Kensington Palace

This was nice to see. It is convenient and added another dimension to a vacation that would have been all aircraft museums, egyptian artifacts and knights in armor. This rounded out the trip for us. If you are interested in Lady Diana and antique clothing worn by the upper classes you will really enjoy this exhibit. Not my thing but could be great for someone with the right interests.

This was a huge diappointment after seeing Hampton Court and the Tower.

The first exhibit is all about Diana. The second is Princess Margaret's rooms which she had renovated - so there is nothing historic to see.

The State Rooms were the only thing I found interesting. These rooms were kept in the period and to see the rooms that Princess Victoria lived in until she became Queen was interesting. All of her furniture is still there.

If you have the London Pass - then you might as well go, otherwise - it isn't worth the money. You can do all of Kensington pretty quickly. The only plus is that you have to go through Hyde Park which is amazing.

Tickets to Kensington Palace are shockingly expensive, but the tour started off well enough, with several rooms with large glass cases with wax figures getting prepared for a Royal event. After the first three rooms or so, though, it turned into "filler" material- Interesting and vaguely amusing exhibition, but not worth the price of the ticket. Things pick up when you go back upstairs into the Palace, but in all honesty, if you're planning to go to Windsor, skip this. The rooms are lovely, but many are unfurnished, and even the audio tour kind of peters out, like it really doesn't have much more to say. DO stop a moment and look at the staggeringly beautiful (and probably staggeringly heavy!) silver court gown at the end of the tour.

The actual highlight of Kensington Palace is it's Orangerie restaurant. You do not need a ticket to the Palace to go to the restaurant. This lovely building is just nice to sit in, even on a rainy day, with it's airy ceiling and large windows. The food was fantastic, especially the chicken pot pie, which is more a thick, rich soup with flaky chips of pastry on top. Prices weren't cafe cheap, but they were reasonable (no more than an inexpensive restaurant) and the food was superior. The Orangerie is also supposed to be known for it's tea selection. We are casual tea drinkers, but went with the waitresses recommendation, and it was the best tea we had in England.