Using the taxi for Chartwell and Hever Castle

For Chartwell if you go on a Sunday the London Bus #246 runs there from Bromley North, Bromley South and Hayes railway stations, hourly.
All those stations are within TfL fare zones, and it's a normal flat rate London bus fare.

I had my hotel in Oxford, England, book a taxi or private car to take me round trip to Blenheim Palace. It was a few years ago but a very reasonable price during November when I didn’t want to wait for a bus in the cold weather.
The car picked us up at the hotel and at a prearranged time drove us back to Oxford.
Perhaps you could do it through your hotel.

We were in Chartwell two weeks ago. Highly recommend! I had the same questions as you - I'd planned this trip a couple years ago and then got sick and didn't feel like leaving London. So, special treat this time. Sorry, I can't help with the Hever Castle end of things.

We just picked up a taxi at the train station at Sevenoaks. In fact, we missed the two that were sitting there as our train arrived, but another came along immediately. I made arrangements with that driver to come back and pick us up. We exchanged What'sApp numbers in case anything went wrong, but he was back at our designated time. I think I gave us 3.5 hours to enjoy Chartwell, the gardens, the estate walks. That was fine for us - with more time, we might have walked more trails. There is an OK cafe as well if timing is off.

Chartwell's ticketing is unusual. You can't pre-book except for a few hours in the afternoon. When one arrives in the AM, tickets for entry are first come, first served. Ticket office opens at 10, gardens at 9 as I recall. We were first in line for house entry tickets and entered at 10. The entry room is small, so they have timed entries at 10 minute intervals. My approach to the matter was to arrive about 9:30 which we easily did with train from London, then taxi. If you find a private driver (I had no luck at a price I wanted), you could arrange afternoon pre-booked tickets, but I didn't see this as an option for us.

I'll check on the price I paid and the taxi company. There were several different companies at the taxi stand.

edit - Shungite Taxi was the company that appears on my visa charge: https://www.shungite-taxis.co.uk The driver gave me a card that said "Warren Taxi" - the website indicates independent drivers. Definitely licensed vehicle and driver. Fine service, very large passenger seating area (I didn't think about it being wheel chair accessible, but obviously it was). Price one way was just over $33 USD both going and returning.

The other company that was quite prominent at the train station was Beeline Taxis. http://www.sevenoakstaxis.com

I had not researched specific taxi companies before we left on this trip. If our driver had not been so responsive and helpful, I would have asked the very nice staff at Chartwell who they would recommend I call for a pick-up. In the past, I have emailed Chartwell and other major venues and asked about transport and recommended cab companies so I have that when I arrive. I have always received gracious responses.

Shouldn't this thread be in the England forum instead of France?

Many thanks to all everyone who responded.

And yes, Judy you are correct as this does belong in the England Forum. I am working on the trip in France that I just returned from and can't get France off my mind as I am doing a digital photo book of that trip.

Thanks for the detail from the Chicago person. Great information that is really helpful and so recent. We will take your advise and just plan to arrive at 9:30 AM and use the taxi from the Sevenoaks train station when we arrive. The other taxi company you mention but did not use is the one I emailed and got no answer. Maybe the request was too detailed so my fault. Anyway, you have answered my questions and I sincerely appreciate you taking the time to offer up your experience.

Great week to all!

Last year I stayed near Edenbridge but had my own car. Visited both Chartwell and Hever Castle the same day. Driving between the two you will pass through Edenbridge and I think a better, cheaper place for arranging a taxi at one of the two train stations there than from Seven Oaks. Have to say that I have no idea how easy that will be.

There are direct trains from London Bridge (38 min.) to Edenbridge Town and trains from London Charing Cross to the other train station in Edenbridge with a change in Tonbridge (around 1 hour).

You will certainly enjoy both Chartwell and Hever Castle. Don’t be afraid to have a chat with one of the stewards there, they are well motivated to answer questions if you have them. Not only fun to do but also very instructive.

I was advised by folks at Chartwell two years ago for the journey that didn’t occer due to illness to catch a taxi at Sevenoaks for best service. Sounds like the OP picked up that advice somewhere also.

I can’t comment on adding Hever, although we almost added Knole (Sackvilke-West House) to the Chartwell day. That is in/near SevenOaks and do-able with taxi or walk/hike. Opted for early return to London and National Portrait Gallery instead. Too many options!

Here's information about getting to Hever Castle, or reverse the information to return to London.
The information from their website includes taxi services so there are some more options for you.

https://www.hevercastle.co.uk/
https://www.hevercastle.co.uk/visit/opening-times-directions/

From their website:
"By Rail:
Trains run from London Victoria and London Bridge (via Oxted or East Croydon) to Edenbridge Town Station, and then take a taxi for three miles to the castle. Contact Country Hire and Go Taxis, telephone 07723 054863 or Relyon Taxis, telephone 01732 863800. We suggest that you book a taxi in advance for both legs of your journey.

Hever Station (next on line, unmanned and no taxis) is a one-mile rural walk to the castle. (Map of walk from station to castle). As you leave the platform you will also see another map on your left. This will guide you to Hever Castle, but you simply need to look out for red and white wooden posts.
There are no regular bus services to Hever Castle."

Map of the walk from the station to the castle:
https://www.hevercastle.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Walk-station-map.pdf

You could do Hever and Chartwell on different days. I know your plan was originally to do both on the same day, taking a taxi between the two, but you may not have enough time at Hever that way. There's a lot to see at Hever, including house and gardens. There's a nice cafe there for lunch or a snack/refreshments.

Thanks to all for your input. I truly appreciate it.
So this is my plan...in London leave from Waterloo Station to Sevenoaks.
Pick up a taxi there and arrange drop off at Chartwell, arrange pick up from Chartwell and deliver to Hever, arrange pick up from Hever and drop off at Sevenoaks for train back into Waterloo. I know it will be an all day event out of London and probably each venue deserves more time than we will be giving it, but our itinerary is full so no option to spread the day between 2 days.
The taxi price sounds reasonable and the original contact to the taxi service I mentioned in an earlier post remains unanswered.
Yes, I have read that Sevenoaks is the best dropping point from London via train for Charwell. It is better use of our day to start at Chartwell as we can get in a little earlier than we could at Hever.
It is the Waterloo Station that I want to make sure of. I was told by a friend that there is a point of transfer on that itinerary from Waterloo but when I check it myself on the train website, I see it as a direct trip. If anyone can shed any light on that I would be grateful. Of course, we are traveling in October and that schedule is not posted so I have just been using Sept. dates with the relevant day of the week for details. The Waterloo station is easiest for us to use as it is close to our hotel area.

Thanks again to all of you seasoned travelers who are so kind to share your experiences! Most grateful for all you input.

You leave from Waterloo EAST station for Sevenoaks.
This is a separate station/platforms to Waterloo, which you access by going upstairs within Waterloo.
All such trains start from Charing Cross and also call at London Bridge station.

In the afternoon a few trains go to Cannon Street, or are Thameslink across London via Blackfriars, City Thameslink, Farringdon and St Pancras. So be careful to board a Charing Cross train.

Many thanks for the details! We will just walk to Charing Cross which is a short walk from the hotel and catch the train there just to be on the safe side.

Since I was in error on that, maybe I should ask about the other 2 train trips out of London.
I plan to leave from Waterloo to train to Hampton Court, direct, the last station on the route.
I plan to leave from King's Cross to train to Cambridge, direct.
I hope I have read those correctly.

Many thanks!!!!

Your last two questions were answered correctly by you

For Cambridge you could also take a slower and possibly less expensive train from London Liverpool Street

I hope the taxi situation is as easy for you as it was for us. We enjoyed Chartwell.

We also left from Charing Cross - other options for us were stations I didn't know as well. We think alike! Better to take a slightly longer tube to a train station I know than get confused at one I'm less familiar with!

Enjoy you visits!

Many thanks! Greatly appreciated!