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Categories: Botanical Gardens, Local Flavour, Museums [Edit]
East MoleseySurrey KT8 9AU
0844 482 7777
- Hours:
Mon-Sun 10:00 - 18:00
- Good for Children:
- Yes
13 reviews for Hampton Court Palace
All Reviews
The king would like you to come to court.
This 16th century palace was originally the home of Cardinal Wolsey. It was lavishly decorated during his rise to power. You can see how the tide turned on the poor cardinal as he has his own little door leading to his hole. The monarch Henry VIII took over the palace and added his own embellishments to it. There is an astronomical clock over the Anne Boleyn gate. You'll see all the beds, dressing rooms, drawing rooms and chapels. Interactive audio guides highlight anything you'd like to learn about the palace or King Henry. It was interesting to learn more about his younger years and there are even some actors dressed the part about the grounds.
The palace was all about living the good life of the king. The kitchen and gardens give you an idea of just what that was like. The kitchen is basically a collection of several rooms where they fired an prepared meals for potentially hundreds of people in the royal court. It was quite the operation. The had huge spits of hunks of meat that they just rotated around the fire. Mmm bbq. The gardens feature a collection of fountains, statues and beautiful landscaping. Bring some good shoes because the grounds are huge. During the summer they have different parts open for an additional fee. You could spend a lot of time here taking in all there is to see. Why not live like a king for a day and stroll the grounds?
Forget Buck Palace, this is where the cool Kings hung out. Henry VIII's former pad, his summer chillout gaff, is definitely worth a visit.
Like stepping into some medieval movie, it is very surreal to wander about all the rooms thinking of the people who used to stand in the very same place. Oh if I had Bill and Ted's phonebooth all the cool things I could see! Sidetracked, sorry.
A more informal palace, you get to see the dining hall, kitchens and some of the royal apartments. Not Henry's though, his was knocked down years ago. I was disappointed, I wanted to see where 'the magic happened' or not, if you believe the rumours.
The gardens are very beautiful with conical trees reminiscent of a Super Mario game. We totally got lost though and lapped the palace about four times looking for the entrance.
The day we visited they were reenacting Henry's marraige day to Katherine Parr. Costumes, actors, speeches - tourists eat that shit up. And we did.
Felt like there could have been more to the palace, more props maybe? Guess it's just laid back that way, take it like you find
One of my favorite palaces. The info on Henry VIII is excellent, the maze is fun, and the ancient tennis court was a delight. Be sure to see the chapel which is often closed for services.
Having been an enthusiast of Henry VIII and his exploits for a few years, I was very excited to have the chance to visit Hampton Court while in London last week. I was NOT disappointed. The palace is easily reached by train from the Waterloo tube station in London, and a short walk takes you to the entrance. Yes admission was not cheap but I felt it was worth every bit. We toured the private apartments of royalty, walked through the kitchens and gardens, and had plenty of time to admire all of the artwork and tapestries. I really can't believe they let you take pictures of everything without restriction! They were also reenacting the wedding of King Henry to Kateryn Parr so there were actors dressed in character strolling the grounds. The staff here is very friendly and full of knowledge that they like to share!
I also recommend tea in the cafe - the scones and shortbread were delicious!
We visited the Tower of London the following day and while it was interesting, it was more expensive and much more crowded. I would recommend Hampton Court to anyone who would like a glimpse of English royalty's history. Allow yourself at least half a day to soak it all in.
My favourite bit are the gardens!! They are always immaculate! The cone shaped trees & views of bushy park just add to the magic of it all. In the week you can usually get into them for free, so it makes a beautiful afternoon stroll.
I went around the whole palace last year, but i do think its rather pricey! I also found the maze just plain scary!
I agree wholeheartedly with Saskia P. Hampton Court Palace is a must see!
I remember being dragged around here when I was sixteen, complaining all the while. I guess it took me some twenty years to fully appreciate this place. My sister and I were here for six hours!! We literally went through every inch of the place using the map provided. My battery died after all the pictures I took. We loved this place! The boat ride back to Kingston was leisurely and provided us some down time for our walk back to the flat.
Everything about this place is so well maintained. You'll learn everything there is to know about Henry VIII, and no, he did not look like Eric Bana from The Other Boleyn Girl.
This place is a wonderful day out for adults, children, garden enthusiasts etc. The grounds are amazing, whilst strolling in the gardens on a sunny day with little puffy clouds I felt like I was in a jigsaw puzzle. The whole scene looked just like a picture on the puzzle box. The actors who stroll around and give little vignettes of Henry VIII and life at court, are very good and give children a real taste of history without being stuffy. Considering that they have a captive audience, the food was good and very reasonably priced. It is an easy train ride from Waterloo station so you don't need a car. Allow plenty of time, less than half a day would be a waste.
This place was highly recommended by my local friends and I enjoyed my visit. Since it's not located in the central London, it's not as busy as some other tourist spots (well, at least when I was there).
I felt solid history and the building and grounds are just perfect match to the surroundings. I enjoyed seeing all the rooms/buildings, but my favorite was the garden - enjoyed the view from some of the rooms.
It is a nice excursion from London and highly recommended.
This former Royal Palace is just on the edges of London but to my mind one of the must sees for locals and tourists alike. The building and grounds are stunning with a history dating back to the early part of the 15th century. The Tudors are the dynasty most associated with this place and one of the biggest draws is the story of Henry VIII and all his troubles with ladies.
The variation and changes in the building are amazing - not only the changes in architecture that reflect the movement of time but also the differences that reflect the people that lived and worked in the various spaces. In particular I love the contrast between the kitchens and the royal apartments. It was such a social space, a veritable town of courtiers, their guests (Shakespeare among them) and their staff.
The gardens of course are famous but probably best enjoyed during the summer. Being lost in a maze in January would make me want to set fire to the whole thing but who knows, maybe you're different.
This was my favorite palace/castle that we were able to visit while in England. I knew it'd be neat, but it was so much better than what I was expecting. I've been reading nerdy historical fiction about Henry the VIII for the past couple of years so it was really fun for me to see this place in person.
Things I loved:
*I like that you can wander around at your own pace and there's really no rushing you. Even without going on an official tour of any sort, there was enough signage and the audio guides were perfect to help me feel I was learning enough without having to go on an actual tour.
*The Gardens! Seriously. So many and so beautiful!
*There was a random Dragon puppet lying in one of the rooms that I was able to play with.
*Actors wandering around pretending to be Henry and one of this wives to appeal to all of the lady geeks like me.
*Bored warders who don't mind having a 30 min. conversation with us tourists about stuff that we probably would have never found out on our own. Did you know people actually live here? Like random old secretaries/friends of the queen. So weird.
*Compared with other historical sites we visited, they were pretty open to most picture taking.
We took the train to get here which was great. But I highly recommend taking a riverboat. We took a riverboat (not to Hampton Court Palace) and it was one of my favorite things we did. But I just really like being on boats.
A very nice place to visit.
I used to work near there, in Thames Ditton.
Great spot to visit in London area.
Good-
Very well maintained
Almost all rooms open to public since no royalty still lives there
Lifelike recreations (fire burning in kitchen stove, man dressed as King Henry wandering around the palace, live demonstrations of Tudor customs)
Not as crowded as other historic sites
Free audio tour
Reasonably priced gift shop
Bad-
Admission is expensive (about $22 per person), plus $8 parking for 3 hours
Probably not very easy to access without a car
Audio guide not clearly labeled (not as well as Windsor Castle)
Of all the Castles and palaces I have been to, this takes the cake! Words can hardly describe all there is there. I feel this is in the minimum a 1/2 to 3/4 of a day trip. We bought the audio guides to help us navigate each and every detail of the courts and gardens.Be sure to have a good pair of walking shoes. You'll be up and down stairs and walking all over. The gardens are breath taking.(capability Brown's handy work)You'll want to take a camera to document all the lovely specimins.There is a 200 year old grape vine still producing grapes (which the sell) inclosed in a temperature controlled bldg. It's even on the "Ripleys Believe it or Not" list.The day we went there were costumes on exibit from the movie "The other Bolyn Girl" being shown.There is a coffee shop and a cafe if you get hungry.There is even a Royal School of Needlework and shop.This is a definite MUST-SEE while in Surrey.
