Top Tips for Spring in Windsor and Maidenhead

Welcome to spring in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead.

We’ve broken the back of winter and the longer days are very much welcome!

Thoughts can turn to filling the lighter days by visiting attractions or attending events in the Windsor area, planning some cosy short breaks, celebrating Mother's Day and breathing a sign of relief as those clocks go forward to mark the beginning of British Summertime!

If you are coming to the Windsor area during March, April or May, here are our top tips to enjoy spring in Windsor and the Royal Borough.

Cheer on the pancake racers

Shrove Tuesday on 5 March 2019 sees pancake racing in Windsor town centre and Maidenhead town centre.

Come on down and cheer on the teams, donned in traditional pancake racing gear of the 15th-century housewife – skirt, apron, headscarf and frying pan; both the men and the women!

Watch the RBS Six Nations in Windsor

Looking for some atmosphere when you are watching the RBS Six Nations?  Rugby in the Brewery returns to the Windsor & Eton Brewery and you can join them for every England game.

No need to book – just turn up on the day – but do arrive in good time as their capacity is 200 people at which point admission will close.

There will be a food offering available along with a bar serving eight cask beers including Zinzan's Drop, 4 Keg beers, wine and soft drinks.

The Royal Windsor Public House and Dining will also be showing all Six Nations games on their huge HD screen.

Spring colour in Windsor parks and gardens

Spring sees our glorious parks and gardens coming alive with colour.

Every spring the gardens at National Trust Cliveden are a delight to behold.  New for spring 2019, the National Trust’s Cliveden presents ‘The Gilded Gardens’; a celebration of the thousands of daffodils popping up across the estate. The namesake, ‘Gilded Gardens’, is inspired by the 23¾ carat gold leaf gilded gates on the South Terrace, inside which a display of rarely seen daffodil varieties fill large terracotta pots on tiered stands. Visit the estate, located in Maidenhead, Berkshire, throughout March and April, any day from 10am to 5.30pm, to see the spectacle unfold.

The six-acre Parterre bursts at the seams with 21,000 spring bedding plants, filling the 16 central triangular beds. In the Long Garden, 11,000 pretty pink and white Bellis bellissima create a carpet of colour inside the box hedging, whilst topiary, statuary and herbaceous borders line the outside of this unique and unusual garden.

In the oriental inspired Water Garden, you’ll spot dusky pinks of flowering blossom and creamy-white magnolias forming picture perfect reflections in the lakes below. From May there’ll be 2,000 pale blue Camassia leichtlinii in bloom, adding more glamour to this already gorgeous garden.

Take a walk beyond the Grade I listed gardens at Cliveden and you’ll find yourself surrounded in a woodland escarpment. As you wander through these magnificent ancient woodlands this spring, a beautiful bluebell bounty will slowly begin to appear.

There’s nothing prettier than bobbing daffodils on a spring day and few sights can compare with the stunning displays carpeting Daffodil Valley in Windsor Great Park’s Valley Gardens. 

The display of multi-coloured azaleas in the Valley Garden’s Punch Bowl is breathtaking in the springtime, as too are the award-winning rhododendrons in the Savill Garden.

Find out more about Windsor Great Park’s seasonal highlights and keep an eye on each garden’s progress so you time your visit to perfection.

Mother's Day, 31 March 2019

Looking for a gorgeous gift for your mother on Mother's Day?

Browse our shopping pages and be inspired by some of the great shops in the Windsor and Maidenhead area – including many superb independent stores – and bag that perfect present.

Peruse our food and drink pages for the best place to treat her to lunch or dinner, or perhaps an elegant Afternoon Tea is the way to her heart?  Take a look at our Mother's Day Special Offers too.

And of course there are plenty of great things to do, however she likes to relax with family.

Go wild at LEGOLAND!

In March the gates of LEGOLAND® Windsor Resort are flung open for the new season.

Take to the road, soar through the skies and sail the seas in complete safety.

Prepare yourself for over 55 interactive rides, attractions, live shows, building workshops and driving schools, not to mention a staggering 80 million LEGO® bricks, set in 150 acres of beautiful parkland.

Discover The Stanley Spencer Gallery

In the tiny former Methodist Chapel in the pretty riverside town of Cookham, discover the wonderful art of the characterful Stanley Spencer.

The Stanley Spencer Gallery has two exhibitions a year and the summer exhibition launches in March.  Why not visit this hidden gem for yourself?

Get ready for the Easter holidays!

It’s good to be prepared for when you get asked ‘What are we going to do TODAY?’

Whatever the weather we have some great ideas for indoor and outdoor activities. 

Will it be splashing down into the River Thames on the Windsor Duck or cycling through Windsor Great Park?

Bouncing the morning away at Jump In Trampolene Arena or getting lost in the Cliveden Maze?

Check out our Ideas and Inspiration section and get planning and look at our Easter Offers too!

Enjoy a day at the races

Flat racing returns to Royal Windsor Racecourse with the season opener in April. 

Windsor’s course is unique – it’s on an island in the Thames and is shaped like a figure of eight!

It’s famed for Monday evening meetings April to October as well as themed racedays with plenty of family entertainment.

Ascot Racecourse’s racing calendar includes flat and jumps racing year round.  May sees Ascot’s two-day May Racing Weekend Meeting.

Celebrate The Queen's birthday in Windsor on 21 April

Come down to the Long Walk to watch a 21-gun salute with a difference – 21 mini cannons fired under the expert eye of the borough bombardier!  Some lucky children will get chosen from the crowd to fire a cannon.

Royal Windsor Horse Show and The Pageant

May sees Royal Windsor Horse Show, the UK’s largest premier outdoor horse show at Windsor, set in the private grounds of Windsor Castle. 

Enjoy international show jumping, dressage and carriage driving and a whole host of national classes too. 

There are numerous exciting displays such as the Shetland Pony Grand National and the skill of the King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery. 

Peruse the retailers’ stalls in the shopping village for that perfect purchase.

This May's Royal Windsor Horse Show features a special evening ‘Pageant’ to celebrate the 200th anniversary this year of Queen Victoria’s birth.

Festival Fever

Will it be Windsor Festival's International String Competition or celebrating the 80s at Let’s Rock the Moor?  Visit our Festivals page for inspiration.

Visit Tudor Dorney Court

One of our ‘hidden gems', fascinating and historic Dorney Court opens its doors to the public for four days in May. 

It’s widely regarded as one of England’s finest Tudor manor houses and has been lived in by the Palmer Family for almost 500 years.  

Enjoy the house and the garden then pop to nearby Dorney Court Kitchen Garden for refreshments. 

Dorney Lake (venue for London 2012 rowing and canoeing) is a stone’s throw away with beautiful grounds in which you can enjoy a walk or a picnic.

Turn your visit into a Windsor short break!

There’s so much to see and do in the area, why not stay a few nights?

Visit our accommodation pages to discover a huge range of accommodation options to suit all budgets, from five star spa retreats to cosy and comfortable bed and breakfasts and self-catering apartments.

Check out What's On

Search What’s On for all the latest event information.