Kew and Hampton court

It is possible but I don't think it will be enjoyable. I have been to London twice now and have yet to do Kew Gardens but have gone to Hampton Court Palace both times. I was just there at the beginning of May and the gardens were pretty but should be even better in June. I used google maps to look at the distance between Hampstead and both palaces, from there to Hampton Court you are looking at 1.5 hours and then from Hampstead to Kew about an hour and then from Kew to Hampton Court another hour.

So here would be your itinerary:

Up at 8 (if like me you don't take a shower in the morning or just need a short amount of time to get ready) to get to train for Hampton Court (there first because it closes at 5pm whereas Kew Gardens closes at 7pm)
Be at the train no later than 820am (if one leaves that early so you can be at Hampton at opening)
Breakfast from the train station on the train
You would have about 10am until 2pm at Hampton Court
Leave Hampton Court Station by 230pm be at Kew Gardens around 330pm
You would then have 3.5 hours at Kew.
It is doable but even for me who thrives on running it will be tiring. Plus this is all reliant on the trains all running as normal on a Sunday and no closures which the odds for that are not in your favour.

I would choose one and then do something else for that day closer in London, or roam around near either Kew or Hampton (although to be honest there is not a lot around Hampton but you could go to Wimbledon or wonder around Waterloo.)

I would choose Hampton Court Palace. We allowed a half day for Kew and saw very little of it. It is huge and not exactly walkable. There is a shuttle/tram to take to the different areas but sometimes there is a 40 minute wait for the next one to come along. The conservatory is walkable from the entrance if I remember correctly and a pretty garden (roses?) near it. We had lunch there which was mediocre and later I read about a cafe outside the entrance and it was highly recommended.

You could do both the same day, but I don’t recommend it.

I found Kew very walkable, but you probably have to like walking. There is certainly lots to see and you could easily spend several hours.

Hampton Court is one of my favorites. There is so much too see, you could easily spend a day depending on your interests.

I took the tube to Kew and the train to Hampton Court via Waterloo.

I have done both on the same day. I didn't find it to be a problem. That being said, we took a back route between the two. We actually walked through the large back field, which has some deer, to the roads beyond where we caught a bus, which went by Kew Gardens. I do not recall it taking too long as they really are not too many miles apart so if you add this short cut to it, all the better. However, this was about 5 years ago so there's a chance the local bus schedule has changed?

PS. I should probably add that I'd been to Hampton Court before, but we still covered the same ground, but perhaps (?) faster, but as we are all interested in history, it is not as if we ran though it.

I took an overground train from Hampstead to Kew, when I was a volunteer at Pax Lodge (Girl Scout/Guide world centre there). It was a pretty easy trip, but you'll need to double check the bus from the train to the Kew Gardens gate, I kind of got lost at that point on the trip :) I went to the National Archives first, so maybe it could have been planned better....
When I go back again, if I were to go to Hampton Court, I think I'd like to hop a boat to get there.
Have fun!
-Alison

Alison - we are staying at Pax. It is my 4th time to London, twice for an event ( Journey and London in Bloom) and once as a B and B. All times with at least some girls. This trip is a group of 6 adults and 4 daughters.

We are in Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri

We just returned from a trip to London. We visited Kew Gardens on a weekend day. It was nice weather so very crowded! We were there for about 5 hours. We took a free 1.5 hour tour ( there are many throughout the day). It was fabulous. We ate lunch and enjoyed the many displays they had. It would be hard to do both in one day and see everything.
Enjoy!

You can get between the two of them by bus, changing at Kingston. It doesn't take very long--75 minutes if your unlucky with traffic-- but at least one of your visits would be shorter than needed.

As a group of four adults, we were able to get 2-4-1 admission at Kew by taking the train to Richmond, and bus from there to the gate at Kew (I will have to check which gate, it it was a short trip, maybe 10 minutes). We loved Kew and went three times during our 3- week stay n London, seeing a different area each time. This was in May and the blooms changed each week.

You could do the same by taking the direct train from Hampstead Heath to Richmond, with a journey time of 34 minutes.

That would mean starting at Kew, unless there is a train connection from Hampton Court Palace to Richmond.

I did not check to see whether Hampton Court Palace is also on the Days Out 2-4-1 offers.