Buckingham Palace or Windsor Castle?

Between October and June, go to Windsor Castle: it is open, and the State Rooms at Buckingham Palace are not. In summer the choice is real, and it comes down to the day you want. Buckingham Palace is two or three hours in nineteen formal rooms in the middle of London. Windsor is a day out, with a castle on a hill, a chapel full of royal tombs and a riverside town, roughly an hour from central London by train.

Side by side

Direct prices: Buckingham Palace from rct.uk, read 1 August 2026; Windsor from the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead’s visitor site, checked October 2026. Neither had published 2027 prices when checked.

Choose Windsor if

• You are travelling outside the summer weeks. This settles it for most of the year. Windsor’s opening days change around state occasions and it can close at short notice, but it is a working castle you can actually visit in February.
• You want history you can stand in. St George’s Chapel is part of the ticket except on Sundays, when it is closed to visitors for services. Henry VIII is buried there, and so is Queen Elizabeth II. In winter the Semi-State Rooms join the route.
• You have a whole day. The town, the Long Walk and Eton across the river fill an afternoon easily.

Choose Buckingham Palace if

• Your dates fall inside the summer opening. For 2027 those dates arrive with the November ticket release.
• The paintings are the point. The Picture Gallery was rehung for 2026 with around 120 works on display, up from 63, including Rubens, Caravaggio and Zoffany.
• You only have a morning. It is in central London, the visit takes about two and a half hours, and you can do the Changing of the Guard on the same day.

You can do both in a long summer visit. In one day, with a choice to make, Windsor gives you more for the same money for most of the year, and Buckingham Palace wins only when the State Rooms are open and the art is what you came for.

Three ways to do it

Prices, ratings and review counts from GetYourGuide, checked October 2026. Operators price by season, so treat them as the shape of the market, not a quote.

Before you go to Windsor

Check the day. Windsor Castle was listed as open Thursday to Monday when rct.uk was checked on 22 October 2026, and Visit London lists it as closed to all visitors from 24 to 26 December 2026. Winter hours are shorter: Visit London gives 10:00 to 16:15 from November to February, with last admission at 15:00, so a late train out of London can leave you very little time inside. On a Sunday the chapel is closed to visitors, which matters if Queen Elizabeth II’s resting place is the reason you are going.

The ticket below is Royal Collection Trust’s own admission with the multimedia guide; it does not include transport. windsor-castle-tour.com covers Windsor’s guided tours and day trips in more depth.

Checked 22 October 2026. Buckingham Palace’s 2026 dates, the summer 2027 ticket release, the “allow 2 to 2½ hours” advice and the pound prices are from rct.uk (prices read 1 August 2026); the Picture Gallery rehang is from Royal Collection Trust’s 8 July 2026 press release. Windsor’s opening days are from rct.uk (22 October 2026); its 2026 adult prices are from the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead’s visitor site; its winter hours and the 24–26 December closure are from Visit London; the Semi-State Rooms and the Sunday chapel closure are from Royal Collection Trust’s visitor information. Tour details, prices and review counts are from the listings, checked October 2026, and change over time.