Hampton Court Palace

Hampton Court Palace is a Tudor and Baroque royal palace on the Thames 12 miles (19 kilometres) southwest and upstream of central London, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Cardinal Thomas Wolsey leased the site in 1514 and spent 200,000 crowns building over seven years, raising the Base Court and Clock Court with his own lodgings, before his fall in 1529 handed the palace to Henry VIII. Open on a seasonal calendar, commonly 10:00-17:30 in summer with shorter winter days; last admission is earlier. Step-free routes, lifts, accessible toilets and wheelchairs serve many state apartments and gardens, but historic stairs and some rooms remain inaccessible. Standard adult admission is around GBP 29 under the selected-date Historic Royal Palaces tariff. Hampton Court National Rail station is across the bridge from the palace entrance. Events, ceremonies, maintenance and security can alter the ordinary route or timetable. Special tours, exhibitions and upgrades use separate tickets when offered. Open on a seasonal calendar,

The palace is walked as a set of separate routes rather than a single circuit, and the two halves are the point. On the Tudor side are the Great Hall of 1532–35 — the last medieval great hall built for the English monarchy, with a hammerbeam roof — the Chapel Royal, whose timber and plaster ceiling has been called the most important and magnificent in Britain, and the enormous kitchens Henry VIII quadrupled in 1529. Standard adult admission is around GBP 29 under the selected-date Historic Royal Palaces tariff. Hampton Court National Rail station is across the bridge from the palace entrance.

Allow three and a half hours for Hampton Court Palace, and treat that as the minimum for seeing both halves of the building and the gardens rather than a comfortable figure. The palace is not one route: the Tudor kitchens, the Great Hall and Chapel Royal, the Baroque state apartments and the gardens are separate walks, and each takes 30 to 50 minutes at a reading pace. The maze alone takes about 20 minutes to solve to its centre, and longer coming back out. Step-free routes, lifts, accessible toilets and wheelchairs serve many state apartments and gardens, but historic stairs and some rooms remain inaccessible.

Open on a seasonal calendar, commonly 10:00-17:30 in summer with shorter winter days; last admission is earlier. Dated closures, ceremonies, performances, weather or security notices from the operator take priority over ordinary hours. Arrive early enough to complete the public route before final admission. Follow staff directions on arrival.

Standard adult admission is around GBP 29 under the selected-date Historic Royal Palaces tariff. The base amount and currency follow the operator tariff; premium products and separate institutions remain excluded unless named. Events, ceremonies, maintenance and security can alter the ordinary route or timetable.

Hampton Court National Rail station is across the bridge from the palace entrance. Use the named entrance and station because security, separate exits and large complexes can change the practical route. Allow extra time for screening and the final walk. Follow staff directions on arrival.

Step-free routes, lifts, accessible toilets and wheelchairs serve many state apartments and gardens, but historic stairs and some rooms remain inaccessible. Open on a seasonal calendar, commonly 10:00-17:30 in summer with shorter winter days; last admission is earlier. Standard adult admission is around GBP 29 under the selected-date Historic Royal Palaces tariff. Historic surfaces, crowds and security remain relevant.

The two architectures are the picture, and the trick is to photograph them separately rather than trying to get both. The Tudor west front and the great gatehouse into Base Court read best in the morning, when the low sun rakes across the brickwork and the chimneys and the dark red goes warm; flat midday light turns the same façade into a plan drawing. The Wren east front and the Privy Garden are an afternoon and evening subject, because they face the other way and the Baroque stonework wants side light to show its depth. Standard adult admission is around GBP 29 under the selected-date Historic Royal Palaces tariff.