With its long association to the Royal Navy, Maritime Greenwich feels like an island in South East London, completely different to the surrounding areas (Sorry, Deptford fans).
It is a little way out of the centre but the density of things to do means you can easily spend the entire day exploring.
As well as all the famous museums there’s a lot of nice, small shops and Greenwich Market is worth looking round.
One of the last sail-powered tea clippers built, Cutty Sark is younger than you’d think - first setting sail in 1869.
It (she?) was nearly destroyed by a fire in 2007 but thankfully was saved and has been restored.
The square around the ship is a nice place for lunch and there’s a street food market there.
Situated in two Georgian Terraces, the Fan Museum is very small but was brought to life by the enthusiastic staff.
They were very happy to talk and listening to them for just a few minutes taught me more about fans than I ever thought I’d know.
Definitely the best value for money museum in Greenwich - the National Maritime Museum is enormous, with varied displays ranging from the exploration of the Pacific to the doomed Polar expeditions of the early 1900s.
There’s a well appointed café too. I went on Saturday and it still didn’t feel too busy - the building can absorb far more visitors than most.
There’s a scale & grandeur to the Old Royal Naval College that is rare in the UK - it is truly vast.
Many of the buildings aren’t open to the public so the entry fee mostly covers the Painted Hall. It is magnificent but you really need to go on the tour, included in the price. There’s not much information available if you don’t.
Queens House was built for Anne of Denmark, wife of King James I. Now it serves as a gallery packed with nautical artwork, from depictions of the Spanish Armada to World War 2 and beyond.
Despite all this my abiding memory will be learning that the palace has a “writing closet” that is bigger than any room in my flat.
I’d kind of given up on the coffee shops part of this site but 15grams is just so good, I went there twice in one day.
Expect a stronger than average flat white and pastries from St John. The cafe is tiny - there was a queue out the door at lunch time.
Stretching from Greenwich to Blackheath, Greenwich Park offers panoramic views of the Naval College and Docklands from One Tree Hill and the Royal Observatory.
Just be prepared for some climbing, the hills are not insubstantial. You can cycle through some of the park so watch out for people descending rapidly on the main road.
