One of our favourite days out in Greater London is to take the boat from Richmond to Hampton Court Palace with Thames River Boats. It’s a leisurely and therapeutic way to arrive, with rested legs in preparation for your sightseeing at Hampton Court. Taking the boat from Richmond Court to Hampton Court is the perfect start to your day, and end if you take the return boat journey.
The leisurely cruise from Richmond to Hampton Court
Decide where to embark your boat trip
The Thames River Boat starts its run at Westminster Pier with stops at Kew Pier, Richmond Landing Stage, and Hampton Court Landing Stage so where you get on depends on your starting point and how long you want to spend on the boat.
We like the stretch from Richmond to Hampton Court which takes 1 hour on the way there and slightly longer on the way back (1 hour 15 mins) as its upstream. This is a good length of time on the boat and doesn’t eat into your time at Hampton Court Palace too much. It currently costs £14.00 adult single or £18.00 adult return.
By comparison, the full journey from Westminster Pier to Hampton Court takes 3 hours and costs £25.00 adult single or £34.00 adult return.
If you’re keen to get to Hampton Court early to avoid the crowds, then make your way straight there and take the boat back when you can relax about timings. You can get to Hampton Court on the Waterloo train line, by bus routes, but Hampton Court is not served by the underground.
What to expect on the boat journey
If the weather’s nice then try to sit outside on the top deck or at the front of the boat so that you can really soak in the river views and follow the bends of the river as you go. Note – there is no shade, so sun hats are advisable!
The variety of houses along the way from Richmond to Hampton Court is incredible with blocks of flats, beach hut style houses, elegant houses with boats moored in front and weeping willows trailing into the water. Sit back and enjoy ogling the beautiful houses on the way…
As well as the houses, the sights are many and varied. Here’s what we spotted on our boat journey – paddle boarders, canoeists, kayakers, sailing boats, rowing boats (skulls), sailing clubs, rowing clubs, motorboats, and skiffs available for private hire (along with obligatory Captains’ hats), cyclists on the tow path, flamingo peddle boats, swans, ducks, cormorants, and Canada Geese.
In terms of sights, after leaving Richmond you can see:
- the buildings on Richmond Hill as you glide passed, before catching a glimpse of the National Trust property Ham Hall.
- Eel Pie Island, near Twickenham.
- Teddington Locks which manage the move from non-tidal to tidal waters using 3 locks (barge lock, launch lock and the tiny skiff lock).
- Lots of activity around Kingston-Upon-Thames and arched bridge over the windows. You can very much tell at this point that this was a working river full of timber and boat yards.
- the beautiful gold gates of Hampton Court Palace by the waterside, with a view up the sweeping lawns to the Palace.
Check the website for departure times which vary through the year and due to the tide & the weather. There is a bar and toilets on board.
Hampton Court Palace
After your journey from Richmond to Hampton Court, you will disembark directly in front of Hampton Court Palace, once home of King Henry VIII (amongst others) and his six wives.
The first thing that strikes you when you arrive, is that you’ll feel that you’ve been here before, probably because it’s featured in several TV programmes and films, most recently the adapted TV series of Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall trilogy about Thomas Cromwell and Henry VIII, or episodes of Bridgeton.
You will need to pre-book your tickets as the Palace gets very busy. Try to visit as early as possible to tour the Palace before the crowds build up (opens at 10.30am). Depending how much of a history buff you are, you can easily fill 3 hours at the palace (potentially longer if you get lost in the Maze!) and so make sure to allow yourself enough time.
A brief history of Hampton Court Palace
It was built over 500 years ago, originally commissioned by Cardinal Thomas Wolsey to entertain important Statesmen from around the world. However, King Henry VIII fell in love with it and took it over. As a result, it was a Tudor Palace for many a year.
Later by 1689, King William III and Mary II lived in Hampton Court Palace and asked Sir Christopher Wren to build a new Baroque palace in its place. Luckily, he built the Baroque palace alongside it rather than demolishing the Tudor palace so, as you tour the Palace, you’ll feel the difference as your pass from the Tudor to the Baroque rooms.
The Great Hall (Tudor)
The Great Hall was designed to impress those who visited and to demonstrate Henry VIII’s power and ‘magnificence’. As well as huge tapestries and numerous stags’ heads, it has a stunning hammerbeam timber roof which has carvings relating to Anne Boleyn (Henry VIII’s second wife) with an H and A entwined on the wooden screen.
As well as entertaining visitors (banquets, dances and plays), it was also used as a large refectory for members of the royal household and servants, with meals being served here twice a day. Even Shakespeare and his band of actors performed in the Great Hall.
Tudor Kitchens
To feed the staff of the palace, and visitors when relevant, Hampton Court Palace employed 200 cooks and assistants to produce over 800 meals a day. In fact, the kitchens were the largest kitchens in Tudor Britain.
I enjoyed visiting the kitchens where the kitchen counters were set out with bowls, cooking equipment, wicker baskets and large sacks of provisions. The enormous white stone fireplace was still covered in soot from burning 1.3 million logs each year for cooking. Apparently, the fire produced so much hear that some of the chefs preferred to cook naked!
Chapel Royal
You can visit the Chapel Royal to admire its wood panelled ceiling painted blue and gold, however no photos are allowed in the Chapel. It is still used for services today.
Haunted Gallery
Henry VII would walk from his private apartments to the Chapel Royal along a corridor which is now lined with portraits of Tudor monarchs. One of the passages in the State Apartments is known as the Haunted Gallery due to sightings of the ghost of Catherine Howard, Henry VIII’s 5th wife who was executed after being charged with adultery – her ghost is said to be seen running along the Gallery pleading for mercy!
King William III’s State Apartments
King’s Staircase – William III’s and Mary II’s architect of choice, Sir Christopher Wren, was chosen to design a Baroque Palace for them. The first glimpse you have of this from the Tudor Palace, is as you head up the King’s Staircase where the painted ceilings are just incredible.
King’s Guard Chamber – this room is filled with nearly 3,000 pieces of armour and weapons.
Throne Room – back in the day, all visitors to the Throne Room had to bow, even if the room was empty of Royalty!
Lunch and refreshments
By now, I’m sure you’ll be ready for some refreshments so pick up lunch or a sandwich from one of the cafes and kiosks at Hampton Court Palace to refuel.
The Gardens at Hampton Court Palace
Once you’re ready to get going again, then make sure to explore some of the gardens. As there are 60 acres of formal gardens, plus large expanses of parkland, then it’s likely that you’ll need to focus on one or two sections.
A quick win is the beautiful Great Fountain Garden directly in front of the Palace, the Rose Garden, or the Privy Garden of William III’s baroque favourite of 1702 filled with 300 year old yew trees.
If you have plenty of time, get lost in the world’s oldest Maze, however, if you’re short on time then proceed with caution as you could lose quite a bit of time in there trying to get out.
Final thoughts….
Hampton Court Palace feels like a very special place and is somewhere I’d like to revisit, perhaps to visit the Hampton Court Flower Show, or the Festive Fayre around Christmas time. We explored the Palace on our own, but a guide would have been even better, the icing on the cake, to help bring everything to life.
By the time we had finished looking around the Palace and gardens, I was really excited about making the return journey on the boat. I think because it’s just such a switch off from the hustle and bustle of the world on terra firma. Time for a sleepy journey home….
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