Length: up to 15½ km (9.6 miles). Toughness: 1/10
This walk takes you round two Royal Parks (Home Park and Bushy Park) and coincides with one of the Garden Open Days at Hampton Court. After completing the basic (7.5 mile) walk, you have the opportunity to visit the gardens for free. (Note that entry to the palace itself is not free).
Trains Get the 09:57 Hampton Court train from Waterloo (Vauxhall 10:01, Clapham Jct 10:06, etc), arriving at 10:34. Hampton Court is in TfL Zone 6.
Trains back from Hampton Court are half-hourly at xx:05 & xx:35.
Lunch: You have two shots at lunch, passing the Pheasantry Café in Bushy Park's Woodland Gardens twice. First around 12. Then, after a bit more walking, you pass it again. The earlier slot is recommended (probably less customers).
Tea: there are several places for tea at the end of the walk, including the Tiltyard Café in the palace grounds. Cream tea anyone? Or maybe just one of their posh looking cakes with flowers on.
Hardened drinkers might be more tempted by nearby pubs, such as the Mute Swan opposite the gates or, nearer the station, the Prince of Wales
Directions : here (includes suggested tour of the palace gardens). t=swc.240
2 comments:
This was quite a local walk for me so I thought I would walk to the route. This time, unlike some recent attempts, I intercepted 12 walkers along the Long Water, making #13 in all.
We proceeded through Bushy Park to the Pheasantry, where it was decided to make an early stop. Some had various refreshments, others just picnicked, and all but three sit-down lunchers headed off again at about 12.30.
The walk author led most of us on the suggested scenic route through the Waterhouse Plantation, which had had a severe haircut since I was last there. As luck would have it, this meant we dovetailed nicely with the other lunchers who took the more direct route.
Next we encountered the day's biggest challenge – a large waterlogged area, honestly wetter and deeper than the notorious water meadow on the way to St Albans - which resulted in some wet feet. The group straggled out a bit in the afternoon but mostly regrouped on our return to the Pheasantry (no more refreshments for the moment) and many stopped to photograph a large herd of deer we passed just before the way out of Bushy Park.
I think most of the group took advantage of the free entry to the palace gardens, and some even went to the palace itself. It was the first time I'd been to the part formerly open to the public since the mean-spirited so-and-sos at Historic Royal Palaces shut out the hoi polloi in 2020. Many flowers were emerging and two wicker knights had seemingly sprung from the earth like Myrmidons and were jousting with each other.
On the the formal gardens, which I had not visited for a good 30 years. They were very crowded but spectacular in the late afternoon sun (otherwise it had been #mostly-dull). Finally we squeezed round the tennis court where some real tennis was going on. Three of us had tea in a cafe across the bridge which doesn't seem to have a name but Google Maps calls Five on the Bridge. I spotted four others on the 1622 train. Many thanks to Mr Tiger for spotting the open day opportunity – much appreciated.
Though tempted to bask in the credit, I feel duty bound to point out that it was the walk’s author who spotted the open days
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