If you have 8 hours to spare between flight, leave London Gatwick or Heathrow Airport, and travel west with your private driver to the royal town of Windsor, just under an hour’s drive away. Your exact itinerary of your layover tour is flexible, so you can customize your plans based on your preferences  just let your driver know what you want to see in Windsor and then sit back and enjoy the drive! You'll have roughly four hours in Windsor.

The affluent town is best known as the site of Windsor Castle  the official residence of the Queen and a place well worth visiting (entry at your own expense). Covering an area of roughly 13 acres (5 hectares), Windsor Castle’s grounds include an impressive list of things to see, like the State Apartments and St George’s Chapel. Your guide will give you plenty of insider tips about the best areas of the castle to visit, should you wish to.

Windsor’s Changing of the Guard ceremony takes place daily, so you can try to catch it while exploring the town. Usually accompanied by a military band, soldiers march up the high street to Windsor Castle in colorful red tunics and bearskin hats, representing the pomp and ceremony of the British Royal Family that so intrigues visitors to England.

Near the town center is Windsor Great Park -- perfect for a walk or summer’s day picnic! Take a stroll along the famous Long Walk, a 2-mile (3-km) path bordered by symmetrical rows of beautiful trees and neat lawns.

Most itineraries include a drive to Eton, the historic little town just on the other side of the River Thames from Windsor. See Eton College, where Princes William and Harry studied, and browse the town’s endearing collection of independent shops. Alternatively, visit the nearby town of Runnymede, where the Magna Carta was sealed by King John in 1215.

Your independent Windsor tour finishes back at London Gatwick or Heathrow Airport, in time for your ongoing flight.