Hi guys! Welcome to another episode of
Ultimate Bucket List, and on today's show I’m here in Windsor castle.
The Queen's weekend residence. A lot of people will know that the Queen lives
in Buckingham palace in the centre of London. But she doesn't consider that her home.
Buckingham Palace is officially her office, and she considers Windsor Castle which is
23 miles west of London her actual home. This is where she grew up and this is where she
prefers to spend her weekends. It's one of the most amazing castles you'll come across here
in England, and lots of important things have happened here. Most recently the wedding
between Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. Most of the time the Queen
isn't in residence here, and you're free to pay for a tour of the place.
My day starts here at Windsor and Eton Central Train Station aka the royal train station.
And you can immediately tell that it's that because … well, the royal train is on display. But
also, there are various signs that tell you so. Windsor Castle is pretty easy to find. You exit
the train station and whoop there it is. It's a massive imposing castle, the camera angle really
doesn't do it justice here. It is massive! With it being a royal residence, not only is it
guarded by these guys, it's also guarded by these guys. So no misbehaving whilst you're here.
The front of the castle has some excellent photo opportunities, and to go into the castle itself
you'll need to go into the visitors entrance right here on the corner. Even if you book in advance,
the queue to get in is literally a mile long. Even though the members of staff here are
very likable and very friendly sometimes, you'll come across complete tools who also want to
see the castle. You're ushered around the corner where you'll be security checked, airport-stylie,
before being allowed to enter the castle. And as soon as you walk in you'll
realise how big this place actually is! There's plenty of photo opportunities everywhere
because this is one of the nicest castles that you can visit here in England. The castle's
history dates back almost a thousand years so there's plenty of history at every turn.
Before you enter anywhere though, I highly recommend that you pick up an audio guide here
on the left. It's available in many languages. When you get to a specific station press on
the button and it will tell you all about it. And yes, this is actually how you enter
Windsor Castle. It's pretty damn amazing, so pay attention to the audio guide because
you actually learn a lot about the castle. And oh look at these guys, they're actually
on patrol today! Usually they do a changing of the guard ceremony at 11 o'clock most
days. But because of COVID 19 unfortunately they've stopped doing that. The biggest tower
here at Windsor Castle is the Round Tower. Unfortunately because of COVID they're not running
any tours up there. But hopefully when you come round this place will actually be open. Instead
have a walk around one of the Queen's gardens. It's actually quite pleasant to know that Queen
Elizabeth enjoys walking around in her garden. Once you've walked around the Round Tower,
you've got two options you can either turn left to go into St. George’s chapel. Or
right to go into the state apartments. I decided to go left and
visit St. George’s chapel. This is the on-site church that's used for
ceremonies and was the venue for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding. So if you're
a big fan of royals and royal weddings, this is quite a nice place to go. The courtyard
itself, as you can imagine from being a royal residence, actually very nice. And boy there's
a lot of planes flying overhead today?! I recommend spending some time in the
courtyard because you'll see the Queen's guards on display. Contrary to popular belief they
are allowed to move, and if you do bother them they will retaliate so don't be a
typical tourist and try and bother them. They're there to do a job. Having said that this
isn't a bad view to stare at all day. Up the ramp you go and into St. George’s chapel. As soon
as you walk through the doors, you'll step into one of the nicest churches that you'll have ever
seen. I mean check out the detail in the ceiling! There's not a bad view anywhere in the church.
It's ornately carved, very gothic style and the fact that this is frequented by the
Queen herself is pretty pretty amazing. Every single detail here in St. George’s chapel
is there for a reason. The coats of arms are there for a reason and the audio guide does an excellent
job in explaining what generally goes on in here. So the nicest part of Saint George’s chapel
is this the quire, where the choir sits and where the ceremonies happen. It looks
like something out of a fairy tale. Most people would have heard of King Henry VIII,
one of our most infamous and fattest monarchs. Well he's buried literally right here underneath
this slab of stone between both sets of choirs. Take your time to wander around
St George’s chapel, because it's probably one of the nicest churches or
cathedrals that you'll have ever seen. By the way the red door's here, that's the
Queen's personal entrance into the chapel. Once you've finished with Saint George’s
chapel, it's time to go around the corner and check out the state residences. If you do
like your photography you'll have no shortage of things to take pictures of here. At the moment
because of COVID it takes a while to get in, but once you're in there's interesting details
everywhere. The first stop is the very very famous long walk. As you walk around some of the
residences, you'll find some very interesting things. Like ornately decorated knight armour and
you go up the stairs towards the Grand Vestibule. This is decorated with famous armour
from former monarchs and famous weapons of various knights, which is pretty awesome!
Part of the Grand Vestibule houses the statue of Queen Victoria, but it also houses some very
interesting artefacts from around the world. So the audio guide tells you pretty much all
about it, it's an immense room to start out in. This room that looks like it's
currently under construction (because it is) is the Waterloo Chamber.
This acts like a de facto dining room for some of the royals, but it's also a meeting room for very
important people. Currently they're renovating it, but this is what it should look like in general.
The next stop is the Garter Throne room. Windsor Castle is home to the Order of the Garter the most
exalted level of knighthood that you can receive in this country. And if you are awarded the Order
of the Garter, it's done right here with the Queen sitting in that middle chair there and you
being knighted in front of her. The throne room itself is incredibly impressive and it would be
amazing to be knighted in front of the Queen here. Throughout all of the rooms here at Windsor
Castle, you'll notice that no detail and no expense has been spared in making this place look
spectacular. It literally is fit for royalty. Next up is my favourite room of the entire castle. This is the State Dining Room.
Complete with coats of arms in the ceilings, various night armours and this is used as a state
dining room to house royals from across the world. I mean what a fantastic venue that you can have
dinner in. Just look at the amount of detail here it's absolutely incredible. This is easily
one of the nicest royal rooms that I’ve ever been in and I’ve been to quite a lot of
castles etc. But nothing is as nice as this. I’ve mentioned the Order of the Garter already
in this video and this is it this is the highest honour that you can be bestowed by the Queen.
And I think this is the Queen's actual Garter. You also get to visit the Queen's presence
chamber and the Queen's guard chamber, which are equally as impressive. It's time to go
back out to the Grand Vestibule, and I recommend that you stick around for about five minutes
to examine literally everything. Including the Queen's personal cutlery. Yes this is the
cutlery that she uses to entertain dignitaries. You then exit the building where you'll exit
out into the Queen's personal courtyard, and yes it's guarded by the Queen's guard, and
yes for some reason jumbo jets are still flying over it. Unfortunately you're not allowed
to go into any other parts of the castle, but to be honest after you've seen all of
this you're absolutely mesmerized by it all. Be sure to take a look at the Middle Ward Gift
Shop before you hand back in your audio guide and exit out of the side of the castle. And if
you want to check out some of the Queen's guards again, you definitely can do that. And remember
no trying to make them laugh! Because believe it or not, if they're caught doing so they get docked
week's wages. So please don't try and bother them. But not everything is old in Windsor. The town
itself has modern amenities, it has a modern high street, and they've got modern eateries.
There's no shortage of places where you can buy a typical souvenir tack, including this place
with Mr bean in front of it for some reason? There's other cool things to check out such as the
Theatre Royal, the Guild Hall and the Long Walk. I mentioned the long walk before is where the
royal procession happens, and goes directly into Windsor Castle. But it's three miles
long and most of it is in public parkland, which you can actually walk along.
“So behind me is Windsor Castle and in front of me is this famous long walk. Now
apparently it's about four kilometres long, which is about three miles. And you can walk
to the end of it if you want to. Screw that!” But overall guys, I highly recommend a trip to
Windsor Castle. Especially if you like history, royalty or you want something fun to explore,
and a nice day out away from central London. Okay Ninh, I’m sold what do I need to do?
Well you need to come here to Windsor Castle. It's situated in the town of Windsor and to get here,
you can either drive, there's plenty of parking. Or take the train directly from London. I had
to change at Slough this morning to get here but Windsor train station is actually quite nice to
have a look at. The cost to do the tour? Well it costs about £23, and for that you also get this
free cool audio guide, which I highly recommend. Is there anything else I need to know? Yes
they're very twitchy about photography here at Windsor Castle, so bearing in mind no
photography or videography in certain parts of the castle. And also no droning here. You're
in the direct flight path of Heathrow airport, and you're in a royal residence that's heavily
guarded. So there's no way that you absolutely get away with this, so no droning guys. But if you
have enjoyed this episode please, be sure to like, share, and subscribe. Comment on the comment
section below, and if you've got any other bucket list ideas you want me to check out,
tweet them at me. If I get enough suggestions, I’ll go ahead and do that. So, guys thank you
very much for watching, and we'll see you in the next episode!
Ninh Ly - www.ninh.co.uk - NinhLyUK
