Trying to find time to actually go on day trips with your girlfriends seems to become more and more impossible the older you get. Being an adult kinda sucks, huh?
My flatmate Sophie and I had been talking about taking the day to go to the not-so-hidden gem that is Hampton Court Palace for almost a year, so I was determined to tie her down before summer (even if just for an afternoon) to take the boat trip we’d been so excited about for so long.
We bought a £7 return ticket with Parr Boats travelling from Kingston to Hampton Court, a bargain we were very happy with. Despite it being a beautifully sunny day, it was typically cold and windy which meant we had the boat pretty much to ourselves and decided to call it our own private yacht, a fantasy we have both shared.
It took less than half an hour to get there and we went through the most beautiful part of the Thames (something I never thought I would say) whilst discovering a whole riverside community we never knew existed. We spent the whole time pointing out swans to each other, as well as comparing which houses we want to live in when we graduate. Just normal boat trip stuff!
We arrived to see the beautiful Hampton Court bridge looming over us in such grand style, and were excited to see what we could see at Hampton Court Palace. We went quite late in the afternoon so we didn’t have a lot of time but that wasn’t a problem. The great thing about Hampton Court Palace is that the gardens are free to wander around. There’s different cafe’s and also a small forest to explore, enough to fill a whole afternoon without spending a dime.
At a risk of sounding too Bristolian, every tree, every bush and every plant was so full and lush (yes, I actually said lush) it was breath-taking. I think we were lucky that we went on such a beautifully sunny day because the colours of the flowers popped out from within the green. We took our time drifting from garden to garden, reading as much as we could about this majestic historical site.
I fell in love. I am a sucker for anything floral at the best of times, but endless gardens with different blooms everywhere I looked in front of an extraordinary building? Heaven. Being a wandering tourist with little planned always seems to pay off for me in the end, as we fell across The Tiltyard Cafe situated within the gardens. Grabbing a cup of coffee, sitting outside and talking the rest of the day away seemed to be the best way to end the trip. Trees surrounded us and it felt like we had discovered our own special, secret part of the gardens, despite other people being on the table next to us.
Being surrounded by trees, flowers and walking through branches and sneaking off down secret pathways pretty much sums up our Hampton Court Palace experience. We didn’t get to see inside the Palace (it’s incredibly expensive, even for students) but it was soul reviving and only took a few hours out of our day.
We finished by doing a mini photoshoot outside the entrance to Hampton Court Palace, as well as by the river whilst we waited for the boat home. Bathing in the chilly sun that day really felt like the beginning of summer. And what a great start it was.
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