Windsor Castle vs Hampton Court Palace: Which Should You Visit?

Guests planning a royal-themed day near London often ask us the same question: Windsor or Hampton Court? Both are magnificent, both are realistic as a private day trip, and both are genuinely different experiences — so the honest answer depends on what you're actually after.

Windsor Castle: still a working royal residence

Windsor is the largest and oldest occupied castle in the world, and it's still a working royal residence today — when the King is in, his standard flies above the Round Tower. St George's Chapel, within the castle walls, is where several modern royal weddings have taken place and where a number of monarchs are buried. If your interest is the monarchy as a living institution rather than purely historical, Windsor is the stronger draw, and the Changing of the Guard ceremony (on the days it runs) adds some genuine pageantry.

Hampton Court Palace: Tudor grandeur and gardens

Hampton Court was Henry VIII's principal palace, and it feels like it — vast Tudor kitchens built to feed a court of hundreds, an astronomical clock dating from the 1540s, and acres of riverside gardens culminating in the famous hedge maze, planted around 1700 and still a genuine challenge to navigate. If your interest leans toward Tudor history, gardens, or simply a slightly less crowded palace experience, Hampton Court tends to edge it.

Can you visit both in one day?

Technically, yes — but we'd be doing you a disservice if we didn't say it makes for a rushed day, given the distance between the two and the time each deserves. Most guests get more out of choosing one and pairing it with time in London, or treating each as its own day if their itinerary allows for it.

Tell us which draws you more, or describe what you'd like from the day, and we'll help you decide rather than trying to cram in everything at once.