Food & Drinks at Windsor Castle
Explore food and drink options in Windsor Castle, Windsor town, and Eton.
Windsor Castle itself has one café — the Undercroft, in a vaulted room beneath the Lower Ward — plus a seasonal outdoor refreshment kiosk. For a proper meal most visitors head into Windsor town (3 minutes down Castle Hill) or across the river to Eton, where the cobbled High Street has been serving travellers since the Middle Ages. Combine this with the visitors guide if you're planning a full day, and the opening hours for café times.
Inside the precinct, in Windsor town, and across the river in Eton
Food
The Undercroft Café inside the castle does sandwiches, soup, pies and cakes — set lunch around £15. Outside, Bel and the Dragon on Thames Street is a smart gastropub with a beautiful timber-frame dining room (mains £18–28). Côte Brasserie on the High Street is reliable French bistro fare. For something more traditional, The Two Brewers on Park Street does a proper Sunday roast (£22) in a 17th-century inn at the entrance to the Long Walk.
Drinks
Coffee at the Undercroft Café — espresso around £3, flat white around £4. For afternoon tea with a castle view, The Macdonald Windsor Hotel on the High Street has a tea menu (~£35 per person) on its first-floor terrace. Pubs in Windsor town centre serve cask ales from local breweries — The Carpenters Arms on Market Street is the most atmospheric. Card and contactless universal; cash also accepted everywhere.
Recommendations nearby
Cross the pedestrian bridge into Eton for the High Street with its centuries-old timber-frame shops and pubs — the The George Inn dates from 1414, and The Christopher is the village's historic coaching inn. For dessert, Cinnamon Café on Thames Street does excellent cakes, and the Windsor Royal Station shopping arcade inside Windsor & Eton Central station has several quick options for the train home.
Plan a full day in Windsor and Eton
The smartest itinerary is a 10:00 castle slot, a sit-down break at the Undercroft Café around 12:30 inside the precinct, and lunch at one of the timber-frame pubs in Eton across the bridge afterwards. From there it's a 15-minute walk up Eton High Street past the famous boys' school (founded 1440 by Henry VI), or back across the river for tea at the Macdonald Windsor Hotel with the castle in the window.
If you're visiting on a Sunday, time the day around Choral Evensong at St George's Chapel (typically 17:15) — lunch first at The Two Brewers on Park Street, walk the Long Walk afterwards (a 4-km tree-lined ride leading to the bronze statue of George III on Snow Hill), and finish at the chapel as the choir sings the evening service. One of the most memorable days you can have anywhere in southern England.
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