please empty your brain below
When I as a lad living in nearby Twickenham I used to go there to play, admission to maze was 3d (old money) a threepenny bit into a turnstile!. The grounds and gardens were free all year and you could also walk through the Palace courtyards for free, you only had to pay to go and look inside the palace rooms and the Tudor tennis Court I think the charge was 2/6d-half a crown. I wonder if you saw the Royal Tudor Tennis Court as I did not see it mentioned in your post.

dg writes: Closed to the public in winter.

The locals were not happy when Hampton Court started to charge for the gardens. In recent years they used to be free during the Winter only until Easter.

In July it gets worse as they have a flower show in the Home Park and make more money.
If you go in a few weeks time the free patch around the maze will have a fine daffodil display. BTW I saw my first daffodils in flower yesterday on a roundabout at Heathrow. Roll on Spring.

dg writes: Saw my first in December!

John | 03.02.15 - 7:45 a.m. | #

After you visit parliament last week, then we both end up going to Hampton Court over the weekend, I'm starting to feel slightly stalked by DG... ;-)

Sunday at Hampton Court was very enjoyable, especially at half price - though as a fellow audioguide refusenik, this was one of the few places I felt like I'd missed out a bit by not taking one. The costumed re-enactments each hour are worth seeking out too: slightly less ham-y than you might expect. (And we only made one wrong turn in the maze.)

Hope DG also enjoyed the slightly convoluted journey to Hampton Court with the main rail route there closed over the weekend. On the subject of half price entry, though, I notice Hampton Court is included in the 2-for-1 when traveling by train offer, for those going in pairs. Even if not taking the train, a pair of Thames Ditton-Hampton Court singles for £4.40 still nets a decent saving...

Political Animal | Homepage | 03.02.15 - 9:26 a.m. | #

Thanks for the half price heads up!

Cornish Cockney | 03.02.15 - 9:52 a.m. | #

You can still get the 2 for 1 offer if you travel by train. (No use if you're on your own though!)

Rob turner | 03.02.15 - 10:11 a.m. | #

But don't go today because the Gardens and Maze are closed. Due to all that snow we had last night.

(Seriously they are closed)

HoosierSands | Homepage | 03.02.15 - 10:33 a.m. | #

I was expecting dg to mention the costumed re-enactment, perhaps he missed it. I know somebody who used to be Henry VIII at Hampton Court, kept promising to go to see him in action with one or all of his wives, but I live the other side of London and never made the effort. Now I've read this excellent account I must go soon, though my actor friend is no longer there.

amber | 03.02.15 - 11:12 a.m. | #

lovely report but am I wrong that I picked up a note of your being a bit underwhelmed? I went last year for the first time and was blown away. Although my experience was a bit different from yours because I went on my mobility scooter. There is one (rather ancient) lift to the first floor and I got to go through an absolute rabbit warren of rooms not open to the public to get to the ones that are.

Unlike you I enjoy audio guides and did absolutely every part of it, I thought they'd done a very good job. I never made it to the gardens, I must go back. I've just bought my daughter and her family the HRP annual pass for Xmas so thanks to the heads up on the 500th anniversary celebrations.

Caroline | 03.02.15 - 1:34 p.m. | #

I'm the first for complaining about entry fees but I think that at HCP it's reasonable value as you get the audio guide included which is deairable at a place like this. It's a shame that more of the Tudor palace isn't available.

John | 03.02.15 - 6:46 p.m. | #

@Cornish Cockney
"half price heads up"
I read that - rather appropriately given Henry VIII's reputation, as "heads off".

timbo | 03.02.15 - 9:28 p.m. | #

Just noticed the curious address - East Molesey (and Hampton Court station) are on the other side of the river, and indeed in Surrey. But Hampton Court Palace is in Hampton, in the London Borough of Richmond and the historic county of Middlesex.

timbo | 03.02.15 - 10:14 p.m. | #

> In recent years they used to be free during the Winter only until Easter.

They still are - for the formal gardens and Privy Garden just walk past that Kiosk or over the bridge from the Home park that you have in your photograph (closed in Summer).

Mike D | 03.02.15 - 10:46 p.m. | #

Audi guides can be useful as queue dodgers. If you ever go to the Colisseum in Rome the audioguide entry queue is generally about 5 minutes wait the guide yourself queue is about an hour!

| 04.02.15 - 7:45 a.m. | #

The Roma Pass also gets you past the long queue, and into plenty of other places too.

Andrew | 04.02.15 - 8:03 a.m. | #

Thanks for the tip-off, I did it today. Even with 6 hours there and ignoring the gardens I'd visited for free in Nov, I didn't get to the Georgian/Baroque stories. I was very impressed with the staff, had a long chat with the chap who's the world expert on spit-roasting, and did the Maze in 4min going in, 3 out with a turn-left strategy. JKJ's failure was clearly doing a turn right one.

A lot had changed since my last visit 20 years ago, and I had a great day, its just a shame that the HRP's high prices had dissuaded me from returning for so long.

John B | 08.02.15 - 1:23 a.m. | #











TridentScan v2.10.0 | Privacy Policy