Hamton Court Palace

Hampton Court Palace is most famously known as the preferred residence of Henry VIII, and later William and Mary.  It's a 30-minute train ride from Central London, and aside from being outrageously photogenic, it's one of the few palaces that you can take pictures in.

Approach the main gate with the unicorn, one of the symbols of British Monarchy (perhaps because it, too, is based on fiction?)

 This is the peasant's -- sorry, visitor's -- entrance:

 In the main courtyard, they have concerts during the summer, feautring some pretty big names.  here's the stage:

View of the bleachers for the performance arena:

Clock tower.

 This is the main reception hall.  The decor reflects that Hamton Court was mostly used as a hunting lodge.

This is in a stairwell.  A stairwell!

Gotta paint the ceiling

More stairwell art

Ceiling of a stairwell

Not sure which king this is supposed to be

 Nice courtyard

In this stairwell, the painting runs off the ceiling and down onto the wall

More of that:

Here's the famous 24-hour clock

Nice bed!  I think this was for Queen Mary

 The back entrance...

The gardens.  Unfortunately the weather was heavily overcast

Gardens...

More gardens

Outside the greenhouse where the vine is planted, they keep a section of ground unplanted:

 The Great Vine is the largest grapevine in the world.  It was planted in 1769, and the base is at least 4 feet in diameter.  This is the base:

More of the Great Vine

  Hey, look, gardens!

 Gotta have a fountain

  They really are terribly lovely

 The Maze.  This is a real hedge maze that you can legitimately get lost in.

 I was starting to get a bit nervous before I stumbled upon the exit.

Cost:  £16

Getting there:  Hop on a train from Waterloo station and you're there in half an hour
Kid-friendliness:  Pretty good if they are into the history.  The audio tour is definitely targeted at kids, which means I stopped using it after about five rooms.
Italian Tourist Factor:  Medium risk of Italian tourists.