Hampton Court Palace

Today was an all-day trip to Hampton Court Palace. It’s only about a 30-minute train ride from Waterloo Station but it takes us about 30 more minutes to get to Waterloo. We got to the station just in time for a train so we were at the Palace about 10 minutes before its 10:00AM opening time.

On our way we went through Wimbledon and the stop was next to Centre Court. I was able to grab a very quick shot through the train window.

I’d love to see the tennis here someday.

The Palace is only a short 15-minute walk from the station.

Front of the Palace
Close up of the Tower in the front of the Palace.

The Palace is divided into 3 different sections for the 3 groups of monarchs who called it home….the Tudors, William III and the Georgians. We started in the Tudor section and, of course, Henry VIII.

Copy of the famous portrait by Hans Holbein the Younger from 1536/37. The original was lost in a 1698 fire.
Anne Boleyn’s Gate
Ceiling of the Great Hall. This hall has the Hammerbeam roof yesterday’s tour guide mentioned. He said that this one was bigger than the one in Westminster Hall but he was mistaken. That one is much larger than the one here.
Staircase leading to William III section of the Palace. William is the one that made many of the upgrades.
Public dining room. This is where the public came to watch the Monarch eat his lunch. Apparently it was a big deal.
One of the many beautifully painted ceilings.
Throne Room. I think this one was in the Georgian section of the Palace. All 3 parts had a Throne Room, though, so I may have gotten them mixed up.
Sample of a Tudor style uniform George I used for his guards.
One of the many incredible tapestries. They were used, not just for their beauty, but to keep the drafty room warm.
One of the outdoor courtyards.

It took almost 2 hours to walk through the Palace so by the time we finished we were tired and hungry. There was a nice café on the property, so we headed there for lunch. We’ve discovered that the food has very large portions, so this time we split a sandwich, a side of mac & cheese and a piece of chocolate cake. It was quite good.

After lunch we toured the massive gardens. We didn’t think Peter would be able to walk the great distance but, luckily, the had a mobility scooter we could borrow. That was the only way we could see the gardens and the famous maze.

Ulterior motive…Peter could put my bag in the basket. It’s not that full but it was starting to get heavy after lugging it around all day.

We started in the vegetable/fruit garden where they grow food to sell. There were also some pretty flowers.

Sunflower

There was also a large rose garden.

Doesn’t look like a rose to me but I don’t know much about flowers. Sue F…..is this a rose?

Then we headed to the formal gardens planted in the Stuart (William III) reign.

Formal Gardens from the Palace
Back of the Palace from the formal garden.
Have no clue what kind of flowers these are but they were very pretty.
There was a large lake.
We tried the maze but it was a tight fit with the mobility scooter. We made it through about half of it but left when we found an “exit this way” gate. It was just too hard for Peter to back up if we hit a dead end.

After about an hour in the gardens, we decided it was to head home. It was a wonderful day and we’re so glad we made the trip out of the city.

The Thames River. The Palace is just to the left of the river.

Tomorrow is a very long day as we’re going on a Viator trip to Warwick Castle, Stratford-Upon-Avon and Oxford. Then we leave bright and early on Tuesday to pick up our rental car so I’m not sure I’ll post tomorrow evening. It depends on how tired I am and how much we have to do before we leave Tuesday.

Thanks to everyone for traveling with us and we’ll talk again soon.

4 thoughts on “Hampton Court Palace”

    1. We’re actually packing quite a bit into most days. Today it was two castles which makes 7 castles/palaces in a week. They’re starting to blur a bit in our brains. Thanks for traveling with us.

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    1. Leona and I went there eons ago when we visited you. The only thing I remembered was that Michael York narrated the audio guide. They’ve totally redone that, though, so new voices. It is a beautiful place. Until two days ago it was our last cloudy day. I can’t believe how sunny/hot the weather was for 2 weeks. We’re back to typical UK weather now. Hard to decide in the morning if we’re putting on long or short sleeved tops.

      Reply

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