Your tour includes a slide presentation and a guided private view of the small exhibition situated in one of our working Embroidery Studios. Your visit will last for approximately 1.5 hours. You will also have a chance to visit our lovely RSN Shop after your tour should you wish to do so.

We do not issue tickets for our events and you do not need paid entrance to Hampton Court Palace to attend them, but please note that if you also wish to visit HCP itself, tickets must be purchased separately from the Hampton Court Palace (Historic Royal Palaces) website here.

Visiting the RSN at Hampton Court Palace

The Royal School of Needlework is based inside Hampton Court Palace, and all visitor access is managed by HCP Security.

Please meet at Hampton Court Palace Security/Reception at least 15 minutes before your event to collect your named pass. It is essential that you meet at Security even if you have an HCP membership pass. There you will be met by an RSN staff member or volunteer and escorted to our Studio. Please do not be late, but if you are delayed, please inform HCP Reception upon arrival and we will endeavour to collect you as soon as possible, but please note that you may miss the beginning of your talk and tour. You will be escorted back to  Security after your visit if you don’t have a Palace ticket.

Full details of how to travel to the Palace, including a map, can be found further below.

Please note that all RSN events are non-transferrable or refundable.

Additional Places?

If you booked additional places for this tour, please email us at [email protected] with their name(s) and the date/time of your tour at least 1 week before the event. This is to ensure that a named visitor pass to the Palace is ready for them at HCP Security.

Group Talk & Private View

If you have booked a Group Talk & Private View, please adhere to the joining details above and email us at [email protected] with details of your group at least 2 weeks beforehand so that we can ensure everyone in your group has a named visitor pass ready for collection.

Getting to Hampton Court

BY PUBLIC TRANSPORT:

Hampton Court railway station, with services to and from Waterloo including Surbiton, Wimbledon and Clapham Junction, is a five minute walk over Hampton Court Bridge. The journey time from Waterloo is approximately 40 minutes, with trains running every 30 minutes on average.

For buses, the numbers 111 (Heathrow), 216 (Staines) and 411 (West Molesey) all service the Palace en-route to/from Kingston Upon Thames, whilst the R68 runs between Hampton Court station and Kew via Richmond and Twickenham.

BY CAR

Parking is available in the Pay and Display Car Parks at Hampton Court Palace itself (£1.60/hour; enter via the main gate and immediately turn left) and at Hampton Court Railway Station (£6.80/day Mon-Sat; £2/day Sundays) which is opposite the Palace across the bridge. There is also a Pay and Display Car Park (Summer: £6/day; Winter: £1.50/hour) at The Green on the A308 Hampton Court Road (opposite the Esso Garage) which is about five minutes walk from the Palace main gate. A further car park is available in Bushy Park, approximately ten minutes walk from the gate.

Please note that we cannot guarantee you will be able to park in the main Palace car park – if this car park is full you will be directed to park in another car park by the Palace security team at the main gate. Please note that, if in use on busy days, the overflow car park at The Green closes at 18:45.

Accessibility parking: there are 9 disabled parking bays available on site in the main Car Park. Parking on site is free for Blue Badge holders.

Motorcycles can park in the designated M/C spaces in the main HCP car park. Standard parking rates apply. Free bicycle racks are located to the left of the palace entrance (near Reception) and in the Car Park (next to the Rose Garden).

ULEZ — Hampton Court Palace and its car parks lie within the expanded London Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) boundary. However, the entrances to both the Palace main car park and also The Green car park are outside both zones and the private roads and car parks within the grounds are not subject to any charges. The exit of the Palace main car park onto Hampton Court Road emerges into the last few metres of the charging zone but drivers turning immediately left out of the car park and proceeding to the roundabout will not be seen by the enforcement camera located further north along the road (i,e. towards Kingston) and so will not be charged if driving a non-compliant vehicle and provided they do NOT re-enter the zone. Vehicles arriving or leaving to the south via Hampton Court Bridge (A309) or those arriving or leaving via (and staying ONLY on) the A308 Hampton Court Road (i.e. from the direction of M3/J1) will be outside of the zone. Any vehicles arriving from, or leaving towards, Kingston upon Thames WILL enter the ULEZ zone, as will any vehicle using any roads which lie to the north of the A308. Non-compliant vehicles travelling on the A308 between the Palace and M3/J1 should STAY on the A308 to avoid entering the zone. For more details please visit the TFL website.

On arrival at Hampton Court

Download travel details in PDF format

IMPORTANT: Please arrive at HCP Security/Reception no later than 15 minutes before your scheduled event in order to receive your named visitor pass and be escorted through Palace security.

Please enter Hampton Court Palace via the main gate (Trophy Gate). This is the large gate closest to Hampton Court Bridge. Access is currently not available via other gates.

Proceed to the Security Office in Tennis Court Lane. If on foot, from Trophy Gate, walk down the drive towards the main Palace building and then go left around the (north) side of the building until you see the vehicle security barrier. The entrances to HCP Reception and the Security Office are next to the barrier. If parking in the main on-site car-park, walk to the far end of the lower car park (from the car park entrance), under the arch and then turn left to find the vehicle security barrier and the Security Office.

Please wait outside the Security Office. A member of the RSN staff will meet you outside the Security Office fifteen minutes before the scheduled event time to escort you to the event. Please note that latecomers may not be able to promptly gain access, so please be on time.

Once the event is over, you will be escorted back to the Security Office.

Accessibility

Hampton Court Palace dates back to the 14th Century.  The palace is very old and the walk to our areas may have uneven surfaces, for example cobbles, worn steps, uneven steps and slopes. Please choose footwear that is comfortable and appropriate for the conditions. Some surfaces may be slippery, particularly if they are wet from rain.

RSN Tours and Talks events are typically held in our ground-floor studios which have level access via the RSN Shop. In some circumstances, events may be held in other areas of the RSN. Lift access is available from Fountain Court to the RSN teaching apartments (which are on the third floor) but access is prioritised for those with mobility issues.

Please contact us if you have any specific access or other requirements so we can ensure we can accommodate your needs.

Facilities

Toilet facilities are available in Fountain Court, which is directly adjacent to the RSN Shop and RSN Embroidery Studio.

RSN Shop

The RSN shop is located on the ground floor next to the East Front Gate and will be open. We do have a ‘click and collect’ pickup service option if you wish to order anything from the shop in advance and pick it up when you attend for your class. This option is available at the Online Shop checkout. Please note that five working days notice must be given to use the shop pickup service.