Your Windsor Castle ticket is already an annual pass. You just have to sign it.
Any ticket bought directly from the Royal Collection converts into a 1-Year Pass giving twelve months of free re-admission, and the only step is signing and printing your name on the ticket before you leave the site. Walk out without doing it and you have bought one visit for 32 pounds instead of a year for the same money.
And if you are on certain benefits, the whole thing costs a pound.
The 1 pound ticket
A 1 pound ticket to Windsor Castle is available to anyone receiving Universal Credit, Working Tax Credit, Child Tax Credit, Pension Credit, Employment and Support Allowance, Income Support or Jobseeker’s Allowance.
You can claim up to six people per household. Only one person needs to show supporting documents, and that person has to be part of the visit.
The same scheme covers Buckingham Palace, the Palace of Holyroodhouse, the Royal Mews and the King’s Galleries in London and Edinburgh. Our Buckingham Palace page covers that one, and tickets for its summer 2027 opening go on sale in November.
Six people into Windsor Castle for 6 pounds, against 192 at the adult rate, is the largest discount published by any attraction we have looked at.
What everyone else pays
Booked in advance first, on the day second:
Adult: 32 pounds, or 36 on the day.
Young person aged 18 to 24: 21 pounds, or 24.
Child aged 5 to 17, and disabled visitors: 16 pounds, or 18.
Access companions and under 5s go free.
So turning up without a ticket costs an adult four pounds extra, and a family of four about twelve.
The 1-Year Pass, properly explained
This is the part worth getting right, because it is free and almost nobody does it.
Before you leave, sign and print your name in the spaces on your ticket. That is the whole process. The ticket is now a 1-Year Pass, valid twelve months from your first visit, for any date the site is open to the public, subject to availability.
Coming back, you have two options. Telephone to pre-book and guarantee a time slot, which carries a 2 pound transaction fee, or turn up and show the pass plus proof of signature such as a passport, driving licence or a credit or debit card, and you will be given a complimentary ticket if the site has not sold out.
Children under 18 do not need to show proof of signature.
The catch worth naming: walking up is free but not guaranteed, and the telephone booking that is guaranteed costs 2 pounds. Two pounds for certainty on a day out is the easiest decision on this page.
The things that close before the castle does
St George’s Chapel closes at 4pm, earlier than the castle, and it is closed to visitors on Sundays entirely, though worshippers are welcome at services. Evensong at 5.15pm is open to anyone.
Ten kings are buried there, including Henry VIII and Charles I, so missing it is missing a good deal of the point.
The other warning is the operator’s own: Windsor is a working royal palace, and the whole castle or the State Apartments can close at short notice. Closure dates are published in advance and are worth checking the morning you travel, not the week before.
What the visit is actually like
Allow an hour and a half to two hours.
Two physical warnings from the castle itself, and they are not boilerplate. The castle is at the top of a steep hill, and the visitor route covers long distances. Comfortable shoes, genuinely.
There is airport-style security screening on arrival, with a metal arch and bag scanners. Bring as little as possible, and pack phones, keys and wallets into a bag before you reach the scanner rather than emptying your pockets at it.
Inside: the State Apartments, both ceremonial and historic, the Semi-State Rooms, Queen Mary’s Dolls’ House, the castle precincts, Changing the Guard and St George’s Chapel. The Undercroft Café is one of the oldest surviving spaces in a thousand-year-old building, which makes it a better tea than its menu suggests.
Paying for more
An exclusive guided tour runs on selected evenings at 85 pounds a head, starting at 6pm and 6.15pm. Disabled visitors are offered a free access companion ticket, booked by telephone or email rather than online.
Festive wreath making runs on Saturdays and Sundays from 12 December at 50 pounds, plus standard castle admission, at 10.30am or 2pm.
For families there are free downloadable trails for children aged 7 to 11 and a multimedia guide.
How to plan it
On benefits: the 1 pound ticket, for up to six of you.
Everyone else: book ahead at 32 pounds rather than 36 on the door, then sign the ticket before you leave and the year is free.
Want St George’s Chapel: not a Sunday, and before 4pm.
Travelling: check the closure dates that morning, because this is somebody’s house as well as an attraction.
Day trips from London covers the rest of what is worth the train, and Hampton Court is the other palace with a 1 pound ticket.
Windsor Castle
- Address
- Windsor, Berkshire SL4 1NJ
- Nearest
- Windsor and Eton Riverside, or Windsor and Eton Central
- Hours
- Open throughout the year, though the castle or the State Apartments can close at short notice. St George’s Chapel closes at 4pm and is closed to visitors on Sundays
- Booking
- Online in advance, which is cheaper. An exclusive evening guided tour is 85 pounds a head
- Price
- Adult 32 pounds in advance or 36 on the day. Young person 18 to 24, 21 or 24. Child 5 to 17 and disabled visitors 16 or 18. Access companions and under 5s free
- Standing
- The oldest and largest occupied castle in the world, founded by William the Conqueror and home to 40 monarchs
How to get in
A 1 pound ticket is available to anyone on Universal Credit, Working Tax Credit, Child Tax Credit, Pension Credit, Employment and Support Allowance, Income Support or Jobseeker’s Allowance, for up to six people per household. Any ticket bought direct becomes a 1-Year Pass if you sign and print your name on it before leaving. Airport-style security on arrival, and the route is long and steeply uphill.
Where to go next
Buckingham Palace is covered by the same 1 pound scheme and the same 1-Year Pass rule, and Hampton Court Palace runs its own 1 pound ticket.
Day trips from London cover the rest of what is worth the journey.
Questions we get asked
How much is Windsor Castle?
An adult ticket is 32 pounds booked in advance or 36 pounds on the day. Young people aged 18 to 24 pay 21 or 24, and children aged 5 to 17 and disabled visitors pay 16 or 18. Access companions and under 5s go free.
Can you get cheap tickets to Windsor Castle?
Yes. A 1 pound ticket is available to anyone receiving Universal Credit, Working Tax Credit, Child Tax Credit, Pension Credit, Employment and Support Allowance, Income Support or Jobseeker's Allowance, for up to six people per household. Only one person needs to show supporting documents and they must be part of the visit.
How do you get a Windsor Castle 1-Year Pass?
Sign and print your name in the spaces provided on your ticket before you leave the site. The ticket then becomes a 1-Year Pass giving free re-admission for twelve months from your first visit. It only applies to tickets bought directly from the Royal Collection.
Is St George's Chapel open on Sunday?
Not to visitors. The chapel is closed to visitors on Sundays, though worshippers are welcome at services. On other days it closes at 4pm, earlier than the castle, and evensong at 5.15pm is open to anyone.
How long do you need at Windsor Castle?
Between an hour and a half and two hours, according to the castle. Allow more if you are slow on your feet: the castle sits at the top of a steep hill and the visitor route covers long distances.
Is there security at Windsor Castle?
Yes, airport-style screening on arrival, with a metal arch and bag scanners. The castle advises bringing as little as possible and packing phones, keys and wallets into a bag before you reach the scanner.
Written by Robert J Wills, no. 237 in the guide.
Last checked 5 October 2026 against the venues' own published information. Nobody pays to appear here and we take no bookings.
