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Itinerary Questions

Posted by (San Antonio Texas) on

Hello all,

I am in the midst of planning a trip for my adult son and I. We are early risers and get us out the door, in order to see and do all we can each day. We will be in London early in December. My first question is would you reccomend Hampton Court or Windsor Palace, if you were only going to visit one of them?

It looks like tickets are still available for the light show at Kew Gardens. If I picked Hampton Court and chose to go late in the day in order to head to Kew Gardens afterward, any thoughts on what we might do in the a.m. before we head that way? I know I have more on my list than we can possibly visit, but in trying to see the most we can, I wonder if there is a museum, or historical site that would be a logical fit for the morning - something that might be heading that direction.

We are staying in Bloomsbury.

I appreciate any suggestions.

Posted by
15711 posts

Actually, for myself I find Hampton Court takes up most of a day so I'd just head there in the AM and then go to Kew. Disclaimer - I'm not an evening person so I'd be going to Kew as early as possible after they open (sometime around 4-430PM, I think?). I hope you can get tickets to the Kew Christmas show!

Here are the sunrise/sunset times with Civil Twilight for Dec 6:

Twi: 7:11am
Sunrise: 7:50am
Sunset: 3:53pm
Twi: 4:32pm

As to whether it's Hampton Court vs Windsor...that's a hard call because I like both. Windsor is easier to do and for me takes about 3/4 of a day from London. I would pick based on which works best for your schedule in the end though.

Posted by
9672 posts

Hampton Court Palace.

Consider walking along the Thames River Path.

In and around Bloomsbury, the British Museum, Sir John Soane Museum, Postal Museum. Or visit the British Library.

A bit further is the Hunterian Museum.

Posted by
90 posts

I’m looking at Bloomsbury for accommodation as well. Ia Bloomsbury a good area to stay as a tourist? OP - which hotel did you select?

Posted by
1 posts

Hampton Court, no doubt. In Bloomsbury you shouldn't miss the Bloomsbury Farmers Market (Thursdays) and The Post Building Roof Garden.

Posted by
161 posts

I think both Hampton Court and Windsor Castle are great. There is more to do at Hampton Court and can easily fill most of a day. I would get there close to when they open, get the audioguide, and see as much as you can. Then you can head to Kew Gardens.

Posted by
47 posts

ds we are staying at the Celtic Hotel. Their website isn't very sophisticated, but they come highly recommended. Hopeful we'll be happy there.

Posted by
9610 posts

Hi, Linda. I’ll be honest, I would not spend the whole day at Hampton Court Palace myself, but that’s me. One thing you might consider is to visit Richmond in the morning. It’s very near Kew Gardens and Hampton Court Palace. It’s a lovely little town with ties to the TV show Ted Lasso, but really nice in its own right. You could head there in the morning, visit Ham House (or not), walk-through the town of Richmond , have lunch there and then head over to Hampton Court to visit the palace. Or as Claudia suggested, you can walk along the Thames path in Richmond if you would like to walk.

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