Hampton Court Palace

The maze alone will do your head in - and that's before you've even stepped inside the palace itself. Hampton Court is Henry VIII's Tudor masterpiece sprawled across 60 acres of gardens on the Thames, about twenty minutes from Walton-on-Thames, and it demands at least half a day of your time if you're going to do it properly.

You can wander the State Rooms where actual kings and queens held court, climb the kitchens (genuinely fascinating - they fed hundreds daily), and lose yourself quite literally in that famous hedge maze. The gardens are proper lovely, especially the Privy Garden if you time it right. It's the sort of place where history doesn't feel stuffy - you're walking through actual rooms where real drama unfolded, not just reading about it on a plaque.

Historically minded adults will spend hours here. Families with younger kids should plan for the maze, the gardens, and perhaps one or two rooms before the feet start complaining. Teenagers? Hit or miss - depends if they're into the gory Henry VIII stuff or not.

Admission isn't cheap, but it's free to explore the gardens if you just want a riverside walk and a nosy at the exterior. If you're staying at Walton on Thames Camping and Caravanning Club Site or Chessington World of Adventures Resort nearby, Hampton Court makes for a cracking day out that breaks up the park routine. Go midweek in shoulder season if you can - weekends and school holidays turn it into a rugby scrum.