From the Hampton Inn to Hampton Court Palace

Day 3 of our England Holiday: Hampton Court Palace

We thought a trip to Hampton Court Palace would be perfect for our first full day. We had a few rail trips planned during the course of our holiday, so this was a good introduction to the rail system. We also wanted to put off any sights that would require taking the tube because we wanted to get 7-day travel cards for the next week, so leaving from Waterloo meant we only had a quick walk from the hotel.

I purchased tickets online before our trip only because I was buying what I could ahead of time to spread out the costs over a few months prior to the trip. Picking up the tickets at Waterloo station was quick and easy (once I figured out how to make my card work–I don’t have a PIN and chip credit card, so it took a couple of tries).

While we waited with a large group of people under the boards for our platform number to be posted, we giggled as platforms would go up on the board, and whoosh, bunches of people would sprint off. London is definitely not a place for the slothful!

Our platform number was posted, and we whooshed off to our train. The ride was quick and uneventful. The day was warm and sunny. The walk from the station at Hampton Court to the palace was short. We stopped on the bridge and took it all in. I had no idea it would be so huge. We used our train tickets to get the 2-for-1 entrance to the palace.

View of HCP from the bridge