Tudor Tour?

Guided tours of Tudor historical places? Obvious choices would be places associated with Henry VIII or Elizabeth I.Here's some guided tours of "Tudor places" in/near London. Except for Hampton Court, these were not built during the Tudor dynasty but are associated with Henry VIII or Elizabeth I:The guided tour of Hampton Court Palace, upriver a bit from London. Hampton was home to both Henry and Elizabeth, here's the website http://www.hrp.org.uk/HamptonCourtPalace/hamptoncourtadmission.aspx.And I've heard about (but haven't done) the night guided ghost tour of Hampton Court, featuring the ghost of not one but two of Henry VIII's wives. One of the wifely ghosts is supposedly Catherine Howard, who they say has been know to run screaming down a hall looking for her missing head, which was removed by order of her soon-to-be ex-husband (but hey, they say the King was a fun guy to drink ale with).The other wifely ghost is reported to be Jane Seymour, one of Henry's wives whose head he did not have chopped off. Here's the website for the ghost tour Hampton Ghost TourAnd following up on Kristen's suggestion (below), the last Tudor monarch, Elizabeth I, was a prisoner in the Tower of London back when she was just a Princess. She was poled through Traitor's Gate, probably thinking of her mom, Anne Boleyn, whom Henry VIII had (arguably) framed for incest and adultery, punishment (you guessed it) was beheading at the Tower's Execution Spot a few years before Elizabeth checked in there. So there's the Beefeater tour of the Tower.Still on guided tours, Shakespeare's career at the Globe Theatre was in the latter part of the Tudor dynasty, so you could do a guided tour of the Globe.

Don't forget about the Tower of London.

Hampton Court is as said above the 'pure' Tudor historical place to visit and stands out from the Tudor perspective. You don't need a guide or a tour and its a short train ride from Central London.
Hampton Court was largely built in Tudor times whilst all the other places like Windsor, Tower of London etc although with connections to say Henry VIII are largely Norman, not Tudor. Hampton Court has the Tidor Kitchens where there are always tals, during the day there are also talks on things like musical instruments used with displays. On some evenings they cook Tudor food. You get one of those audio tour devices with admission which are quite good of you are interested in more detail about the paintings etc.

Hi, Kate. Colchester is a great town, 1h from London, with a lively original Tudor era downtown core. I love seeing all the original higgeldy-piggeldy buildings. It also figured largely into the British Civil War of the 1640's. I'm not sure about any guided tours(I lived there, not toured), but it's a fun place to walk around, and enjoy the Dutch quarter and all the Tudor architecture, and all the shopping downtown. Definitely doable as a day trip.

I was a history major with a focus on Tudor/Stewart England. I echo the statements that have been made here about places to see but there are more minor places if you will that depend on your interests in that period. If it is the religious fights you might want to look at places where heretics were burned by Mary (Canterbury, Essex, Ispwitch) or where Elizabeth I was exiled too after being released from teh Tower (Woodstock).

I would suggest you pick up a couple books about Elizabeth and Henry before going. All of these were textbooks for my upper level Tudor courses so are non fiction but are written to be a pleasure read if that makes sense.
Alison Plowden - Tudor Women: Queens adn Commoners
Alison Weir - The Children of Henry VIII (she also has an Elizabeth bio that is good)
Carolly Erickson - Great Harry

I hope this helps!

If you go to Portsmouth you can see the Mary Rose, a Tudor warship, apparently in exceptional condition given that it spent 400 years in the sea before being retrieved, although I haven't seen it myself.

On a related subject, in Southwark (London) you can see (and actually go on board) the replica of the Golden Hinde, Sir Francis Drake's ship. I visited it without a guide, although a guided tour is available (as least it was at the time).

Finally there is the museum of London which traces the entire history of the city from prehistoric times until now, so obviously it also covers the Tudor period. When I lived in London in the 1990s this was one of my favourite museums and I went there several times.

If someone hasn't mentioned it already, check out Hatfield House. Short train ride from London. Elizabeth I lived there, though house you can tour may be Jacobean.

This year there are special things planned due to Henery"s 500th anniversary! Do a google search and you will find out what's goimg on while you are there. Hampton Ct. Place is having LOTS!

You might also want to see Hever Castle, east of London towards Canterbury. It was Anne Boleyn's childhood home.

Hever is wonderful Kate. They are having special events at the British Museum.

Kent thanks for that link, I see you can buy tickets online for Hampton Court and the Tower, therefore saving time waiting in lines. Quite happy to see there is a special exhibit on the Tudor women on.. can't wait to see it.
Toni thanks for pointing out it was Henrys 500th annisversay celebration, I will keep my eyes open for more stuff now.

Gena, I loved Alison Weirs books, I am looking for the one by Alison Plowden now!

See if you can get a copy of the most recent issue of "Britan" magazine. There is a nice article about Henery VIII, his wives, and all the special events going on this year

I was looking around for Tudor stuff myself and found this tour company. I have no idea if their tours are any good but looking at their stuff should provide good ideas for you.

http://www.tudortours.com/