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Kews Garden or Hampton Court Palace

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I made the decision to stay closer to Heathrow for our departure flight. The day before our flight I need to book a room and I am trying to decide between staying in Kews Garden at the Travelodge London Kew Bridge or at the White Hart Hotel in Kingston Upon Thames near the Hampton Court Palace.

Which is better for a child to explore-or are they equally interesting?

I'm thinking I might just avoid public transport that day all together and take a cab to Heathrow--how much might that cost? Would that be faster?

Would it make sense to arrive in Kews Garden on the 11th but go to see the Hampton Court Palace, and then the following day try to visit the Kews Gardens briefly....and still get to the airport by noon? Or is that overly ambitious with a child?

Posted by
713 posts

Would it make sense to arrive in Kews Garden on the 11th but go to see
the Hampton Court Palace, and then the following day try to visit the
Kews Gardens briefly....and still get to the airport by noon? Or is
that overly ambitious with a child?

Kew Gardens is on my "someday" to visit list. One reason I haven't fit it into a trip yet: it's huge and I'd want to have enough time to explore it.

As to trying to visit it the morning of your departure, KG doesn't open until 10:00 am. If you need to be at Heathrow by noon, you'd have at the most 90 minutes in there. I believe there's a lot to see near the entrance so you wouldn't be trekking way across the property and back. But I don't see the point of getting a room across the road from KG, only to spend the day traveling back and forth to Hampton Court Palace, and then spending at most 90 minutes in KG itself on the morning you leave. I think you should decide which one you'd regret not seeing at all - HCP or KG - and then book the room near that one and visit it. Or, perhaps there's another way to fit them both in that someone will suggest.

Posted by
13934 posts

I did finally get to Kew a few weeks ago. We arrived about 1100 and made ourselves leave about 4:30 so we could catch the ferry back to Westminster pier. No kids in tow but we probably saw less than half. I would think it would be over-achieving to try and do a 90 minute visit unless you were a local with a pass.

I’m not sure where your hotel is located but you could consider a walk along the tow path. My impression is that it can be muddy so you’d want to be cautious regarding mud and clothes to fly home in.

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