Can anyone tell me how much time to allow to visit Blenheim Palace/Gardens? I am looking at their web page and it looks like there's a lot to see there. Should this be an all-day event, or just a few hours?

Thanks.

Hi, this question was asked just awhile ago. I believe you can see it here (cut and paste above):

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threadselect.jsp?fid=2

If not, I just put blenheim into the search box and it came up with the thread worded 'how much time does to take at Blenheim'.

PM - A few hours will be more than enough time unless it is crowded. when I went there last May it wasn't crowded at all.

Madison is right. 4 hours would be plenty. Be sure to take the train (or walk) to the garden maze. Also you can visit the grave of Winston Churchill. Take a right when you leave the palace and drive to the church. It is on the left side of the road. You can park in the restaurant across the street and walk up the hill. There are many spencers buried there including his mother.

Thanks everyone. It sounds like a really interesting place. I hope I can catch it on a sunny day.

rickmav, I did find the other thread, I appreciate the info.

We pretty much spent the whole day there. We took the Oxford Tube (bus) to Oxford from London, then took a local bus to Woodstock. We toured the palace and grounds (there is a lot to see!) and then walked around Woodstock (beautiful village!) and had dinner at the Vickers Inn (15th century inn) before taking the bus back to Oxford and London.

Half day is perfect, even given time for a picnic in the beautiful gardens, we sat by the lake last year and had a great relaxing time.

Muck

Michelin suggests 3/4 hour for the palace itself.

A few years ago we left Solihull, 5 miles south of Birmingham, stopped at Stratford for a quick look at Holy Trinity Church, visited Blenheim (but not Winston's grave in Bladon), walked around Woodstock and were in Salisbury between 6 na 7.

BTW, the restaurant proprietors do not look kindly on non-patrons using their rather small parking lot.