Hampton Court and Bushy Park walk
2 deer parks and a royal palace
Start | Hampton Wick station |
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Finish | Hampton Wick station |
Length |
8km. |
Time | 2 hours |
Travel | National Rail. Hampton Wick is in Travelcard Zone 6 and part of the Kingston Loop line with trains from Waterloo. (The loop section via Wimbledon is the shorter journey time.) |
Walk Notes |
Through Hampton Court and Bushy Parks. This walk is best avoided from mid June to mid July. (The Hampton Court Flower show which is held in early July, necessitates large sections of Hampton Court Park being blocked off for the two weeks prior, during and at least one week after the show.) |
Eat |
The Foresters, 45 High Street KT1 4DG T: 020 8943 5379. Food served until 22:00. |
Profile | |
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Help Us! |
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By Train |
Out (not a train station) Back (not a train station) |
By Car |
Start KT1 4DQ Map Directions |
Amazon | |
Help |
National Rail: 03457 48 49 50 • Traveline (bus times): 0871 200 22 33 (12p/min) • TFL (London) : 0343 222 1234 |
Version |
Sep-24 DAC |
Copyright | © Saturday Walkers Club. All Rights Reserved. No commercial use. No copying. No derivatives. Free with attribution for one time non-commercial use only. www.walkingclub.org.uk/site/license.shtml |
Walk Directions
- Coming out of Hampton Wick station, turn left along the High Street. In 300 metres you reach a roundabout with Kingston Bridge off to your left. Turn right and after 30 metres (immediately before the closed Old Kings Head pub) turn left through Kingston Gate into Home Park. In 70 metres go through a gate to the left of a cattle grid, and turn right along a path with Hampton Wick Pond on your right-hand side.
- At the end of the pond the suggested continuation towards Hampton Court Palace takes in the Long Water [A], but you could also take a direct route [B].
- [A] Via the Long Water
- Veer left towards an avenue of trees (Cross Avenue) 150m away and join the path alongside it, in a southerly direction. In 550m turn right to go along the right-hand side of the Long Water for 1km (there is no bridge at the far end if you choose the wrong side).
- At the far end follow the path round to the right, then turn right again to head away from the (locked) Kingston Avenue gate into the Palace grounds. In 100m go through a gate in the high brick wall on your left-hand side into the paddock. Resume the directions at the asterisk [*] below.
- [B] Direct route
- Continue in the same direction through a long avenue of trees (Kingston Avenue). As you approach the Palace, there is a high brick wall on your right-hand side. Go through a gate in the wall into the paddock.
- [*] Follow the path through the paddock. In 200m go through another gate (Paddock Gate) to come out onto the main road, where you turn left. In 250 metres, just before the Lion Gate entrance into the Palace grounds, cross the main road via a zebra crossing and go through Hampton Court Gate into Bushy Park.
- Continue in a northerly direction along an avenue towards the Diana Fountain. On reaching the fountain, turn left along Lime Avenue in a westerly direction. After 600 metres, turn right in a northerly direction to cross a brick bridge along Ash Walk, to head between two fenced in woods. After 50 metres, turn right to go through a gate, to follow the London Loop through the Woodland Gardens with a stream / ponds on your left-hand side.
- In 500 metres, immediately before a footbridge off to your left, turn right (marked by a London Loop sign) through a gate to exit the wood, and turn left to continue along the London Loop in the same easterly direction. After 160 metres cross over a road, to then pass by an old water pump mounted on a brick plinth after 80 metres.
- Continue in this easterly direction along the London Loop, (the spire of St. John the Baptist in the distance, which you will pass by later on is a useful landmark - however difficult to see from a distance against background buildings. A white concertinaed block of flats just to the left of the spire is easily visible), to eventually exit through a tall black metal gate onto Church Grove Passage, a car wide tarmac track.
- In 270 metres you come out to a main road opposite St. John the Baptist Church. Cross this road, to go along the road to the left of the Church, (St. Johns Road). In 150 metres you reach The Forrester’s pub, the recommended refreshments stop. (To reach Hampton Wick station, turn left along the High Street for 180 metres.)