Everything below starts from the front gate. Ask at breakfast and we will lend you a map, an umbrella and, within reason, the dog.
The Thames Path to Runnymede
Flat, beautiful and impossible to get lost on. An hour's stroll downstream brings you to the Magna Carta memorial and the Runnymede meadows; the ice cream boat marks the halfway point in summer.
Boats, skiffs and paddleboards
Hire a day boat or a paddleboard from the boathouses by the bridge. No licence needed for the electric launches, and the river here is wide, slow and forgiving to beginners.
Windsor and the castle
Twenty minutes by car or a pretty run up the river. Go early, do the State Apartments before the coaches arrive, then walk the Long Walk and feel smug about your parking spot.
Hampton Court Palace
Downstream and glorious: Tudor kitchens, the maze, and gardens that swallow an afternoon whole. In summer you can do the whole trip by riverboat, which is entirely the point.
Riverside pubs
Three within a fifteen-minute walk, all with terraces on the water. We keep a strictly diplomatic silence about which one we prefer, but ask James after his second coffee.
Kingfishers at first light
The stretch above the lock is the reliable spot: go out before breakfast on a still morning and watch the low branches on the far bank. Herons are guaranteed; kingfishers are earned.
Ask us, we live here
Table for two somewhere special, a taxi firm that actually turns up, the tide of coach parties at Windsor: this is what the breakfast hour is for. We would rather you asked than queued.
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