In June we are thinking of going to Kew gardens by tube for a couple of hours, seeing a couple of highlights and then taking the 1:30 boat to Hampton Court, and spending the rest of the day there. this being Sunday the palace closes at 6:00, and then seeing the grounds in the evening. Then tube back to london. Make sense? Too much? Thanks Fodorites.

We were there in March and the boats weren't running yet. But I have heard that the trip by boat going TO Hampton Court takes a long time while the trip coming back is faster. The train took less than an hour. We spent all day at Hampton Court and enjoyed every minute. There ar 4 different tours to take of the Palace. Plus you will want to explore the garden (and get lost in the maze). Be sure to take the guided tours. The William & Mary tour was my favorite.

If you are set on trying to do both on the same day, I would do it in the reverse order.<BR><BR>As Grasshopper says, the trip up river is much slower than the trip down river (due to the river current)<BR><BR>So take an early morning train to HCP and spend as long as you want - several hours at minimum. Then catch the boat from HCP to Kew. (I think doing both on the same day is pushing it but it is doable)<BR><BR>Then the tube from Kew back into London

It's a bit much for one day, although possible. I think both those places are worth more than just a couple of hours. Kew Gardens is such a beautiful place to just relax, enjoy the gardens and have lunch. It's also quite large. <BR>The town is also lovely, and a good place to walk around. Hampton Court is very interesting, and deserves more than 2 hours, especially to see the gardens also. If you can't do everything this time, plan on going back to London again!

Kew Gardens is a lovely day trip. There are som nice restaurants near the train station. I love the Gardens there. I think both in one day may be a little much.

I agree that doing the two in one day will be very busy. You might end up just skimming the surface of the two. You could get to Hampton Court when ito opens and then get to the Gardens for about 3 in the afternoon. Remember, the days are long here in the summer. Even in early June, it won't be dark before 2115 or so, so you could benefit from that if you do decide to go to Kew in the afternoon. FYI, both are great. We went to Hamton Ct. about 3 weeks ago. It was a lovely, sunny, but chilly day. We took a free audio guide (there are several routes to choose from) and then had a guide take us round part of the palace, dressed in Elizabethan costume. Both these options are better than just wandering around with a guide book (not really necessary if you take the audio guides.)

The River Thames at Kew is tidal so flows either way: sometimes it's quicker going from Kew to Hampton Court and sometimes quicker the other way. At low tide, the river is very shallow and the boats have difficulty getting through, and you can't see much from the boat because of the high banks. If you let me know what date you plan to travel, I can check the times of the tides for you. The boats started running on 7 April and will run every day till October.

Hi MarleneSusan,<BR><BR>I didn't go to Kew Gardens (it was January), but we spent 4 1/2 hours at Hampton Court Palace, not including travel time, and felt like we could have stayed longer. <BR><BR>And just for perspective, we are what I would call &quot;quick tourists&quot;, meaning that if others say something takes 4 hours, we'd stay for 2 hours and feel like we had enough time, etc.<BR><BR>On the plus side for us at HCP - we were lucky and got a pretty warm, sunny day, and since it was January, we practically had the place to ourselves, which was very nice. I have pictures of the gardens with absolutely NO people in them - amazing.<BR><BR>Have fun,<BR>Karen

we took the boat ride from Westminster to Hampton court, and it took over 3 hours. It was long, the seats were uncomfortable, and I really don't recommend it. Granted, its slightly shorter from Kew, but I think you would be better served spending more time at Hampton court, and less time on that slow boat ride. There really isn't much that's interesting to look at once you leave London. We took a 10:30 boat, arrived at about 2, ate a quick bite, and then didn't have enough time to see as much of the Palace as we would have liked.<BR><BR>Also, the maze close well before the grounds. I think the maze closed when the Palace did, not when the grounds did (I'm not certain, I just know we wandered the garden, got to the maze and it was locked up). So if you wanted to go through it, make sure to get there a little early.