Where we had kept most of our London trip pretty flexible to wander about at our own pace, we opted for a tour with Golden tours to visit Windsor castle, Bath & Stonehenge. One can visit Windsor by train too. But before you plan your visit to Windsor Castle, its best to check the official website to ensure that the castle will be open for visitors on the day you wish to visit.
We were blessed with bright blue skies ... London was cold & damp. We started the tour with a pick up at 7:30 a.m. A Royal castle, an ancient City & a prehistoric monument, we went back to beautiful times today. The way back to London was also nice ... with countryside landscapes & changing colors of the sky.
An English Castle.. still used by the Royal Family . Did you know Windsor Castle is the oldest and biggest occupied castle in the world?The castle looked fabulous against the blue skies.The gardens /landscaping is beautiful which made the walk to the castle so pleasant. There is change of guards at 11 am on few days a week … its a pretty long ceremony, exciting & new in the beginning.. but we got bored after 10 mins of watching guards march & clicking pictures.
Huge chandeliers, exquisite paintings & upholstery lent all the grandeur to the place. We listened to our free audio guides and discovered all sorts of interesting facts while marvelling at the detail in every room.The audio guides really helped the tour. We were most excited when we saw 'Tipu Sultan's crown' in the exhibit rooms... So royal & beautiful..ofcourse the excitement lasted for a minute coz it also meant , it was taken when the British Ruled India… well past is past…
From the State House Apartments we went to see Queen Mary's Doll House... It was so cute with the amazing detailing. The Doll house depicts how a royal family might have lived through a beautiful collection of miniature figurines. It even has running water running through the tiny pipes. Photographs are not allowed indoors.
Next we went to St Georges Chapel which is also on the castle grounds. Its beautiful with Gothic architecture. All the knights are assigned a stall in the chapel choir above which his or her heraldic devices are displayed. After death, the stall plates, however, are not removed; they remain permanently affixed, so the stalls of the chapel are filled with a colorful record of the members throughout history.
Bath is the first city in England to be designated a UNESCO World Heritage site. Moving around, you realise why it is designated so. The tour organiser gave us an option to go inside to see the baths or just roam around for the same time out. The place looked so charming with the little shops..music & cobbled streets...outdoors were calling!! We did manage to get a peek at the roman baths from outside. The city is home to many art galleries, antique shops, theatres & Jane Austen centre.We grabbed a coffee & some muffins and went to a fudge shop to see how fudge is made. Walked around, window shopped at some cute shops, went to the indoor market & then relaxed listening to some street music. An hour just flew by. Bath is a place , we'd like to visit again.. maybe stay for a couple of nights & just soak in the place..
Lush green grass around, Sun going down & a lovely breeze…good time of the day to stroll around Stonehenge. One of the most famous sites in the world, Stonehenge is the remains of a ring of standing stones set within earthworks. The structure has been preserved so well, to think that it was completed 3,500 yrs ago !! Its surely a place that would look gorgeous at Sunset or on a full moon night.. We spent an hour there, just clicking and looking at the scenery around..
