What fun, and what an opportunity. Yesterday we toured the French royal palace at Versailles, and just a day later here we were in merry olde England with a chance to tour and compare the British royal palace at Windsor. Who gets to do that?
The first thing to know is that Versailles is a relative baby compared to Windsor Castle. The French palace is “only” 363 years old, as construction started there in 1661. Windsor, on the other hand, goes all the way back to the 11th century, and is the oldest continuously occupied palace in Europe.
The second thing to know is that Windsor is a hodgepodge of architectural styles, having been added to and remodeled several times, resulting in what a knighted architect described as “a certain fictive quality.” Thus, I will say little about the architecture, with the exception of St. George’s Chapel.
Windsor is a London suburb, requiring a bus ride of more than an hour from our ship, which was docked in the southern port of Southampton. A nice early start at 7:50 am got us to our destination at 9:18, though still not early enough to beat the long lines of other visitors waiting to enter.
One major difference between Versailles and Windsor is immediately apparent from the outside, and that is that while Versailles is purely a palace, Windsor is both a palace and a fortress. One look at the walls made that clear. Also, while Versailles is laid out very symmetrically, Windsor is irregularly shaped and to some degree follows the terrain of the hill on which it rests.
Here’s another comparison, and it’s an unfortunate one. Unlike Versailles, no photos are allowed inside Windsor Castle. I suppose the reason is that unlike Versailles, Windsor is considered an active residence of the royal family. Indeed, whenever a member of the family is in residence the whole place is closed to visitors. Happily, none of them were around today, so in we went.
First things first. Windsor is huge. The walls, palace inside, and little town where clergy and support staff live cover 13 acres. And much like other castles Windsor is largely open inside the walls, except for St. George’s Chapel.
The tour of the palace takes about two hours, and is self guided with the sweetest handheld audio/video device I’ve seen on this cruise. Highlights included a tall room displaying all manner of old weaponry, a long room celebrating all the important leaders involved in defeating Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo, several rooms displaying marvelous tapestries, and all the expected personal and state living and social rooms.
There are also numerous displays, including royal china and elaborate, handmade furniture, as well as unique items like Henry VIII’s suit of armor and the actual bullet that killed Admiral Nelson at the Battle of Trafalgar.
Overall, the palace has a darker, warmer feel than Versailles, because unlike Versailles much of the interior rooms are of dark wood. That was a problem in 1992, when a fire destroyed some important rooms, but they have been lovingly restored and look great today.
I wrote earlier that St. George’s Chapel is an exception to the mishmash of architectural styles that compete for influence at the castle. This 15th century edifice is a pure and fantastic example of what my research calls English Perpendicular Gothic. I have no idea what that means, but the Chapel is gorgeous.
Readers with a sharp memory may recall that the Chapel was the site of Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral in 2022. As we walked through I recognized the pews where the various royals sat, walked by where the casket lay, and was able to replay parts of the service in my mind. We were also able to see Her Majesty’s final resting place, alongside her husband, Prince Phillip.
After that we went back outside, where photos were permitted, took several, dropped off our tour headsets, and made our way out of the Castle. The town of Windsor goes right up to the Castle, and I’ll finish with this. If you leave without purchasing a souvenir, you’re a stronger person than I am. There are souvenir shops everywhere, selling everything imaginable, I considered myself lucky that I only added a ball cap to my already too large collection.
There was a lot of traffic on the bus ride back to Southampton, which reminds me. In England there’s an important distinction between a bus and a coach. Buses are for travel inside a city, while coaches travel between cities. If you don’t think that’s a big deal, ask someone for directions to the bus parking lot when you’re trying to find your coach and you’ll be sent off in the wrong direction.
Anyway, we returned to the pier at pm, after a day in Windsor that I really enjoyed. Tomorrow we’re in Bruges and Ghent , Belgium, two cities in a country I’ve never visited before. I’m really looking forward to it, and I’ll be back to tell you all about it. Stay tuned.
Windsor is pretty. This is on our walk from the coach part to the Castle.
According to the banner, the oldest building in Windsor, not counting the Castle itself, is now a Chinese Restaurant. How about that.
These are still around, though obviously not in use.
Queen Victoria stands watch outside the Castle.
This is known as the Curfew Tower. Back in the day it notified locals that it was time to put out their fires for the night to prevent an unattended fire from starting a conflagration.
Windsor is part palace and part fortress. Certainly different from Versailles, where we were yesterday.
We’re nearing the entrance.
That’s the exit in the background. We’re in line at the entrance. The Castle is that big.
An old Spanish/Portuguese cannon near the entrance.
Almost in. Quite an impressive castle.
And we’re inside the Castle. That’s St. George’s Chapel on the left. The palace is up the hill behind it on the left.
This former moat is actually inside the Castle grounds.
If you look carefully you’ll see a soldier in the traditional red uniform coat and tall black hat marching along the wall.
I have no idea what this area is (it’s not part of the palace), but it’s impressive.
This whole area, which we couldn’t enter, is called The Quadrangle.
Walking down from the palace to St. George’s Chapel.
St. George’s Chapel, where Queen Elizabeth II is buried.
We needed a selfie in front of the Chapel.
Near the exit we got a great look at this guard.
On our way out. This is the exit.
Last look at Windsor Castle from outside the walls. The Castle is much larger than I expected.
There are souvenir stands and shops everywhere in this part of Windsor.
Parting shot. Look who I ran into at this souvenir shop.
Comments