Hampton Court Palace Garden Tour
The playground of the Royals for over 200 years!
Please see the palace page of this website for an update!
Take a tour with me of one of England's grandest gardens where there is history hidden around every corner. With 66 acres to look at, there is plenty of choice!
There are eight formal gardens around the palace providing year-round colour and interest.
The Wilderness Garden is at its most striking in Spring, when daffodils form a rich, yellow carpet interspersed with gorgeous purple crocuses.
The Walled Garden is perfect in Summer with its highly-perfumed riot of roses. The Great Fountain Garden's beautiful herbaceous border is rumoured to be the longest in England and explodes in a mass of different shades throughout the Summer, just in time for the Music Festival and the Hampton Court Flower Show.
The south side of the gardens is unique and quite idyllic: the Privy Garden recreates William III’s design of 1702, its stunning shapes forming the perfect display of symmetry. Further on in the Lower Orangery Garden, a replica of Queen Mary’s 17th century garden has been brought vividly to life. Opposite sit the Sunken Gardens, originally home to Henry VIII’s fishponds, a fiesta of colour in the Spring and Summer months as the palace gardeners plant out a dense array of flowering bulbs and annuals.
Alongside the internationally-renowned formal gardens, famous landmarks include the oldest and largest productive grapevine in the world, the hedge maze complete with its half-mile of pathways and the real tennis court where many a Royal has tried their hand at mastering this complicated game.
Adults will enjoy the history and elegance of the formal gardens. Children love the freedom of being outside, enjoy the challenge of being the first to the centre of the hedge maze and no one ever says no to an ice cream on the lawns!
​
66 acres of formal gardens
The Maze
The Real Tennis Court
Garden Tours tell the fascinating history from Tudor times to present day
​
This three hour tour is on top of the palace entry fee.
I am currently only taking bookings for up to 5 people meaning that the maximum group size is 6 - so, 5 guests plus me.
If you would like to book a tour, please click on the button below.