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Quick overview

  • Access: Included in all Windsor Castle tickets
  • Separate ticket: Not required
  • When you’ll see it: Near the end of the State Apartments route
  • Visit duration: 10–15 mins self-guided/15–20 mins with the multimedia guide
  • Best time: First timed entry on an open weekday, before London day tours reach the State Apartments
  • Restrictions: No photography. Large backpacks and pushchairs are not permitted inside the State Apartments.

St George’s Hall is included with all Windsor Castle tickets, and no separate ticket is needed; it matters because this is the castle’s principal ceremonial hall for state banquets and major royal occasions. You’ll usually reach it near the end of the State Apartments route, and you can’t enter it separately from the main castle circuit. Give it real time when you arrive, because the roof, heraldry, and scale reward a slower look than most visitors give it.

How to best experience St George’s Hall

Best time to visit

The first timed entry on an open weekday is the calmest, before London day tours reach the State Apartments. Late afternoon also thins out. Midday compresses visitors into the viewing line, so details disappear behind other people.

How long to spend

Give the hall 10–15 minutes at a minimum, or 15–20 minutes if you’re using the multimedia guide and studying the heraldry. At walking pace, it reads as one long room; with pause time, its ceremonial logic becomes clearer.

Where it fits in your itinerary

You usually reach St George’s Hall toward the end of the State Apartments circuit, after several richly decorated rooms. Save some mental energy for it. If you rush because chapel timing or closing time is looming, the ceiling and shields blur together.

Crowd patterns

Crowding peaks from late morning to early afternoon, when coach groups and independent visitors overlap. The hall itself is broad, but adjoining rooms slow the flow. Quieter shoulder periods make it easier to step back and read the room properly.

What to prioritize if time is short

Stand far enough back to read the hall on its full length, then look up at the hammerbeam roof and Garter heraldry before studying the windows and banqueting setup. If pressed, skim lesser rooms rather than this one.

Common mistakes to avoid

Most visitors focus on the floor-level route and miss that the roof is the hall’s real story. Don’t treat it like a passage room. Also, keep your phone away — photography is prohibited throughout the interiors.

Best tickets to experience St George’s Hall

Ticket typeWhy choose it

Castle entry ticket

Best if you want unhurried time in the hall and can pace the State Apartments around quieter slots.

Castle ticket with London transfers

Removes train planning, so you arrive with more energy for the State Apartments and St George’s Hall.

Half-day Windsor Castle tour

Good if time is tight, but choose it only if you’re comfortable with a shorter look at the hall.

Why it’s worth seeing

St George’s Hall is the Windsor State Room that still feels most clearly like a working ceremonial chamber, not just a preserved historic interior. What many visitors don’t realize is that the great roof overhead belongs to the post-1992 reconstruction, yet it was designed to continue the castle’s older heraldic language rather than copy it mechanically. When you enter, focus on three things: the roofline, the hall’s long banquet axis, and the Garter symbolism woven through the room.

The roof: look up before you move on

The green-oak hammerbeam roof dominates the room from wall to wall. Pause near the center of the hall and look above the visitor route: the timber structure and heraldic shields tell you immediately that this is a space shaped by monarchy and ceremony.

The hall’s full length

This room works best from a distance. From the doorway or halfway back, look straight down its long axis toward the far end; the windows, panelling, and table arrangement are designed to read as one formal processional space.

The Garter heraldry

Along the upper reaches of the hall, look for the shields connected to the Order of the Garter. They are easiest to read once you stop scanning the floor-level furnishings and start reading the room upward, almost like a ceremonial canopy.

Historical & cultural significance

The hall you see today is both historic and modern: its present form was reshaped after the 1992 Windsor Castle fire, yet it continues the ceremonial tradition of the 19th-century State Apartments. Originally created as a royal dining and reception space, it has become one of the castle’s principal settings for state banquets and formal occasions, so visitors are entering a room with ongoing royal function, not a frozen period interior.

👉 Explore the full history of Windsor Castle

Notable figures

George IV | Royal patron

Drove the 1820s remaking of Windsor’s State Apartments and their grand ceremonial sequence.

Know more

Jeffry Wyatville | Architect

Replanned Windsor for George IV, shaping the State Apartments’ formal processional layout.

Know more

Giles Downes | Restoration architect

Designed the post-1992 roof, using green oak and heraldry to reinterpret tradition.

Know more

Elizabeth II | Modern royal user

Used the hall for state banquets and major ceremonial occasions across her reign.

Know more

Know before you go

  • Open: Windsor Castle is usually open Thursday to Monday, 10am–5:15pm from March to October, and 10am–4:15pm from November to February.
  • Last entry: Usually 4pm from March to October, and 3pm from November to February.
  • Closed: Tuesdays and Wednesdays, plus December 25–26.
  • State Apartments note: St George’s Hall is inside the State Apartments, which can close at short notice for official use.

​State Apartments opening hours

Address: Windsor Castle, Windsor SL4 1NJ, United Kingdom.

  • Nearest station: Windsor & Eton Central is about a 5-minute walk; Windsor & Eton Riverside is about a 10-minute uphill walk.
  • Entry point: Enter through the visitor Admission Centre on Castle Hill, not directly into the hall.
  • Position in route: St George’s Hall appears toward the end of the State Apartments circuit.
  • Direct access: No independent hall entrance exists; you follow the castle’s signed one-way visitor route.

​Get directions

  • Wheelchair access: Step-free access is available to much of Windsor Castle, including routes into the State Apartments.
  • Assistance: Staff can direct you to lifts and the accessible route on arrival.
  • Mobility aids: Manual wheelchairs are available to borrow, subject to availability.
  • Audio support: Audio-descriptive tours are available from the Admission Centre for blind or partially sighted visitors.
  • Surfaces: Expect some slopes, cobbles, and periods of standing between the precincts and interiors.

​Plan your visit

  • Photography: Strictly prohibited inside Windsor Castle, including St George’s Hall.
  • Bags and strollers: Large backpacks and pushchairs are not permitted inside the State Apartments.
  • Pets: Pets are not allowed; assistance dogs are welcome.
  • Visitor route: You must stay on the marked public route and behind barriers in the State Apartments.
  • Security: Airport-style bag checks are in place before entry.

​Plan your visit

Frequently asked questions about St George's Hall

Yes. St George’s Hall is included with Windsor Castle admission because it sits inside the State Apartments. No separate ticket exists.

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