Taking children to Hampton Court

[Sue]

It's grandchildren Summer stay time again soon, hooray! They are now eleven and nine (gulp).

We are planning to go to Hampton Court on one of the days, and hoping to get a river boat all or part of the way there or back.

The boats don't seem to be that frequent, and it doesn't appear that you can book in advance online. I'm concerned we might queue up and then not get on, or not get a decent seat.

Also I think the trip can take several hours?!

Given the cost of getting into Hampton Court, I'd obviously like us to have a decent length of time there so we can do everything.

Has anyone done this and can give us any tips?

[kristymac1]

I'd get the boat from Richmond rather than up town, orange line to clapham and then to Richmond - the boat goes from just under Richmond bridge and takes an hour and 45mins https://www.turks.co.uk/river-trips/timetable/ , It is a lovely part of the Thames x

[Sue]

Thanks I'll investigate!

[Dulwich Born And Bred]

We did this for my mum?s birthday. We got a train there and a boat from Hampton court to Westminister. It did take a few hours but great views, and there are toilets and a bar for snacks and drinks. The docking bay is very close to the Palace. We made sure we found where it was before we went inside the palace so that we didn?t get lost or miss the boat!

We caught the boat at 3pm and went via http://wpsa.co.uk/thames-boats/hampton-court.asp

It was ?7.50 for children and ?15 for adults. They only took cash but they reserve seats on the boat for you if you phone 020 89775702 or book online.

[Sue]

That's very useful, thank you.

I do think it might be better to do it on the way back, then if there are any snags it wouldn't eat into the time at the Palace.

Also if push came to shove we could do a river trip another day.

How long do you reckon you need to allow at the Palace? The older granddaughter is very into the Tudors, but I think they would both also enjoy the Magic Garden, and obviously the Maze!

ETA: Of course this is all a bit weather dependent ......

[Dulwich Born And Bred]

We loved the outside. The maze is quite small, we did this very quickly as it was so easy, whereas we always get lost and take ages at Crystal Palace Park!

When we went there, they didn?t have all the additional bits outside so we just browsed the gardens but now that they have added all the new bits, I couldn?t say how long it would take. Hampton Court itself took us probably an hour and half maximum but as there isn?t actually much inside unlike Windsor and Kensington which is fully furnished and which we thoroughly enjoyed, we didn?t really linger around.

I do think until 3pm should be ample time if you get there for when doors open as we had time to kill and we spent that in the gardens then went by the Thames to wait for our boat.

[Sue]

Thanks very much, that's very helpful!

[bkkmei]

The Magic Garden is brilliant. A really lovely imaginative space for the kids to play in. We enjoyed our time so much we ended up getting a year's membership to the Royal Palaces (also includes Tower of London, Kensington Palace etc.). Sometimes they hold special events like Horrible Histories, or have actors playing Henry VIII.

They also have an app for Digital Missions which helps you wander around the palace answering questions. Great if the weather is not so good! I think there may be other paper trails you can do.

[Sue]

bkkmei thank you, I have just been looking at the year's membership to the Royal Palaces. I've always avoided the Tower of London with the grandkids because of the cost, but this looks like very good value if you go to more than two places, or the same one more than once!

[goldilocks]

I honestly think that you would eat into time too much by doing the riverboat and the magic garden unless you?re very early risers. The palace and gardens are pretty much a full day out. We go from Denmark hill to Clapham, Clapham to Hampton court (you generally have to change again, at Surbiton I think). I would check the maximum age for the magic garden though as they?ll definitely be at the upper end for it.

The historic palaces is good value if you go to the tower and the magic garden more than once, bear in mind though that the Kew palace ticket doesn?t include gardens admission and you can?t grt there without paying entry and one of the other palaces is in NI!

[womanofdulwich]

If you go on the train and buy 2 adult train tickets you can enter 2 for the price of one at Hampton Court.

[Sue]

Thanks both.

There is no upper age for the Magic Garden specified on the website. Trip Advisor reviews seem to think up to twelve (or in some cases ten).

I think it's best to take them there and leave it up to them whether or not they like it and how long they stay there, if at all.

The cost is included in the ticket so it doesn't make much difference.

I agree the boat would eat into time which is why I think we will do it on the way back.

Thanks for the info re train tickets but I have a Freedom Pass so would have to work out whether that would be worthwhile.

[EPB]

The Royal Academy Summer Exhibition (the one that?s curated by Grayson Perry) would be a sure-fire hit for the grandchildren. I went yesterday and haven?t had so much fun for ages. Packed with happy people of all ages thoroughly enjoying themselves. But it finishes at the end of this week, so you?ll need to be quick!

[Sue]

EPB Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> The Royal Academy Summer Exhibition (the one

> that?s curated by Grayson Perry) would be a

> sure-fire hit for the grandchildren. I went

> yesterday and haven?t had so much fun for ages.

> Packed with happy people of all ages thoroughly

> enjoying themselves. But it finishes at the end

> of this week, so you?ll need to be quick!

Thanks, but we've already been!

[Sue]

Had a really great time at Hampton Court today.

Both the children loved the Magic Garden (so did we - especially the astroturf slides - we were not the only adults making use of them :) ), and there were lots of other activities around the Palace itself.

Decided against the boat trip due to the length after a long day.

Also went to the Tower yesterday and also had a great time - shown round by the Ravenmaster, saw a brilliant outdoor play about Ann Boleyn, and didn't have to wait too long to see the Crown Jewels.

At each place we only saw about half what we could have done, so we will be back, both with and without the kids! Stunning gardens at Hampton Court, some of which we only got a glimpse of through the windows.

Thanks so much to everybody who posted on this thread, and particularly to the suggestion to get an annual ticket to the Palaces - after two days out, we have already saved money :)

ETA: And it was so quick to get to both places - 185 to Vauxhall then a train straight through to Hampton Court. 40 to the far side of London Bridge then a short walk to the Tower. Brilliant!