Hampton Court Palace, Gardens & Maze: Entry Ticket

Built red-brick, towering over the Thames, Hampton Court Palace was Henry VIII’s regal home, stage of royal spectacles, court intrigue, and culinary excess. When you walk its stately halls, tour its grand apartments, explore riverside gardens, and peek into hidden stories of ghosts, chocolate kitchens and maze-like gardens, you’re stepping into centuries of English heritage – rowdy, sumptuous, and more than a little spooky in places.

What to Expect

• Over 60 acres of formal gardens and parterres, fountains, the world’s oldest hedge maze and riverside walks in the vast 750 acres of surrounding parkland.

• Tudor & Baroque architecture: vast kitchens once feeding Henry VIII’s court, the richly carved Great Hall with its hammer-beam roof, gilded ceilings in royal apartments, and ornate tapestries and portraits.

• The Royal Chapel and Courtrooms: historic pews, Henry’s crest, and a striking ceiling of blue and gold stars with an altar screen steeped in Tudor history.

• The Chocolate Kitchens: rediscovered royal kitchens from around 1689-1700, where chocolate was made from bean to cup for the Georgian kings. Original fittings survive: fireplace, smoke jack, cupboards, shelves.

• Haunted corners & Tudor drama: the “Haunted Gallery” (former processional route) echoes with the legend of Catherine Howard’s desperate flight, rumored ghost sightings, chilling screams down the gallery, and Jane Seymour’s spectral presence near the Silver Stick Stairs.