London Itinerary 5: Greenwich in London

Visiting Greenwich is a brilliant option if you are planning a trip to London. Greenwich is located within London’s travel zones, therefore it is very easy to get to, and there are some fantastic attractions to see in the area. Some of the attractions include the famous Cutty Sark and obviously, the Royal Observatory.

Estimated time and distance

Time needed: You can easily spend 2 – 3 hours visiting Greenwich, but it’s such a lovely area that I would recommend you aim to spend a good few hours here. There are quite a few attractions to see, such as the Cutty Sark or the Royal Observatory, and even though it doesn’t take long to visit these I would take them into account when planning how long it can take you to see Greenwich.

Distance: The approximate total distance of this route is approximately 1.2 miles.

When to go

Any day of the week is a good day to visit Greenwich. Greenwich market is open 7 days a week, including Bank Holidays (except Christmas Day) from 10 am to 5 pm.

Attractions

• River cruise from Westminster to Greenwich
• Greenwich Market (free entry)
• Cutty Sark
• Painted Hall (free entry)
• Old Royal Naval College (free entry)
• Queen’s House (free entry)
• National Maritime Museum (free entry)
• Royal Observatory

Route details

For the starting point we have two options:

• Greenwich Pier (zone 2/3): You will arrive at Greenwich Pier if you travel to Greenwich by river. Getting to Greenwich from Westminster by a river cruise is how we would really recommend getting to Greenwich, as it will definitely add to your day. You can get a free river cruise from Westminster to Greenwich if you buy a two day ticket for the sightseeing bus tour in London or you can buy a ticket for a river cruise to Greenwich. Other options include buying a combined ticket for the river cruise + Cutty Sark or river cruise + River Cruise + entry to Royal Observatory.
• Cutty Sark DLR station (zone 2/3): If you would rather travel to Greenwich by underground, then we recommend that you go to Cutty Sark DLR (docklands light railway) Station.

From any of these starting points, we would recommend that you first visit Greenwich Market and the famous Cutty Sark. Greenwich market is open 7 days a week from 10 am to 5 pm. Then from here, we have designed a route that will take you to Greenwich’s free entry attractions, like the Old Royal Naval College, the Painted Hall, the National Maritime Museum and the Queen’s House. They are only small attractions which shouldn’t take long to see at all.

Then you will get to Greenwich Park. In order to get the most out of your visit to Greenwich, we highly recommend that you walk up the hill to get to the top of Greenwich Park. This is where you will get breathtaking views of London’s skyline, and this is also where the Royal Observatory and the Planetarium are, where you will be able to take a photo of yourself standing at the Prime Meridian!