Hampton Court is 11 miles southwest of central London. To get here take the Underground to Waterloo Station. There is a Hampton Court train that runs every half hour for £6 round trip. Hampton Court is the end of the line. From the station follow the crowd a few blocks, over a bridge over the Thames, and the palace is on the right. Entrance is included in the London Pass.

The grounds are family friendly. On the approach there are pretend carriages.

Yes, we displaced small children for these pictures. Don’t act like you wouldn’t have.

I loved the statues at the main entrance. They represent the heraldic symbols of the ancestors of King Henry VIII and Jane Seymour.

The inner courtyard

There is a recreation of a fountain that Henry VIII had made that dispensed wine on important days. There is a famous painting of people getting very drunk near it.

This fountain also dispenses wine on important days. We were there on an unimportant day.

The Gardens

The gardens were designed in the 1700s. There are many small gardens and also large parks around the palace.

There is The Great Vine which is a grape vine that was planted in 1768. It is 12 feet around the base. It still produces fruit. The base is in its own conservatory but the vines go all over.

There is a maze here too. That is a separate charge but also included in the London Pass. We never did find our way to the center. I saw the center once through a sparse point in the hedge but then we ended up at the entrance again. I later told my father that I tried really hard to lose Mom in the maze for him but she’s a crafty one and found her way out.

Shires horses giving carriage rides around the grounds.