Museums & Attractions

Built in 1525 by Thomas Wolsey, who presented it to King Henry VIII, the Palace is a mixture of Tudor and English Baroque architecture, set in extensive grounds which include informal, pretty gardens as well as spectacular vistas and the famous maze. Free audio guides are available for the King's Apartments and for the Tudor Kitchens, which are particularly atmospheric, with their great bowls of fresh herbs, dishes laid out ready for the royal household and a vast kitchen fire. A permanent exhibition (located next to the Clock Court) shows how the palace has changed over the past five centuries and another, beside to the East Front Gardens, explores the history of the Hampton Court gardens. A permanent sound installation, 'Trace' at the maze, draws on the idea of mazes as locations for conversation and flirtation. The audio artwork, created by sound artists Greyworld, is made up of 1,000 subtle sounds – a fragment of music, a snatch of laughter, the rustle of a skirt – that are triggered as visitors navigate their way to the centre. Planted in 1690 for William of Orange, the maze is the oldest surviving hedge maze in the world. It usually takes around 20 minutes to solve.