Kensington Palace - 17th Century design

Kensington Palace is located in the Kensington Gardens next to the well designed Hyde Park. Kensington Palace was the London residence of the late Diana, Princess of Wales. It was built in the 17th century.

Diana and Queen clothing, and hat display, the gardens and the information provided by the audio tour will surely make this your most enjoyable London attraction. You will find Restaurant/cafe on premises for your convenience.

Kensington Palace is still the residence of several members of the royal family, while others have offices here. But they allow the common folk to come enjoy their finery. The building itself is stunning. There is a long walkway where you can enjoy the formal gardens. If you like art and architecture take a tour of this property. Admission includes an audio tour. The cassettes come in several languages. You can tour at your leisure. Here you will see furniture, jewels, photographs, and personal items from the royal families who have resided here. You may find the tapes quite lengthy. One of the favorite displays you will find here is the collection of royal ceremonial dresses. You can see the room where Queen Victoria was born and baptized. Check out the state rooms, which have a very large and impressive collection of 17th-century paintings.

Useful link

Tel: (+44)020 7376 2716

Nearest station:

High Street Kensington Underground
Notting Hill Gate Underground
Bayswater Underground

St. James's Palace

St. James's Palace is one of London's oldest and most historic palaces. It is situated on The Mall in London, just north of St. James's Park. It was built in the late-1530s by Henry VIII, on the site of St James's Hospital, a former leper hospital. The palace was a primary royal residence only briefly, during the reign of Elizabeth I and the late-17th and early-18th centuries.

In 1952, Elizabeth II made her first speech as Queen from St James's Palace. The Tudor palace is still the Court's official headquarters and tradition dictates that foreign ambassadors to the UK are known as 'Ambassador to the Court of St James'.

Although St James's Palace is closed to the public, you can explore Friary Court on Marlborough Road and attend Sunday services at the Chapel Royal. Charles I took holy communion at the Chapel Royal on the morning of his execution, and Victoria and Albert were married here.

Today St. James's Palace remains a busy working palace. The State Apartments are being used for entertaining during in-coming State Visits, and for other ceremonial and formal occasions. Most of the charities associated with the Royal Family attend official receptions here.

Clarence House, the former London home of the late Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother, is within the St. James's Palace environs and provides a London home for The Prince of Wales and his two sons.

Lancaster House, another building in the Palace complex, is used for government hospitality.

St James's Palace
The Mall, London SW1

Eltham Palace - London

A masterpiece of modern design, Eltham is a marvelous combination of the innovative and the traditional. The building is often overlooked by visitors to London, but is close enough to the centre of town to be worth your excursion.

The boyhood home of Henry VIII, he grew up here and it is famous for that reason.
The kings of the 14th century used to spend Christmas at Eltham and later on the Tudors used it as a base for deer hunting. After the Civil War from 1642- 60, the palace was in ruins for over 200 years and the Great Hall, once the venue for lavish parties, was used as a barn.

In 1934, Stephen Courtauld, a member of the textile family and patron of the arts purchased Eltham Palace. He restored the Great Hall to its former glory and built their adjoining Art Deco home. Filled with lavishly gilded interiors, the latest state of the art, cutting-edge design features, Eltham Palace once again became a much talked about place due to its high society parties.

You will love to discover the only English Art Deco house open to the public, enter the heart of the medieval palace and the magnificent Great Hall. The great Art Deco interior uses geometry, line and contrasts of light and dark to produce a magnificent effect. The light-filled entrance hall has an impressive concrete and glass dome.

Explore the 19 acres of richly planted moated gardens with panoramic views over London and relax with delicious home-baked cakes in the tearoom.
If you would like to stay in the neighborhood try the Premier Travel Inn Docklands, which is modern and located close to Excel East, London's Premier Business Exhibition Centre, and a short distance from attractions like Cutty Sark and The National Maritime Museum.
If the price seems crunchy, the perfect place for you to stay would be St. Christopher’s Greenwich located on 189 Greenwich High Road. You can take a direct train into the city as this friendly hostel is right next to Greenwich station.

Hampton Court - Journey in Time

Going to Hampton Court Palace is like taking a journey back into time. You will discover the magnificent State Apartments of Henry VIII and William III and would love to discover the costly collection of Royal paintings. You will be given free tours and presentations by costumed guides in the State Apartments. You can explore 60 acres of immaculate riverside gardens and lose yourself in the world-famous maze.

Hampton Court Palace is the oldest Tudor palace in England and was where King Henry VIII courted his queens. It has sumptuous interiors which are brought back to life costumed guides.

This Place has a family room where you can rest if you get tired of walking around. It has play equipment to keep kids busy. There is also ample facility for holding corporate and business events.

In winters at the west front of the palace, you can find an ice rink. It is there Dec 2nd, for six weeks each year and this is a nice place for Christmas. If you begin to freeze don’t forget there is an Ice Rink Café near the ice rink that serves warm drinks and snacks. Book yourself ahead of time for this event.

The ticket price includes a daily program of activities and a multilingual sound guide in English, French, German, Italian, Spanish and Japanese. There are also sound guides for the whole family to enjoy.

You can enjoy horse-drawn carriage rides at an extra cost, take the eerie ghost tours or just step into the Tudor kitchen to check out the Tudor cookery. Call the Palace enquiry to find out what all you can do there, when you go there.

Nearest Station: Hampton Court Rail (30 minutes from Waterloo).

Address: East Molesey, KT8 9AU
Telephone: (+44) 0870 752 7777

Clarence House

Clarence House is a royal home in London, situated in The Mall. It is attached to St. James's Palace and shares the palace's garden. For nearly 50 years from 1953 to 2002 it was home to HM Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, but is now the official residence of The Prince of Wales, his second wife, HRH the Duchess of Cornwall and his sons, the princes William and Harry of Wales. You can visit this place between August and October while the Royal family is away on vacation. You must book your tickets in advance.

At the Clarence house guests are guided around the five ground-floor rooms where The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall engage in official activities and socialize with their state guests.

Nothing has been changed since the Queen last lived at this castle. The setting of the rooms, their displays and contents remain the same. Much of the Queen’s rich collection of art and furniture is still in the same position as she has left it while she lived here last. The glamorous interiors use marble, granite and stone.

You will see an outstanding 20th-century painting collection here that includes works of arts by John Piper, Graham Sutherland, WS Sickert and Augustus John. You will find awe aspiring English porcelain and silver on display here.


Visitor details:
Nearest Train or Bus: Green Park / Charing Cross

Ticket Sales and Information Office
London SW1A 1AA

Telephone (+44) (0)20 7766 7303
Fax (+44) (0)20 7930 9625
E-mail bookinginfo@royalcollection.org.uk

Leeds Castle - Lovely 500 Acres

Rated as the loveliest castle in the world, the Leeds Castle is set in 500 acres of lush grounds. You can make an educational trip to this castle that will be filled with learning and fun activity.

This 9th century castle is actually built upon two islands in a lake. Six of England's medieval queens have used it as their official residence apart from Henry VIII who used it as his palace. This the best of Medievel construction you can come across.

William the Conqueror used Anglo-Saxon labourors to construct the Leeds Castle. He replaced the original wooden castle with one of fortified stone in 1119. The castle has access to the River Len. Leeds Castle occupies three islands that are surrounded by a beautiful artificial lake. King Henry VIII converted Leeds Castle into a Royal Palace. He retained these defences due to the risk of invasion from France and Spain.

Leeds Castle has a lot of appeal and attraction for tourists. If you are a dog lover, you would enjoy visiting the unique Museum on the Castle Island that features a collection of a very diverse kind - dog collars that date back to the sixteenth century. All these were actually used by the royal dogs and are part of the royal collection.

The aviary houses over 100 species of endangered birds, and also a duck house where the royal ducks live. The maze in the garden can keep you busy for half an hour or more. At the Culpeper and the Lady Baillie Garden you will find an amazing collection of flowers. You will also find a vineyard and a golf course in the grounds and gardens. You can relax with a cup of tea at the Wykeham Martin Tea Room or get a sandwich and a soft drink from one of the kiosks or if you are feeling really hungry try out the Fairfax Restaurant for a sumptuous meal.



Leeds Castle
Maidstone
Kent, ME17 1PL
Tel +44 (0) 1622 765400

Buckingham Palace

Buckingham Palace is not an art gallery and nor is it a museum, but you will discover the most precious works of art here.

In 1820, the King George IV's hired architect John Nash to convert the Queen's House into a palace of the pied-a-tarre style. John Nash redid the exteriors and used honey-hued Bath Stone in the Neo-classical French design as favored by George III. The landscape showed off a marble arch made of Carrara marble from Italy. Nash's extravagance, later costed him his job in 1829 when project costs exceeded the amount allotted by the British Parliament by £350,000. King George IV died in 1930 and never got to lived in his newly redone palace.

For travellers, the most important place in the Palace seems to be the 19 State Rooms that open to the public only in August and September while the Queen is on vacation. You can visit the rest of the Palace year round. The State Rooms are used for official entertaining. You will enjoy walking through these lush rooms festooned with some of the greatest Victorian style furnishings and rare regal collections like oil paintings by Rembrandt, Rubens and Poussin. You will get to see sculptures by Canova and Chantrey; antique porcelain; and the top class furniture in the world.

See the antique paintings at The Picture Gallery that is a corridor and a link to the State rooms. You would also experience the pomp and splendor of the State Ballroom. This ballroom is one of Queen Victoria additions and is used for state banquets.

If you like horses don’t miss out on The Royal Mews located behind Buckingham Palace. Get to see the regal horses and carriages that are used in coronations and weddings. See the 4 ton Gold State Coach, which is used for coronations and takes 8 Windsor Grey horses to pull. If you go to the west front of the Palace, you will find The Queen's Gallery which is open to the public. The gallery exhibits works owned by the Queen.

Buckingham Palace Gardens are situated at the rear of Buckingham Palace. The gardens occupy a 42 acre (17 hectare) site in the City of Westminster, London. You will love the great 19th-century lake poised by flamingoes, and the Waterloo Vase. If you are lucky you can get to see the Queen's Swans.

Address: Buckingham Palace, SW1A 1AA
Information: 020 7321 2233
Tube: Victoria or Green Park Tube