Being a Greenwich girl born and bred, I’m still never bored with what it has to offer. From a day out in Greenwich Park to an evening sipping drinks whilst listening to Jazz, it’s a beautiful place! The name goes back to Saxon times and was called “Grenowic” in 918. The history goes back even further to the Bronze Age. The Thames has seen Greenwich evolve from a fishing town, to the site of armies and English Royalty being born. It is now a bustling home to University students and locals alike.
I decided to make a list of some popular things to explore in Greenwich which I have done myself. Even being a local it’s fun to do the tourist things. It adds another level when you learn about your local area and the history of it. So, I’ve added a very small amount of history to this post too – there’s way too much to fit it all in!
There’s so much to do, from exploring to dinner and drinks, it’s difficult to fit it into one post. I’ll just cover the exploring side for now, and try to keep it short! An afternoon used to explore Greenwich is one not to be missed.
Cutty Sark
This British Clipper ship was launched in 1869 and has been all around the world; from transporting tea from China, to trading wool in Australia, to training cadets in England. The beautiful ship arrived at her final docking place in Greenwich in 1954 where it is now a museum. It is docked right next to the River Thames, nestled in between the foot tunnel and Gypsy Moth pub. As you walk through Greenwich you can see her masts peering above the buildings, half-hidden. Round the corner and she suddenly comes into full view in all her glory.
It’s now an interactive museum and you can walk through the ship and up onto the deck. Experience what the ship was all about when it traded tea.
The hull never used to be lifted and encased in glass – it used to just sit in a dock but in 2007 there was a large fire and it had to be rebuilt. Thankfully it happened during a renovation and a lot of the original materials were off-site. A lot of it was able to be saved and salvaged. For a long while, I remember walking by the burnt hull. Now you can walk underneath the hull and see even more of the ship. They even do afternoon tea and have concerts underneath the hull!
See the website here.
National Maritime museum
Another museum – I can’t get enough of them. This one is free to visit, with some extra exhibitions that you have to pay for. It’s located at the bottom of Greenwich Park right next to the Queen’s House, and was created in 1937. It’s a great way to explore different ships and nautical stories with a great play area for kids too. I enjoyed the massive world map painted on the floor to run around on.
Outside the back of the Museum, there’s a unique piece of artwork – “Nelson’s ship in a bottle” by Yinka Shonibare. It’s a detailed scaled-down replica of Nelson’s HMS Victory, complete with cannons and sails. A perfect place for a selfie!
Check out the museum’s website here.
Greenwich Park
I could go on about Greenwich Park all day – there’s so much to see and do in there! It’s where the Royal Observatory, Planetarium, Queen’s House, and National Maritime Museum are situated. There are lots of little gems hidden inside too, if you know where to look. If you’re going to explore Greenwich, you can’t miss this one out.
Spend an afternoon relaxing in the sun with a picnic. Or go for a walk through the park where you can imagine yourself strolling through the grounds in Victorian times. It’s possible to even go as far back as Roman times if you like.
Among other things, you may stumble across the Ranger’s House, and next to it Queen Caroline’s bath carved into the stone floor; a spring-fed drinking fountain; a boating lake; The Wilderness, a deer park in which the deer were introduced in 1515 by Henry VIII as the park was originally a hunting park; the flower garden; The public standards of length are outside the Royal Observatory. It’s a brass placard first placed in 1866 to measure their measuring sticks against the yard, foot, and inch; above it is the Shephard 24-hour slave clock. The park was also an Anglo-Saxon burial ground dating back to the 6th Century. Vanburgh Castle sits just outside at the top of Maze Hill.
I could probably make a whole separate post about Greenwich Park so I’ll just keep it short!
Queen's house
Yes, there’s another Queen’s house! This one was built for King James I’s wife, Anne of Denmark, in 1616 but wasn’t completed until 1636. It was a part of the Palace of Placentia, and it’s also been a Royal Hospital for Seamen, home for the park ranger, and became part of the Royal Naval College. It’s got quite the history! Since 1937 it has been a museum which transports you back in time to see a royal house and some beautiful artwork adorning every room.
It is also home to the Tulip Stairs, the first self-supporting spiral stair in Britain, and said to be haunted by ghosts. When I visited recently I snapped a picture from the top looking down and when I uploaded it to Facebook later that day it tried to facial-recognise a strange patch on the picture… it may have freaked me out a little!
Visit the website here.
Old Royal Naval College
It was originally the Palace of Placentia where Henry VIII, Mary I, and Elizabeth I were born and is now Greenwich University and Trinity College of Music. It sits on the banks of the River Thames and is open for the public to walk through. This site has a lot of history and is beautiful inside and out – the painted hall and the chapel are well worth a see and you will often see the University students making use of the quiet space. The buildings have also been home to the set of many films and TV shows like The Avengers, Pirates of the Caribbean, Les Miserables , and dozens more. You do feel like you’re walking through a movie set!
Check out the website here.
Greenwich foot tunnel
Connecting Greenwich to Millwall, you can descend the steps of the foot tunnel or take the lift, and cross underneath the river Thames. It was opened in 1902 and not much has changed since. The domed roof can be seen from the other side of the water and if you cross under to Millwall you get a great view of the University with the Queen’s House nestled in between. There is a lovely small park here too with benches to spend some time.
The Fan Museum
When I first walked past the Fan Museum I had to do a double-take – what an odd and unique thing! Located at the bottom of Croombs Hill alongside Greenwich Park, it is the first museum in the world dedicated to hand fans with over 4,000 of them exhibited here. It also has an orangery and you can have afternoon tea there. A rather fancy little afternoon if you ask me!
Take a look here.
Peter Harrison Planetarium
Here you can be transported out of this world to explore galaxies, stars, and planets, all from a very comfortable chair. It’s right next to the Royal Observatory. I remember going here as a kid and being blown away, and it still impresses me now. You can even take astronomy courses here!
Check it out here.
Thames Barrier
Operational since 1982, the Thames Barrier cost £500 million to build and is located in Charlton, a short journey from Greenwich town centre. It opens and closes when needed to prevent London flooding from the North Sea, and since opening has 193 closures to stop that flooding. There is an information centre there with an exhibition and a working scale model. It’s an important and interesting part of London!
Find out more here.
Thames path
Now, if you were going to do the whole Thames Path walk it would take you 14 days, as it is 184 miles long… So I suggest doing it in stages! Part of that walk goes through Greenwich and round the 02 to the Thames Barrier. You will walk past the foot tunnel, Cutty Sark, and Greenwich University, and still be able to see Greenwich Park with the Queen’s House and the Royal Observatory perched atop the hill. In front of the university is particularly pleasant as the pathway is directly next to the Thames, and as you wander along the cobblestone pathway you pass some lovely pubs for a pit-stop or two (like the Trafalgar Tavern and Cutty Sark pub, to name a couple).
It does detour through the streets for a little section but you soon enough come back to the river and walking around the 02 is an awesome sight.
You can find out more information here.
"Monument for a dead parrot"
I always wondered why there was a little statue of a dead parrot on a plinth in a garden next to the Maritime Museum. Turns out it’s a sculpture by Jon Reardon of a cockatoo lying on it’s back, it’s yellow plume and white belly clear to see. It’s inspired by the Month Python “dead parrot” sketch, hence the sculpture’s name.
You can see it through the railings at the junction of King William Walk and Romney Road, just behind the iconic London red phonebox. For a closer look, you can enter the garden through the National Maritime Museum.
Clocktower market
This smaller market right next to the Greenwich Picturehouse is open at weekends and is smaller than the main market but still full of quirky and vintage stalls, and well worth checking out. You never know what you might find!
St Alfege church
Located on the one-way system the church has been a site of note since 1012, when Alfege, the Archbishop of Canterbury, was killed there by Danish raiders. A church was built in his honour which saw Henry VIII baptised in 1491. It unfortunately collapsed during a storm in 1710 and was not fully rebuilt until 1718. There is 1,000 year’s worth of history here, it’s incredible. You can also still get married there (like my parents did).
See more here.
Greenwich market
The market is steeped in just as much history as the rest of the area. It started off in 1737 at the west gate of what is now Greenwich University and began to grow out of control as there wasn’t much to regulate the stalls. In a bid to bring it up to standard it was moved to its current location. The market gradually changed from selling essentials like meat, bread and eggs, to adding more craft stalls.
If you go there now you will find a wide range of stalls, from old trinkets to gadgets, to food from around the world. The market is lined with shops full of art, and even an old-fashioned sweet shop called Mr Humbug. There’s also a fantastic fudge shop called The Fudge Patch. Perfect for those with a sweet tooth like me!
The Picturehouse
A great independent cinema that also has a bar and restaurants, it shows a range of films from the big blockbusters to foreign movies. It’s a lovely way to spend an evening in Greenwich and it feels more special to go to smaller cinemas like this rather than the large commercial ones.
Check out the website here.
Climb the 02
You can see the blue strip stretched over the middle of the 02, but it wasn’t always there. Now you can take part in an exhilarating climb that takes you up and over the iconic building in North Greenwich. I did it a couple of years ago and it’s not as intimidating as it looks! I felt like I was walking on a trampoline the whole time. At the top, you get time to breathe and take in the sites of London all around you, and you can even spot the other places to explore in Greenwich! The Emirates cable car rises before you as it carries its passengers across the Thames.
Have a look here.
So, there you have it. Not a comprehensive list, but if you managed to read through then well done! There are a few good ideas to add to your bucket list, for sure. I feel incredibly lucky to call this area my home, and I still use every chance I have to explore Greenwich. I’ve lived, studied, and worked there, and I still feel like I don’t know much about the history. It’s close to central London too, a never-ending source of unusual finds. I listed a few here.
With the coronavirus travelling is very difficult, if not impossible, so learning about the area I live in has kept my interest peaked and made me more excited to explore my area, and appreciate it. Hopefully, once everything starts to open up again you can enjoy it too.
Very interesting love xx