The Easter egg hunt at Hampton Court Palace is the seasonal family trail staged in the grounds of Henry VIII's Thames-side palace, run by Historic Royal Palaces across the Easter holidays. Children follow a marked route through the gardens, solve what they find along the way, and collect a chocolate reward at the end. It sounds simple, and it is. What makes it worth the trip is everything the trail happens to run through.
Hampton Court is two palaces wearing one roof. Cardinal Wolsey began it in 1515 and handed it to Henry VIII in 1529, which gives you the Tudor half: the Great Hall, the astronomical clock, the kitchens that once fed 600 people twice a day. Then William III and Mary II hired Christopher Wren to rebuild the east side in the 1690s, which gives you the baroque half and the state apartments. The two sit against each other in a way no other English palace manages, and the join is visible from the courtyard.
Around the buildings sit 60 acres of formal gardens and a further 750 acres of parkland, holding the oldest surviving hedge maze in the country, planted around 1700, and the Great Vine, put in by Capability Brown in 1768 and still fruiting. The palace sits at East Molesey on the Surrey bank, in the borough of Richmond upon Thames, roughly 12 miles from central London. This guide covers what the Easter trail actually involves, how to pace a day with children, which parts of the palace hold their attention and which do not, where to eat, and how to reach a site whose station sits on the wrong side of the river. Westway Ride holds Transport for London licence 73850301.
What the Easter trail involves
The trail is a marked route through the palace grounds with stations along the way, and children work through it at their own pace with an activity sheet. Finish it and there is chocolate. That is the deal, and for a five year old it is a complete and satisfying proposition.
Historic Royal Palaces changes the theme year to year, so the specifics move, but the shape holds: outdoors, through the gardens, an hour or so at a child's speed, longer if they stop to look at things. It is included with palace admission rather than sold separately, which means the trail is the excuse and the palace is the day.
Book ahead. Easter is the busiest fortnight in the palace calendar and timed entry slots go early, particularly the mid-morning ones that suit families. Historic Royal Palaces members get in without paying, which pays for itself quickly if you visit more than once a year. What the trail gives you beyond the chocolate is a reason for children to walk 60 acres without noticing.
Why the palace suits children better than most
Most historic houses ask children to be quiet and touch nothing, which is a poor offer if you are seven. Hampton Court asks something different, because a lot of it is outdoors and a lot of the indoor part is genuinely strange.
The Tudor kitchens are the proof. They are vast, dark, and frequently have fires lit and food being cooked by people in costume, and the smell does more work than any label. Children who will not read a caption will happily stand and watch a fire that roasted meat for Henry VIII's court. The Great Hall has the hammerbeam roof and the tapestries. The astronomical clock in Clock Court still tells the time, the date, the phase of the moon and the high tide at London Bridge, which was a genuinely useful thing to know when the river was the road to the city.
Then there is the ghost story, which every child asks about. The Haunted Gallery is where Catherine Howard is said to have run screaming for Henry after her arrest. It is a good story, told well by the palace, and it is the bit they remember on the way home. The maze, though, is the thing they actually came for.
The maze and the gardens
The maze is small and it defeats people anyway. Planted around 1700, it is the oldest surviving hedge maze in the country, it covers only about a third of an acre, and the average visitor takes twenty minutes to reach the middle. Children treat it as a competition. Adults discover that knowing it is small does not help.
The gardens run beyond it and they are the reason to come in spring rather than winter. The Privy Garden is the restored baroque formal garden below the state apartments, laid out as William III had it. The Wilderness holds the spring bulbs, and by Easter it is usually a sheet of daffodils and, in a warm year, blossom. The Great Vine sits under glass nearby, planted in 1768 and now the largest grapevine in the world, which is exactly the sort of fact a child repeats for a week.
Sixty acres is a lot of walking, and that is before the parkland. Which is why the order you do things in decides whether the day works.
How to pace the day
Do the palace first, the trail second, the maze last. This is the single most useful thing in this guide. The indoor rooms need attention and patience, and children have both in the morning and neither after lunch. The trail is outdoors and self-paced, so it survives tired legs. The maze is pure energy release and works best when everyone has stopped pretending to be interested in furniture.
Budget four to five hours for a proper visit and accept you will not see everything, because you will not. The state apartments alone could take two hours if anyone let you. With children, pick the Tudor side, do the kitchens, do the Great Hall, then go outside and stay outside.
Arrive at opening if you can. The palace is quiet for the first hour and the courtyards photograph well before they fill, and by 13:00 at Easter the place is busy in a way that changes the experience. An early arrival also means the maze before the queue, which is a real thing at Easter.
Eating, and the practical bits
There are cafés on site: the Privy Kitchen and the Tiltyard, both reasonable and both busy at Easter, which is a good argument for eating early or late rather than at one o'clock with everyone else. The alternative is a picnic, and the grounds are made for it. Bushy Park is next door and free, with a deer herd and the Diana Fountain, and it is the better lunch on a dry day.
Pushchairs are fine in the gardens and awkward in the Tudor apartments, where the floors are original and the stairs are stairs. A carrier is easier for the indoor part with a small child. Dress for cold: the palace is stone, the gardens are exposed, and the Thames does not warm anything up before May. Toilets are near the entrance and by the cafés, which is worth knowing before the maze rather than after.
None of it works if the arrival goes badly, and the arrival is the part people get wrong.
Getting there without the walk
Hampton Court station is on the wrong side of the river. Trains run from Waterloo in about 35 minutes, which is fine, but the station sits at Thames Ditton and you cross Hampton Court Bridge on foot to reach the gates. That is a short walk in April sunshine and a long one in April rain with a pushchair, a picnic and a child who has decided they are finished.
Driving brings its own problem. There is a car park at the palace and it fills early over Easter, and the overflow is in Hampton Court Green, and the roads around East Molesey are narrow and busy on a bank holiday. You spend the first half hour of the day looking for a space and the last half hour getting out.
Being dropped at the gate removes both problems. The car takes the picnic, the coats and the spare clothes, waits while you are inside, and collects you at the entrance rather than a bridge away. For days out to the palace and the wider borough, driving around Richmond and East Molesey covers the area, and a fare agreed at booking does not move with bank holiday traffic. Fares start from £80, with the Vito at £130 and the V-Class at £140 for a family with the full Easter load.
Making it a longer weekend
Hampton Court pairs well with the rest of the Easter calendar rather than standing alone. Kew Gardens is 20 minutes away by road and runs its own Easter programme, and it is a completely different day: botanic rather than historic, glasshouses rather than kitchens. Our guide to Easter at Kew covers it in full.
If you want the whole holiday planned rather than one day, Easter days out with children sets out the options across London, and what is on at Easter covers the city more broadly. For the grown-up end of the weekend, where to eat over the Easter break is the companion piece.
The palace is the anchor, though. Four hours, one trail, one maze, and a child who now knows what a hammerbeam roof is.
Is the Easter egg hunt included with palace admission?
Yes. The Easter trail is included in standard palace admission rather than sold as a separate ticket, and Historic Royal Palaces members enter free. Booking a timed slot in advance is strongly advised, since Easter is the busiest fortnight of the palace year.
What is Hampton Court Palace?
Hampton Court Palace is a royal palace on the Thames at East Molesey, begun by Cardinal Wolsey in 1515 and given to Henry VIII in 1529. It is two palaces in one: a Tudor half with the Great Hall and kitchens, and a baroque half rebuilt for William III and Mary II by Christopher Wren in the 1690s.
How long does the Easter trail take?
About an hour at a child's pace, and longer if they stop at everything, which they will. It runs outdoors through the gardens and is self-paced, so it suits tired legs better than the state apartments do. Allow four to five hours for the whole visit.
What is there to see besides the egg hunt?
The main draws are the Tudor kitchens, the Great Hall, the state apartments, the astronomical clock, the maze, the Privy Garden and the Great Vine. The kitchens are the strongest with children because they are often lit and staffed, and the maze, planted around 1700, is the oldest surviving hedge maze in the country.
Is Hampton Court Palace suitable for young children?
Yes, more than most historic houses, because much of the visit is outdoors and the indoor highlights are sensory rather than static. The kitchens have fires and cooking, the maze is a game, and the grounds run to 60 acres of gardens plus 750 acres of parkland. Pushchairs are awkward in the Tudor apartments, where floors and stairs are original.
How far is Hampton Court Palace from central London?
Roughly 12 miles, or 45 minutes to an hour by road depending on traffic. Trains from Waterloo take about 35 minutes to Hampton Court station, which sits across the river, so you cross the bridge on foot to reach the gates.
Is there parking at Hampton Court Palace?
Yes, but it fills early over Easter and the overflow sits on Hampton Court Green. The roads around East Molesey are narrow and busy on a bank holiday, so parking usually costs you the first half hour of the day and the last half hour of it.
Which is better for Easter, Hampton Court or Kew Gardens?
Hampton Court is better for children who want history and a maze, while Kew is better for gardens, glasshouses and the treetop walkway. They sit about 20 minutes apart by road, so a long weekend can take in both. Hampton Court has the stronger indoor offer if the weather turns.
Can you take a picnic to Hampton Court?
Yes. The grounds and neighbouring Bushy Park are both good picnic sites, and Bushy Park is free to enter with a deer herd and the Diana Fountain. The on-site cafés, the Privy Kitchen and the Tiltyard, get busy at Easter, so eating early or late beats eating at one o'clock.
How old is the Hampton Court maze?
It was planted around 1700, making it the oldest surviving hedge maze in the United Kingdom. It covers only about a third of an acre and still takes the average visitor roughly twenty minutes to reach the centre, which is the joke of the thing.
Will a chauffeur wait while we visit the palace?
Yes. On hourly or full day hire the car and driver stay with you for the booked period, so the picnic, coats and spare clothes stay in the boot while you are inside, and collection is at the palace entrance rather than across the bridge at the station.
When should we arrive to avoid the crowds?
Arrive at opening. The palace is quiet for the first hour, the courtyards photograph well before they fill, and the maze has no queue. By 13:00 over Easter the site is busy enough to change the day, so the early slot is worth the early start.
What is the Great Vine?
The Great Vine is a grapevine planted in 1768 by Capability Brown and now the largest in the world, still fruiting under glass in the palace gardens. It is the sort of fact children repeat for a week afterwards, and it takes five minutes to see, which makes it one of the better returns on the walk.
Are the Tudor kitchens worth seeing?
Yes, and they are the strongest part of the palace with children. They are vast and dark, frequently have fires lit and food being cooked by staff in costume, and the smell does more work than any label. They once fed a court of 600 people twice a day. Children who ignore captions will happily watch the fire.
Is Bushy Park worth adding to the day?
Yes, and it is free and immediately next door. It holds a free-roaming deer herd and the Diana Fountain, and it makes a better lunch than the palace cafés on a dry day, since those get busy at Easter. Keep 50 metres from the deer and keep dogs leashed nearby.
How much walking is involved?
A fair amount: the gardens alone run to 60 acres, with 750 acres of parkland beyond them. Doing the palace, the trail and the maze properly is four to five hours on your feet. Pushchairs are fine outdoors and awkward in the Tudor apartments, where the floors and stairs are original.
