We’re very lucky that the Great West Way is home to some of the UK’s most historic, and not to mention stunning, houses, castles and stately homes. One of which is Windsor Castle, the oldest and largest occupied castle in the world.

In partnership with Royal Collection Trust, the Great West Way team hosted an event last weekend to launch Windsor Castle’s Conquer the Tower Tour, which is only open to the public in August and September. The Conquer the Tower Tour is a private tour of the iconic Round Tower where the Windsor Castle archives and photographs are stored. The tour is 200 steps to the top, where you can enjoy breath-taking, 360-degree views of Windsor. From here you can look down onto the precincts of Windsor Castle, but also in the distance you can see London’s skyline, as well Eton College and the Thames Valley.


Ahead of the public opening, we invited bloggers, vloggers and social media influencers to experience the Conquer the Tower Tour and receive an exclusive private tour of the ceremonial state apartments. After weeks of sweltering heat, we unfortunately experienced a bit of rain, but this did not dampen the event and everyone had a great time. 


Visiting Windsor Castle in itself is of course magical, but having access to an area that is usually closed added an extra air of excitement to our experience. It was very special to see a bird’s eye view of Windsor, the parkland and Long Walk leading to Snow Hill. The tour only takes place when the Queen is not in residence and due to an extended trip, it was touch and go if we were able to go ahead with the event, but we were all very pleased that we could experience the Conquer the Tower Tour and spend some time exploring the castle. 


Thank you to taylor_fuller, sandymakessense, themillennialrunaway, _beans_on_toast_, chelseadinen, elizabetheverywhere, thatgirlfleur and guests, for joining us at our event. The Windsor Castle Conquer the Tower Tour opens on Thursday, 1 August until Monday, 30 September. To book tickets, click here.

To see more of the spectacular pictures from the day, search #GreatWestWay and #Conquerthetower. And if you've been inspired to go explore the Great West Way, don't forget to tag us and use #GreatWestWay and #EnglandUncovered so that we can see your adventures!
 

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