A Day in Greenwich
When visiting London for the day it’s easy to hit the typical tourist spots like Picaddily Circus or Covent Garden but it’s worth looking a bit further away from the centre to see what the outer areas have to offer.
On a recent trip to the O2 and the Cutty Sark in Greenwich I decided to stick around and a spend a day in Greenwich and explore this area I hadn’t been to before. All of these things I did with children and in close proximity so can recommend for families.
Cutty Sark
The Cutty Sark is well worth a visit if you have a couple of hours to spend wandering around the vessel which is now a museum to discover the history of the British Clipper ship and how it came to rest in Greenwich all those years ago. I wrote about visiting the Cutty Sark with children here.
National Maritime Museum
The National Maritime Museum is just a short walk from the Cutty Sark and is free entry (unless you want to visit a special exhibition). Here you can wander around the vast rooms from Tudor and Stuart Seafarers to Polar Worlds and Pacific Encounters where you can voyage to the world’s largest ocean and hear hidden histories of exploration and exploitation.
For kids they can pay dress up, follow the trail or explore the globe on a giant atlas. Play with giant ships or even try some interactive games.
As with most museums, look out for special events in the school holidays which are well worth a visit and a good cheap way to entertain the children!
Royal Observatory
Whilst in Greenwich and if you perhaps have slightly older children that are interested in space and time. My eldest at the time was learning about Greenwich Mean Time so was quite fitting to fit in a visit to see the Meridian Line where east meets west.
Inside you’ll find different rooms showcasing different communication methods through the years, the variations of the talking clock and of course The Planetarium which unfortunately we didn’t see on this visit,but having an aspiring astronomer in my youngest will be on the cards again soon.
Royal Greenwich Park
Walking to the Royal Observatory you pass through Royal Greenwich Park (it’s on an incline so take advantage of the views and catch your breath!). The Park itself is vast and as you near the Observatory you get a wonderful view of the city.
There are many other places you could visit whilst spending a day in Greenwich which include The Queens House, The Old Royal Naval College and Greenwich Market. Overall I found Greenwich to be a lovely place to explore and much quieter than the city so you almost forget you are in London!
Most of the attractions I mentioned above require a ticket for entry, so you are worth looking into tickets that cover multi-entry (pre-book online here) as you’re likely to save some money rather than booking at each individual place.
