The Long Walk, Windsor

About this place

A dead-straight line roughly four kilometres long, from the gate of Windsor Castle to a king on horseback on a hilltop: this is the Long Walk, the avenue the whole world watched during the royal wedding carriage processions and Queen Elizabeth II's funeral cortege in 2022. Charles II laid it out in the 1680s as a grand approach to the castle, lined with double rows of elms; after the Second World War the elms gave way to the horse chestnuts and London planes that shade it now. It costs nothing and needs no booking. The public entrance is on Park Street, directly below the castle, because the first stretch hugging the castle walls is closed to visitors. From there the avenue stretches ahead wide and open, and it is excellent for pushchairs and for walking with older relatives, flat and tarmacked almost the whole way; only the final climb up Snow Hill to the statue is on grass, and halfway along you cross the busy Albert Road through the Deer Park gate. Reaching the bronze at the far end, the Copper Horse of George III raised in 1831, is another matter: about 8 km there and back, two to two and a half hours, with no cafe, no toilets and no real shade on the avenue itself. Bikes and scooters are banned, so walking is the only option. The secret regulars know: the best view is not from the castle but of it. From Snow Hill at the foot of the statue, Windsor Castle sits at the end of the straight line like a painting, and that is the photograph in every book. But if your time is short or you have small children, walk in for fifteen or twenty minutes, turn round for the castle shot, and head back; you get most of the magic for a fraction of the effort. In the far section the avenue runs through the fenced Deer Park, where around 500 red deer roam freely around you, a genuine treat for children who make it that far; the Deer Park is occasionally closed during the rutting season from September to November, so check the park website before you go. Go early in the morning or in the golden hour before sunset, when the coach parties from London have gone. In summer carry water and a hat; in August there is no escaping the sun. In winter it is dark before half past four and the grass verges turn to mud, so stick to the paved path. The entrance is a ten-minute walk from Windsor & Eton Central station, and there is no dedicated car park; leave the car in central Windsor and walk.