London to Hampton Court

[Chesie]

We are staying at the Crowne Plaza St James. Would like to verify I have this right. Tube to Waterloo and National Rail to Hampton Court? Does anyone know how long the train ride is to Hampton Court? Are there alot of stops on the way? Many thanks!!

[Cotswold Eagle]

Yes, you have your planning right. It's one of those awkward little tube journeys - from St James's Park one stop to Westminster, change to Jubilee line, one stop to Waterloo. An alternative, if you have a few more minutes, would be to walk to Westminster, or down to Victoria Street and get the 507 bus to Waterloo.

 

Trains from Waterloo take 36 minutes to get to Hampton Court and stop at about 10 places on the way. According to the National Rail website it is 6 minutes quicker to take a faster train to Surbiton and change to the Hampton Court train there, but I don't think I'd bother adding that complexity!

[Chesie]

Yes, you have your planning right. It's one of those awkward little tube journeys - from St James's Park one stop to Westminster, change to Jubilee line, one stop to Waterloo. An alternative, if you have a few more minutes, would be to walk to Westminster, or down to Victoria Street and get the 507 bus to Waterloo.

 

Trains from Waterloo take 36 minutes to get to Hampton Court and stop at about 10 places on the way. According to the National Rail website it is 6 minutes quicker to take a faster train to Surbiton and change to the Hampton Court train there, but I don't think I'd bother adding that complexity!

 

 

Thank you for taking the time to reply!

[Bob++]

There is a much more attractive alternative - at least in one direction.

 

Walk down Victoria St to Westminster Pier and catch a river boat. http://wpsa.co.uk/timetable_new.html

 

The boat trip takes around 3 hours to do the 20 odd miles of winding river and two locks, but that is variable according to tides and congestion in the locks. If you caught the 10:30 boat from Westminster you should be at the Palace for 1:30 or so.

 

Just a thought.

[grayjay]

I would also recommend to take the river boat. It's a very leisurely way to drive right up to Hampton Court and we loved to watch the scenery along the way.

[melody hounddog]

The riverboat sounds like a great idea. Has anyone done this? Do they sell snacks? Have a bathroom?

[Chesie]

Thanks about the riverboat. We are actually thinking of this on the way back.

[Bob++]

The riverboat sounds like a great idea. Has anyone done this? Do they sell snacks? Have a bathroom?

 

Yes they do sell drinks and snacks, and there is certainly a bathroom.

 

The boats are not large and are fairly basic, but on a fine day this would be far the best way to go to either Hampton Court or Kew Gardens. If it's raining, take the tube.

[melody hounddog]

Looks like fun! Thanks for posting the picture. We will give this a go if the weather is nice.