Hampton Court Flower Show - some advice

So we are setting off in a few minutes, the traffic looks reasonably clear, I'll report back later when I get back.

 

Well, I have had a pretty good day behind a steering wheel today - on of our routes that gets hammered by the flower show was in need of support, so I was one of three additional vehicles that we put out to help out. I don't often get to drive them in service nowadays, so it was a bit of a novelty for me - and a bit of a novelty for the passengers as they don't normally see a double decker on that particular route.

Given the heat and how busy things were, the customers were great - I had quite a few wee chats with them through the day, and a few laughs along the way. Almost certainly going to do the same tomorrow

 

The traffic wasn't too bad this morning, we had a clear run until we got to Hampton Court Bridge then joined the queue for the car park. That was just 10 minutes of slow traffic so nothing to complain about.

If anyone is driving there over the weekend I'd advise getting there early (before 10am) and heading for the Stud Gate Car Park, book in advance to be certain of a place, which is £11 for the day. You are then a very short walk from the entrance, so can easily pop back to your car with any purchases.

Leave it till after 10am and the traffic really builds up. However public transport was great, even after that time, a family member caught a bus from Walton at 11:00am and it only took 10 minutes to get to the show.

 

Once there head straight for the Show Gardens, these are the most popular and much nicer to view before the crowds turn up.