A final excursion today - to Hampton Court Palace. And this makes for an extremely worthy day trip. I have been here before, but it was a while ago - and I've never been here by myself before. Between the palace and the gardens, I must have spent about 4 hours there. It has some terrific history, and some extremely well maintained interiors and exteriors - very photogenic. And I feel like I could have spent much longer there (if only for perfecting those photos). I was supposed to go for a walk after visiting the palace (to Hampton village) but it was too hot and I was too tired so I'll have to do that another time. It didn't help that the walk takes you through an entrance to the palace that is no longer open, so requires a considerable detour. But I did plenty of walking just from completing most of the routes in the audio guides (free with entry), having already done a lot of the same routes without the audio guide but wanting to see the main sights before it started getting too busy. And it definitely does get increasingly busier throughout the day (I read online that it was recommended to get there around 1 pm to avoid the crowds - but I couldn't disagree more, and I was glad to be there not long after opening time).
