A review of Hampton Court Palace: Are we there yet?

Where: United Kingdom, Surrey
East Molesey, Surrey KT8, directions on website
Cost: £13.30 for a single adult, £6.65 for children under 16, free for children under 5, £37.00 for a family of up to two adults and three children
Website: http://www.hrp.org.uk/hamptoncourtpalace/
Hours: Monday through Sunday 10AM to 6PM (summer) and 10AM to 4:30PM (winter)
How to get there: National Rail, Hampton Court stop (from Waterloo station)
When visited: Fall 2008

Five stars of family friendly. I can’t easily think of any major tourist attraction that has been more family friendly.

Where to begin?

Ok, here are the basics. Hampton Court Palace is the palace of Henry VIII, among others. Queen Elizabeth lived there. William and Mary added a modest extension. It’s a palace so it’s impressive. Very impressive. You’ll probably want the better part of a day to properly explore it, if not more.

It’s easy to find. Getting on a National Rail train from Waterloo station, take the train to Hampton Court, which leaves twice an hour. Take it to Hampton Court, which is the end of the line. The huge building on the other side of the Thames, here a much smaller river, is it.

The staff was helpful from beginning to end. In fact, they even tipped us off to some of the most family-friendly features. It isn’t marked clearly on the map, but there is a family room with toys for children to play with. There is even a ball pit. Your young children can blow off steam here while you marvel at the amazingly complex clock Henry VIII built outside. For older children they have a selection of tours in the family room, but the ghost tour might be the most interesting. You can find the family room behind the audio tour room. You may want to make it a first stop if your children are a little older, but not yet teens.

Children may be interested in the Tudor kitchen, but the thing they will want to see is the maze. Our daughter didn’t like the closed-in feeling at 17 months, but the other children in the maze were full of loud, happy noise. My wife and I enjoyed it. A hit for all ages.

There are changing tables in the main bathrooms, but they appear to be the only changing tables. All of the eating options at Hampton Court have children’s meals available. The Privy Kitchen Cafe, which is in Queen Elizabeth’s own kitchen, will let you grab a quick bite without having to leave the palace. The Tiltyard Cafe is on the palace grounds, but not in the main palace. I would imagine you can picnic in the summer, and it looks to be a pleasant place for it. There is an elevator there, but we couldn’t find it. It wasn’t too much of a hardship as the number of stairs was pretty minimal.

This is a wonderful place to visit with children. I can’t wait to catch a great fare to London again so I can go back. They went above and beyond the call of duty to make it child friendly. An amazing visit.

See more progress on: Hampton Court Palace

A review of Tate Modern: Are we there yet?

Where: United Kingdom, London
Bankside, London SE1, directions on website
Cost: Free, suggested £3 donation
Website: http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/
Hours: Sunday through Thursday, 10AM to 6PM and Friday through Saturday 10AM to 10PM
How to get there: London Underground, Southwark and Blackfriars stops are closest
When visited: Fall 2008

Is this a must see site? I’m not sure. I would say the biggest question you have to answer is, “Do my children like modern art?” My daughter tolerates the gallery portions of modern art. I can look around a gallery and immediately determine which two or three pieces I want to look at more closely. Strangely, it almost alway seems to be “name” artists.

Anyway, the real reason to bring the family here is for the turbine hall, unless they love Rothko or Bacon. It’s an amazing space. Since the Tate Modern used to be a power plant—right in the middle of London, crazy, I know—the main space is an enormous room capable of eating whatever building you live in and then a few more. It’s huge. A rotating display is featured there. My daughter loved the one we saw: ranks of yellow and blue bunk beds. She had to touch all of them. Truly an overwhelming space to contemplate art, certainly unique to my experience.

There are baby changing facilities in several locations of the Tate Modern. For those with strollers, there is a bank of elevators, though if busy the wait might be fairly long.

If it weren’t for its central London location I doubt we would have gone there, but I’m glad we did. The turbine hall is worth a visit, and you can cross the Thames on the Millenium Bridge when you’re done.