Eco holidays in the home counties: Windsor
May 8th, 2012Tips and advice on green holidays and outdoor activities in Windsor
The Royal town of Windsor is famed for its association with the monarchy – and has over 900 years of history to back it up. Home also to Legoland, Windsor Castle, Royal Ascot and Eton College, it has long been a popular weekend away for Londoners looking for a taste of affluent home counties’ Englishness.
Overseas tourists also flock to the area – and many Windsor hotels, such as the Millennium Hotels Slough-Windsor property, provide excellent access to London’s major airports, as well as easy transport into London. This can make them an excellent base for exploring the city without the burden, cost, and carbon emissions, of a car.
However, we’re particularly interested in what Windsor has to offer in terms of eco-friendly and green holiday-making. Whilst locating a glamping site in the area is impossible – it’s hotels or B&Bs, really – you can make a greener footprint with how and where you travel.
One of Windsor’s unsung attractions – which deserves the hordes who flock to the Castle (though would no doubt be less exhilarating with so many visitors) – is its 300km of free public cycle paths.
Windsor Castle courtesy of konqui
This is a stunning area to explore, with routes alongside the River Thames (as part of the Thames Path) as well as the easy slopes, woodland and fallow meadows that make up rural Berkshire. Tours and transfers can be arranged by Capital Sports; though there is nothing to prevent you planning and organizing the trip yourself, as the River Path and other public highways are clearly marked.
Taking a hotel or one of these more secluded self-catering apartments and B&Bs as your base, you can hire cycles for a half day, day or longer period through Extreme Motion, based on Alma Road in Windsor town.
You can even follow the river up to London, should you so wish: it’s possible to do it as a 29-mile on-road route through the villages up to South West London and the lovely pubs and houses of Richmond or, a little further up, Barnes.

