There is, however, more to Windsor than its imposing stronghold. Full of quirkiness – the only blue postbox in Britain; 16m-long Queen Charlotte Street, the country’s shortest – Windsor has a thriving centre. Extremely walkable, most of the town’s attractions are a short amble from the castle.
Pedestrianised Peascod Street is the main shopping thoroughfare. Nearby, Windsor Royal Shopping arcade occupies the grand Victorian Railway Station, where a purse-destroying gamut of high-end outlets sit amid original 1850s features. The bulk of the tourist bustle centres on High Street, which sweeps down past the castle in a tumble of pubs and restaurants towards the River Thames.
Follow High Street all the way to the footbridge, cross the Thames and you’re in Windsor’s sister-settlement, Eton. Separated by the river, they’re essentially two towns in one, and have had close ties since Henry VI founded Eton College in 1440. Now an enclave of little boutiques, peppered with teenage boys in billowing gowns, Eton’s own quaint High Street feels like a natural extension of its larger neighbour.
To escape most of the seven million tourists that pour into Windsor and Eton annually, head into Windsor Great Park. Once a vast Norman hunting forest, this 20 sq km green-space is now a mix of formal avenues, woods and open grassland grazed by herds of deer.
