day trip to hampton court
 

I am planning a day trip to Hampton court in july. it has been a long time since I did this. I assume I will take a train there in the late morning. Are there options to take a boat back in late afternoon? Any particular recommendations about the visit? I do know a bit about the history of the palace and am interested in history.

Yes. http://www.thamesriverboats.co.uk/th...t-sailings.asp Last one leaves around 4:00 though, so that may not be late enough for you.

We took the boat back to London several years ago and it was a blast being in a crowd of Brits on a holiday.

No tips, but the visit to Hampton Court Palace was one of our most enjoyable day trips.

Have fun.

You can also take the train to Kingston to catch boats if the 4pm departure from the Palace is too early but I'd say 3-4 hours tops for the palace itself.

There are 2 trains an hour from Waterloo to HCP. There are some very nice lunch places in Bridge Road which is opposite HC station. Often missed are the walks along the river, in either direction (towards Kingston or towards Molesey boat club, as is Bushy Park where you can sometimes see deer. If you don't want to take the boat all the way back to London, you can take the boat to Richmond and the train back from there.

Love Hampton Court, the gardens will be beautiful in July. Were the Tudor kitchens open when you were last there? Very interesting as is the entire Tudor section. Then, moving on to the 17th-18th c wing is an interesting contrast plus those rooms have excellent garden views.

A huge RHS garden show is held on the grounds in early July, you might check to see if that impacts palace tours in any way, I doubt it but not sure. It's a day's event in itself.

Wait until the day to decide -- if the weather is lovely the boat is a great option. But if it is cold or wet it would be a loooooong miserable slog.

I once took the train to Kingston and walked on The Thames Path to the palace - just a few long miles as I recall - take the north side of the river for best along the river walking paths - you can come into the palace grounds via a huge deer park. Lovely walk.

Agree with Janis--you can buy boat tickets at the boat so no need to decide before you depart.