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Hampton Court Palace is not the most attractive building as it had been renovated several times by various monarchs. It was originally built for Cardinal Wolsey in 1514, and then he gave it to Henry VIII. It was one of 60 palaces and houses owned by Henry. In William and Mary's time (1690s) the gardens were created, and these are quite beautiful. We saw the Great Vine planted in 1768 which still produces black grapes for sale, the Pond Gardens with small fountains and beautiful flowers, the Maze, which I failed miserably in finding the centre but at least found the exit, the Fountain Garden out the back with beautifully clipped trees.

Some of the staff were dressed in period costume wandering in the courtyard and later they played music and danced in the Great Hall. The Chapel Royal was exquisite with a carved and gilded vaulted ceiling, the staircases had painted ceilings by Italian artists and the Tudor Chimneys were very ornate. Although there are lots of huge paintings and tapestries in most rooms, we actually enjoyed walking through the gardens more than the interior of the Palace. We had lunch at the Palace's Tiltyard Tea Garden café which was good fresh food for a reasonable price. We finally left the Palace and the Gardens at 5.30pm after seeing everything.

On Monday we decided to visit the Tower of London . On entry, we joined a free tour with a Yeoman Warder (Beefeater) which was informative and funny but very disappointed when at the conclusion he expected a tip. The Yeoman are retired Army Regimental Sergeant Majors Officers who live in the grounds and are paid very well ? so no tip! He took us into the Chapel where Anne Boleyn and Jane are buried under the altar.

We also saw the Crown Jewels in the Jewel House and went to every other part of the Tower. We had lunch in the café there which cost us £10 ($A25) for 2 sandwiches and 2 drinks ? a bit expensive. We saw the private execution block where the Queens were beheaded and visited the rooms occupied by Sir Walter Raleigh who was imprisoned for 13 years before being executed. The White Tower was started in 1078 and that still stands ? other parts were added by later monarchs. After making sure we had seen everything we left via the lower gate and walked into the St Katherine's Dock area ? this is a new area with a very nice marina and modern apartment blocks.

Decided on Tuesday morning to visit the Victoria and Albert Museum . We spent several hours going through all the levels. In the British Galleries dating from 1500-1900 there was a writing desk from Henry VIII. The Museum has a 7 mile (11 kilometres) labyrinth layout over 6 levels. It has rooms of houses reconstructed with all furnishings and painted ceilings and artworks etc. It is truly a magnificent museum with exhibits from all over the world. Furniture from Chippendale as well as costumes and household objects illustrating the tastes and lifestyles of Britains ruling classes. Again you could spend days exploring each section of this fascinating Museum.

As the weather was cooler on Wednesday we decided to go to Kew Gardens . We used our Guide book to discover a beautiful walk from Richmond Station along the Thames tow path to Kew Gardens . It was a beautiful day for a 5 kilometre walk along the heavily wooded pathway with another narrow canal on the other side within the Old Deer Park. Richmond has beautiful townhouses within the Old Palace Grounds with the old Gatehouse still standing. A very expensive area but under the flight path to Heathrow! King Henry lived here and his daughter Elizabeth 1 died here. It was low tide and lots of the boats rested on the muddy bottom. Across the river from Kew Gardens is Syon House, seat of the Dukes of Northumberland since 1594 ? very impressive. We decided to walk over the Kew Bridge and walk beside the river onto Strand-on-the Green. Had a nice lunch at Bells & Crown Pub in a very attractive outside area full of hanging baskets overlooking the river. We then walked back to Kew Gardens with the intention of going in but as the entry was £7.50 each and it was already 3 pm we decided we couldn't do the Gardens in that time, so will come back another day to see the Gardens. We walked back to Kew Gardens Train Station with its very nice shops in the surrounding streets. It took 30 minutes on the train back to Westminster where we changed for our tube home.

Thursday ? We arrived at Waterloo Station to change for Windsor and Eton . Departed 10 am and arrived at Windsor Riverside after 50 minutes. We walked around to Windsor Castle and bought our entry tickets and walked straight in through the St George's Gate. On entry you first go through the Exhibition Centre explaining the Castle's history. It is 900 years old and 40 monarchs have lived there. In Queen Victoria's reign it became the principal palace of the British monarchy, as well as that of nearly the whole of royal Europe, many members of which were related to the Queen. Queen Victoria's husband Prince Albert also died here in 1861. The present Queen only resides here twice a year, in April and June.

For the most part of the twentieth century the castle survived as it was in the nineteenth century even surviving various bombing raids during WWII. But in November 1992 a serious fire broke out in Queen Victoria's private chapel. It took some years for those areas to be faithfully restored and the areas completely destroyed were rebuilt to new designs but still in keeping with the a modern Gothic style. We first made our way to the Queen Mary's Dolls House as there is usually a long queue for this later in the day. The Dolls House was given to Queen Mary in 1924 by a famous architect Sir Edwin Lutyens and the scale is one to twelve.. The furniture and other contents were made by leading manufacturers of the day while the garden was designed by Gertrude Jekyll. The paintings were commissioned from well known artists and the books on the shelves of the dolls' house library are all by prominent authors, some written in their own hand.

In the adjoining room are the 2 French dolls, France and Marianne, made for the Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret in 1934 complete with their remarkable trousseaux of miniature clothes and accessories designed by the top designers in France. We then went through the State Apartments with beautiful furniture and artworks and painted ceilings. Again there are beautiful grounds and gardens. Also visited the St George's Chapel where Henry VIII, Queen Jane Seymour, Charles 1, George VI and the Queen Mother and Princess Margaret are interred. After our visit to the Castle went down the road to a pub called The Highlander for lunch and afterwards walked through the village and down the Long Walk ? so named because it is a park with a very long path straight through the middle which goes for miles.

We walked back through Windsor and over the bridge to Eton to see Eton College. All the pubs in both villages seem to try and outdo each other with the number of hanging baskets full of petunias. Both Windsor and Eton are very attractive villages with interesting shops and well worth a full day's visit on their own. So perhaps an overnight stay here would have been a good idea.