010
This tour, Windsor Castle and Buckingham Palace is well worth doing. Both sites were amazing in their own right. By doing the tour it was great to skip the lines at the gates. It would have been good to have had an audio guide for Windsor Castle. I thought our guide was taking us through however we were sent off alone once inside and no guide. Still worth attendance.

Review by: Robert A	September 2010
Wonderful tour and a great tour guide!

Review by: Kimberly C	September 2010
Tour Guides somewhat disorganized - almost as if this were the first time multiple 1/2 days trips were combined. The Windsor Castle tour is self-guided and to do the entire visit justice - you don't have enough time if you've combined with say a Stonehedge tour for the remainder of the day. Buckingham Palace - only open 10 weeks out of the year ... perfect time to visit.

Review by: Anonymous	August 2010
The guide was rushed for the two palaces tour. He constantly reminded everyone that we were trying to do too much. We spent a lot of time in transit to the location. He was sarcastic, and also kept getting mad at people taking pictures and was walking fast ahead of everything. Also on the second place, there was no guide except the one who got us in the palace and left, and there was the audioguide. Everyone in our family split up and some had to wait at the exit for the others and we didn't get our tea. I guess the beauty of the places didn't get that much spoiled by the tour so we had some fun.

Review by: Jacqueline C, United States of America	November 2009
It was interesting.

Review by: Beth W, United States of America	November 2009
This tour takes all the guess work on how where and time of tour. I would definitely go this route.

Review by: BETH W	November 2009
This tour takes all the guess work on how where and time of tour. I would definitely go this route.

Review by: Solange B, Canada	October 2009
This was the best of all the tours we took. The palaces are fabulous and the self-guided tours are very well organized and narrated. Highly recommended. Well worth the price.

Review by: Peter C, Australia	October 2009
The arrangement appeared strange at first as we had to get a bus to a get another bus to take us to Windsor. However once explained all was well. The tour was fine but do not expect any commentary. Fine by us as we like to go at our pace, but others wanted to be fed information the whole time. This was our second Viator tour and both were great value.

Review by: Lynne R, United States of America	September 2009
This was the perfect combination for a day trip. It was my first time in London and Windsor Castle and Buckingham Palace were both on my "must see" list so I was happy to be able to see them both on the same day. We had ample time at both places and never felt rushed. The only suggestion I would have is to let your tourists know that they will have time to get lunch after Windsor, back in London, before the Buckingham Palace tour. We weren't aware of this so we took time to have an early lunch in Windsor before heading back to London.If we had known there would be time for lunch later, we would have waited and spent additional time in Windsor. I would highly recommend this tour to anyone. Be sure to allow lots of time for shopping here.

Review by: Linda R Z, United States of America	September 2009
Winsor Castle tour was good. Our guide put up a pace a bit to quick for us. Missed the coach again and were left in Windsor but had a great experience catching a train back to London. We met people and saw some of the country we would else have overlooked. Again be sure to meet the times for the coaches.

Review by: Corrie C, United States of America	September 2009
WOW! Take advantage of this excursion if you are traveling in the summer time. The only time the public can view these elaborate residences of the Queen is when she is gone for 2 months in the summer time. It would have been nice to have 60 to 90 minutes more at Windsor Castle to view the Chapel and some other buildings because Buckingham Palace was at your leisure and the end of the tour. Both establishments are just so grand and elaborate that you can't help but almost feel the wealth and feel like royalty yourself as you tour the ballrooms, staircases, china exhibits, costumes of her Majesty, jewels, art, and state rooms. Skipping the lines was a great feature of this tour as well.

Review by: Linda Z	September 2009
Winsor Castle tour was good. Our guide put up a pace a bit to quick for us. Missed the coach again and were left in Windsor but had a great experience catching a train back to London. We met people and saw some of the country we would else have overlooked. Again be sure to meet the times for the coaches.

Review by: Corrie R	September 2009
WOW! Take advantage of this excursion if you are traveling in the summer time. The only time the public can view these elaborate residences of the Queen is when she is gone for 2 months in the summer time. It would have been nice to have 60 to 90 minutes more at Windsor Castle to view the Chapel and some other buildings because Buckingham Palace was at your leisure and the end of the tour. Both establishments are just so grand and elaborate that you can't help but almost feel the wealth and feel like royalty yourself as you tour the ballrooms, staircases, china exhibits, costumes of her Majesty, jewels, art, and state rooms. Skipping the lines was a great feature of this tour as well.

Review by: Julia B, United States of America	August 2009
We loved London. It was a city rich in history and very interesting.

Review by: Anonymous, Canada	August 2009
Good trip! More time at Windsor would have been nice. Getting to go inside Buckingham Palace was nice.

Review by: Ee Him O, Singapore	August 2009
Recommended for the ease and convenience.

Review by: Richard W, Canada	September 2008
Great tour, although we could have used more time at Windsor...so much to see and so little time. With the tour ending at Buckingham Palace, we had lots of time to browse. All in all, great value.

Review by: Anonymous, United States of America	August 2008
I was glad to be with a tour group when we got to Buckingham Palace. It made it all so much easier upon entry.