Strawberry Hill

Richmond, Kew & Hampton Court

LoginSave

With its snow-white walls and Gothic turrets, this fantastical and totally restored 18th-century creation in Twickenham is the work of art historian, author and politician Horace Walpole. Studded with elaborate stained glass, the building reaches its astonishing apogee in the gallery, with its magnificent papier-mâché ceiling. For the full magic, join a twilight tour (£25). Last admission to the house is one hour before closing time.

For homemade cakes, quiche and afternoon tea (from £5), pop into the Cloister Garden Cafe (open 9.30am to 4pm Sunday to Wednesday) and don't overlook exploring the garden. The house is a five- to 10-minute walk from Strawberry Hill train station; otherwise take bus R68 from Richmond tube station.

Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

  • The Long Walk, the pathway leading to Windsor Castle is 2 1/2 miles long.

    Windsor Castle

    12.1 MILES

    The world’s largest and oldest continuously occupied fortress, Windsor Castle is a majestic vision of battlements and towers. Used for state occasions, it…

  • Westminster Abbey.

    Westminster Abbey

    9.88 MILES

    A splendid mixture of architectural styles, Westminster Abbey is considered the finest example of Early English Gothic. It's not merely a beautiful place…

  • Tate Modern museum on the southern bank of the River Thames.

    Tate Modern

    11.2 MILES

    One of London's most amazing attractions, Tate Modern is an outstanding modern- and contemporary-art gallery housed in the creatively revamped Bankside…

  • London Natural History Museum

    Natural History Museum

    7.88 MILES

    With its thunderous, animatronic dinosaur, riveting displays about planet earth, outstanding Darwin Centre and architecture straight from a Gothic fairy…

  • St. pauls cathedral with red double decker bus in London, United Kingdom

    St Paul's Cathedral

    11.43 MILES

    Sir Christopher Wren’s 300-year-old architectural masterpiece is a London icon. Towering over diminutive Ludgate Hill in a superb position that's been a…

  • The Tower of London

    Tower of London

    12.13 MILES

    Few parts of the UK are as steeped in history or as impregnated with legend and superstition as the titanic stonework of the Tower of London. Not only is…

  • Dusk view of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre on the banks of the River Thames in London

    Shakespeare's Globe

    11.31 MILES

    Seeing a play at Shakespeare's Globe – ideally standing under the open-air "wooden O" – is experiencing the playwright's work at its best and most…

  • Great Court, British Museum, Bloomsbury, London, England, United Kingdom, Europe

    British Museum

    10.54 MILES

    With almost six million visitors trooping through its doors annually, the British Museum in Bloomsbury, one of the oldest and finest museums in the world,…

View more attractions

Nearby Richmond, Kew & Hampton Court attractions

1. Ham House

0.88 MILES

Known as ‘Hampton Court in miniature’, much haunted red-brick Ham House was built in 1610 and became home to the first Earl of Dysart, unluckily employed…

2. Marble Hill House

1.19 MILES

An 18th-century Palladian peach conceived as an idyllic escape from the hurly-burly of city life, this majestic love nest was originally built for George…

3. World Rugby Museum

1.2 MILES

This museum at Twickenham Stadium boasts 41,000 items of rugby memorabilia, the most extensive collection in the world. Interactive exhibitions and events…

4. Bushy Park

1.52 MILES

Hampton Court Palace presses up against 445-hectare Bushy Park, a semiwild expanse with herds of red and fallow deer.

5. Petersham Meadows

1.62 MILES

Once part of the Ham House estate, pastoral Petersham Meadows – where cows still graze – is a perfectly bucolic slice of rural England, especially if you…

6. Pembroke Lodge

1.73 MILES

Set in a beautiful 13-hectare garden and affording great views of the city from the back terrace, Pembroke Lodge was the childhood home of Bertrand…

7. Richmond Bridge

1.75 MILES

This five-span bridge, built in 1777, is London’s oldest surviving crossing and was only widened for traffic in 1937. According to the Richmond Bridge Act…

8. Richmond Lock

1.8 MILES

Dating from 1894, 250ft long Richmond Lock and footbridge is open during the day to pedestrians.