Kensington Palace Tour | All Inclusive Luxury Coach Breaks

Itinerary

This 2-day trip maximises the time we will spend at both Kensington Palace and RHS Garden Wisley. There is so much to see at each destination and when we are done you can sit back, relax and enjoy a smooth coach journey home on Monday afternoon.

Day 1, Crown To Couture Fashion Exhibition, Kensington Palace

Also includes entry into Victoria: A Royal Childhood Exhibition and The Jewel Room which displays of an incredible suite of jewellery; The King’s State Apartments, The Queen’s State Apartments, and Kensington Gardens.

Crown To Couture Fashion Exhibition

A must-see exhibition displaying beautiful historic costume displayed alongside dazzling contemporary couture dress worn by celebrities. Explore the glittering world of the Georgian court, head-to-head with the high glamour of the modern-day red carpet.

The exhibition shows contemporary couture worn by high profile celebrities displayed alongside historic costume drawing fascinating parallels between the world of the red carpet and the world of the royal court in the 18th century.

The extravagant outfits worn at Kensington Palace in the Georgian period were observed by hundreds of spectators and reported in the press, just as the flamboyant red-carpet style of celebrities is commented on today. Historic items will include the Rockingham Mantua, one of several objects from Historic Royal Palaces’ Royal Ceremonial Dress Collection.

There’s an exclusive chance to celebrity spectacular attire including Lizzo’s spectacular Thom Browne dress from the 2022 Met Gala, the Monique Lhuillier gown worn by Phoebe Waller-Bridge at the Emmys in 2019, and Billy Porter’s spectacular ‘Sun God’ outfit by The Blonds for the Met Gala 2019.

Victoria: A Royal Childhood

To celebrate the 200th anniversary of Victoria’s birth, this permanent exhibition explores how an indulged young princess blossomed into the independent and iconic monarch we remember.

Explore the birthplace of Queen Victoria and home to young royals for over 300 years. Walk in the footsteps of royalty in Victoria’s re-imagined childhood rooms. Discover the story of Princess Victoria, the young girl destined to be queen, in the rooms where she was born and raised at Kensington Palace. The display includes remarkable objects relating to Victoria’s early years – including a poignant scrapbook of mementos created by her German governess, Baroness Lehzen, which goes on public display for the first time, and Victoria’s doll house.

In The Jewel Room see displays of an incredible suite of jewellery including specially commissioned gems for Queen Victoria, by her beloved husband Albert.

The King’s State Apartments and The Queen’s State Apartments

Discover the intriguing and unexpected characters depicted on the The King’s Staircase, the grand entrance to the King’s State Apartments. The walls of the staircase depict a lively 18th-century court full of intriguing and unexpected characters.

Wander through the lavish rooms of the King’s State Apartments, each one grander than the last, including The Presence Chamber, where the monarch received courtiers, ministers and foreign ambassadors and The Privy Chamber, one of Queen Caroline’s favourite entertaining spaces. See the magnificent ceiling painted by William Kent in 1723, as well as some impressive tapestries made in the Mortlake Tapestry workshop founded by King Charles I. The Cupola Room is the most splendidly decorated room in the palace. Courtiers would have come to the King’s Drawing Room in search of power and patronage. It is the climax of the whole suite of rooms.

Explore the beautiful private rooms of The Queen’s State Apartments, where Mary II once took her meals, relaxed and entertained. Little changed since its construction in 1690, The Queen’s Staircase is deliberately plainer than The King’s Staircase. Queen Mary would have glided down its steps to reach her beloved gardens, created in the Dutch style, through the door at its foot.

Built in 1693, The Queen’s Gallery was designed as a light and airy space for Mary to enjoy simple pastimes such as walking, reading and needlework. The Queen’s Dining Room has beautiful panelling from the 17th century. It was a space where Mary and William could dine together, out of the public eye. They enjoyed dining modestly, on fish and beer. Queen Mary was passionate about porcelain and filled the next room, her Drawing Room, with pieces from China and Japan.

Kensington Palace Gardens

Walk in the footsteps of royalty in the beautiful Kensington Palace Gardens. For over 100 years, the gardens were part of Hyde Park and hosted Henry VIIi’s huge deer chase. When William III and Mary II established the palace in 1689, they began to create a separate park. Mary commissioned a palace garden of formal flower beds and box hedges in the Dutch style to make William, who came from Holland, feel at home.

See The Sunken Garden with the statue of Diana, Princess of Wales with its arched arbour of red-twigged lime which surrounds the Sunken Garden with arched viewpoints equally spaced along the sides. In the summer, this shady tunnel provides the perfect place to view the bright colours in the Sunken Garden to the north or the re-landscaped gardens to the south.

The wildflower meadow to the south -east of the palace includes poppies, campion, daisies, and many other native wild flowers, which bloom in the summer months. The effect is a lovely natural approach to the palace from the south.

Day 2, RHS Garden, Wisley

Enjoy a leisurely breakfast before we make the short journey to RHS Garden Wisley, arriving at 10.00 allowing plenty of time to explore one of the great gardens of the world.

From its beginnings, Wisley has been about plantsmanship and experimentation, and it continues in that spirit today. In summer 2021 it opened RHS Hilltop – a state-of-the-art science building surrounded by three spectacular new gardens that embrace the latest ideas in horticulture, as well as opening our new Trials Garden.

As the home of RHS Science for over a century, the Old Laboratory was instrumental in Wisley’s mission to conduct practical scientific research into ornamental horticulture and provide training for student gardeners. The beautiful Grade II-listed Old Laboratory building is a familiar landmark at Wisley – the symbolic core of the Wisley landscape. From Spring 2023, for the very first time, visitors are able to see inside and explore the Old Laboratory.

Venture through a series of rooms, each one exploring a distinct theme and time period in Wisley’s fascinating history. Through vintage artefacts, images from the RHS Lindley Library and stories from the people who worked here, the evocative displays highlight how learning, teaching and experimentation at Wisley helped shape gardens and gardening over the years – from Edwardian formality to today’s focus on the environment and wellbeing.

Before its revival, the Old Laboratory was crammed with old furniture and equipment, much of it hidden in cupboards, storerooms and attics. Staff from the Libraries team undertook the long task of cleaning, conserving and documenting this material, and also scoured the RHS archives to research the people who worked and studied in the Old Laboratory. From here you can see the beautiful Jellicoe Canal, which houses the second largest collection of water lily cultivars.

The Mixed Borders are probably the most iconic and celebrated area of the garden. Originally designed by celebrated horticulturist Graham Stuart Thomas, the borders are 128m long and 6m wide and backed by hornbeam hedges. The borders break with traditional formal English borders by being only partially symmetrica, evolving and changing each season. The general colour theme starts cool at the Top Terrace end, gets hotter towards the middle and then returns to a more pastel palette on the approach to Battleston Hill.

Battleston Hill was originally covered in Scots pines but 80% of these were lost in the storm of 1987. With a clean slate to work from, then-Curator Jim Gardiner decided to turn the area into a showcase for rhododendrons, camellias, magnolias and hydrangeas. This means this area has a stunning array of spring colour.

One of the more recent additions to Wisley, the Bowes-Lyon Rose Garden contains a contemporary mixture of 4,000 roses with 5,000 shrubs and herbaceous perennials. Planting is mixed and laid out in ‘drifts’ which has led to healthier plants and a reduction in spraying.

The RHS cherishes the Rock Garden as one of Wisley’s oldest, and most magnificent, features. Meander along the pathways and bridges to explore the different levels of beautiful planting schemes and rock pools.

Be sure not to miss the Glasshouse and its surrounds: the Glasshouse landscape and the Glasshouse borders. Built to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the RHS and was opened in 2007 by Her Majesty the Queen. At 12m high, and covering an area equal in size to 10 tennis courts, the Glasshouse cost £7.7 million, mostly funded by private donors.

This tour is accompanied by sisters Jacky and Sue Burnell who will take care of everything so that you can relax and enjoy yourself.

Included in the cost is:

1 night’s dinner, B & B at the Sheraton Hotel Heathrow.
Return coach travel with Lakeside Coaches with pickups from Ellesmere, Shrewsbury and Telford Services.
Transport to all destinations during the tour.
Admission to Kensington Palace Crown To Couture Fashion Exhibition and access to all public areas of the palace and gardens including Victoria: A Royal Childhood exhibition and state apartments.
Admission into RHS Wisley, optional Guided Garden Tour and entry into The Old Laboratory.
Gratuity for the hotel staff.

A double room for sole occupancy is £350

Two people sharing a twin or double room is £315 per person.

RHS Members save £13 per person which is deducted on booking.

£50 non-refundable deposit is payable on booking. Full payment is due 10 weeks before departure.

Travel arrangements

Full details will be confirmed 7 days before travel.

Sunday 06 August

Departing Shrewsbury 08.30, with comfort break en-route

Arrive Kensington Palace 12.30 and depart for hotel 17.00 arriving 18.00.

Monday 07 August

Departing Hotel 09.15 and arrive RHS Wisley 10.00

Guided Garden Tour 10.30 and arrangement for entry into The Old Laboratory will be confirmed nearer the time.

Depart RHS Wisley 15.00 and arrive Shrewsbury 19.00 with comfort break en-route.

And finally…

Please look at the Mobility & Accessibility section further down this page where we have put links to the gardens that provide details on getting around.

You are strongly advised to take out your own travel insurance to cover you for any emergency or cancellation or loss of luggage etc.

Accessibility and Mobility Information

Both organisations have comprehensive statements on accessibility and mobility arrangements.

See information for Kensington Palace at the link below:

https://www.hrp.org.uk/kensington-palace/visit/accessibility/

See information for RHS Garden Wisley and the Old Laboratory at the link below:

https://www.rhs.org.uk/gardens/wisley/plan-your-visit/accessibility-at-wisley

Kensington Palace with Crown to Couture Exhibition & RHS Garden Wisley

Tour Information

Kensington Palace with Crown To Couture Exhibition – The Fashion Exhibition Of The Centuries

RHS Garden Wisley, the flagship garden of the Royal Horticultural Society and one of the great gardens of the world

Departing Shrewsbury 08.15 Sunday 06 August