Greenwich in a day: what is free, what needs a ticket, and how to get there

In 1675 King Charles II founded an observatory on a hill in his park at Greenwich, for one purpose: to find a way for ships to know how far east or west they were. Christopher Wren, who had been an astronomer before he was an architect, designed the house, and John Flamsteed, the first Astronomer Royal, spent more than forty years in it measuring the positions of the stars.

The charts made from that work spread to the ships of every nation. So when delegates of twenty-five countries met in Washington in October 1884 to agree on one line from which the world would count longitude, and with it the hours of the day, most of the world's shipping was already using Greenwich. Twenty-two voted for it, San Domingo voted against, France and Brazil abstained. The line runs through a courtyard on top of the hill, and standing on it needs a ticket. Much of what surrounds it does not.

Getting there

• By boat. The river buses of Uber Boat by Thames Clippers run from Westminster, Embankment, London Bridge and Tower piers to Greenwich Pier. It is the slowest way and the best: you pass under Tower Bridge and arrive in front of the Old Royal Naval College, as its architects meant visitors to arrive.
• By Docklands Light Railway. From Bank, through Canary Wharf, to the station called Cutty Sark, in the middle of everything.
• By train. From London Bridge to Greenwich station in about ten minutes, then ten minutes on foot.
• On foot under the river. A tunnel for walkers, opened in 1902, links Greenwich with Island Gardens on the north bank, where the view back to the college is the one Canaletto painted.

A common mistake: North Greenwich, with the O2 arena and the cable car across the Thames, is on a different bend of the river, a bus ride from the historic centre.

What is free

• Greenwich Park and the view. From the statue of General Wolfe, beside the observatory, you look down on the Queen's House and the twin domes of the college, with the towers of Canary Wharf behind.
• The Queen's House. Designed by Inigo Jones, begun in 1616: the first building in England in the classical manner he had studied in Italy. Go in for the Tulip Stairs, a spiral with no central support, and the Armada Portrait of Elizabeth I.
• The National Maritime Museum. Among much else it keeps the coat Nelson wore at Trafalgar, with the hole made by the musket ball in the left shoulder.
• The grounds and the chapel of the Old Royal Naval College. Wren planned it in the 1690s as a hospital for old sailors. It stands in two halves because Queen Mary insisted that the Queen's House keep its view of the river.
• Greenwich Market, under its roof between the college and the park, for lunch.

The red time ball on Flamsteed House. It has dropped at one o'clock since 1833. Photo: MrsEllacott, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

What needs a ticket

The Royal Observatory

The ticket covers Flamsteed House, the Meridian Courtyard with the line set into the paving, and the sea clocks of John Harrison, the carpenter who solved the longitude problem with a watch. The meridian is not an arbitrary stripe: it is the line of sight of a telescope, the Airy Transit Circle of 1851, which is still in its room. A satellite receiver puts zero about a hundred metres further east, in the park, because the modern system measures from the centre of the Earth.

The red ball on the roof has been dropped at one o'clock every day since 1833, so that ships in the river could set their clocks. You can watch it from the park for nothing. The observatory has been carrying out building works, and the planetarium has its own ticket: check what is open on our page for the Royal Observatory.

The meridian marked on the wall of the building that houses the telescope which defines it. Photo: Chris Gorringe, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0.

The Cutty Sark

A tea clipper launched at Dumbarton in 1869, the year the Suez Canal opened and made her kind of ship obsolete. She found a second life carrying wool from Australia, and in 1885 ran from Sydney to London in 73 days. A fire during restoration in 2007 destroyed less than was feared, because much of her timber had been taken away for the works. Since 2012 the hull has been raised three metres inside a glass enclosure. The ticket lets you walk the decks and the hold, and then stand underneath the keel.

The masts of the Cutty Sark, a minute from the pier. Photo: DiscoA340, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

The Painted Hall

The dining hall of the sailors' hospital, which James Thornhill painted from floor to ceiling between 1707 and 1726. It turned out too grand for the pensioners to eat in. Nelson's body lay in state here in January 1806. The hall is the one part of the Old Royal Naval College that needs a ticket.

The Painted Hall, lit by the lamps on its tables. Photo: Colin Smith, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0.

Reading the partner's listings

• Royal Observatory Greenwich entry. The entrance ticket and nothing else. No audio guide is part of it.
• Greenwich sightseeing walk with Royal Observatory ticket. The same entry, with an audio walk through the town and the park in the partner's app. The commentary stops at the door: it does not cover the inside of the observatory.
• Cutty Sark entry. The entrance ticket to the ship.
• Maritime gems with Cutty Sark ticket. Entry to the ship with an audio walk past the college, the museum and the park. Again, the audio is for the streets, not the ship.
• A river boat ticket with the Painted Hall. A crossing on the river bus bundled with entry to the hall. It is sold as a single trip and as a return, so check which one you are looking at.

These are the Greenwich tickets and audio walks our partner sells, with today's prices:

• on WeGoTrip Museum & Attraction Tickets London: Royal Observatory Greenwich Entry 4.5 (279) Book on WeGoTripfrom2,853 L
• on WeGoTrip Attraction Tickets Greenwich, London Sightseeing Walk with Royal Observatory Ticket 1 hours4.5 (279) Book on WeGoTripfrom3,422 L
• on WeGoTrip Museum & Attraction Tickets London: Cutty Sark Entry 4.7 (121) Book on WeGoTripfrom2,614 L
• on WeGoTrip Museum & Attraction Tickets Single trip ticket: Uber Boat by Thames Clippers & Painted Hall Book on WeGoTripfrom3,609 L
• on WeGoTrip Cultural Tours London's Maritime Gems with Cutty Sark Ticket 1 hours4.7 (121) Book on WeGoTripfrom3,276 L

Sold and delivered by WeGoTrip. You book on their site at their price; Viaqui may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you.

A day in order

Take a morning boat and begin with the Cutty Sark, which is a minute from the pier. Cross to the college for the Painted Hall and the chapel opposite it. Eat at the market. In the afternoon walk through the Maritime Museum and the Queen's House, which leave you at the foot of the park, and climb the hill last, when the light falls on the river. If you want to see the ball drop, turn the day round and be on the hill before one.

The three paid sights take about an hour each. If you want only one, choose by taste: the observatory for the idea, the ship for children, the hall for painting.

From here

The boat back to the centre passes Canary Wharf and the Tower, and at dusk it is worth the fare for itself. Hours for the Cutty Sark, the National Maritime Museum and the Queen's House are on their pages. See what else there is in London, or open the attractions map of the United Kingdom.

Cover photo: Txllxt TxllxT, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.