| Places to Visit |
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Greenwich is one of London’s
most popular places to visit, and most of the attractions are free.
Celebrated for its fabulous architecture and great swathe of parkland,
it also has a generous choice of quirky shops
and markets and a tasty selection of places to eat
and drink.
There are fine views wherever
you turn, and all the sights are within easy walking distance of
each other, making Greenwich a real pleasure to explore.
For a deeper insight into
Greenwich, you could take a walk led by one of our professionally
qualified tour guides, whose tours start daily from Greenwich Tourist
Information Centre at 12.15pm and 2.15pm. Or you can book to have
your own specialised group tour at a time to suit you, phone 0870
608 2000.
Featured Places
| The
National Maritime Museum |
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Britain’s seafaring heritage is dramatically
recreated in galleries filled
with maritime treasures and artefacts. The stories of naval battles, of
famous mariners, adventurers and explorers and the life of Admiral
Lord Nelson are vividly brought to life. |
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| The perfectly proportioned Palladian house
designed in 1616 by Inigo Jones is a splendid setting for an
art gallery displaying part of the National Maritime Museum’s
extensive collection of naval portraits and seascapes, as well
as paintings of Greenwich. These include Canaletto’s view,
a scene virtually unchanged since the mid-18th century. |
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| The Old Royal Naval
College |
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| On the site of the Tudor palace
where Henry VIII and Elizabeth I were born, these buildings
form the centrepiece of one of this country's finest examples
of Baroque landscape. They were planned and designed by some
of the greatest architects of the day including Wren, Hawksmoor,
Vanbrugh and James 'Athenian' Stuart. The magnificent Painted
Hall is where Nelson's body lay in state after his death at
the Battle of Trafalgar, the Chapel with its elaborate plasterwork,
and the Pepys Visitor Centre, are open to public daily (free
admission). The Greenwich Foundation manages the site and it
is where both the University of Greenwich and Trinity College
of Music are based. |
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| Royal Observatory
Greenwich |
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Founded
as a scientific institution for navigational research
by Charles II in 1675, the Observatory is the home of
the world’s Prime Meridian -
Longitude 0° - and of Greenwich Mean Time. Stand
on the line with one foot in the eastern hemisphere
and one in the west. The clocks developed by John Harrison
to determine longitude at sea are among the Observatory’s
most treasured possessions. The
Royal Observatory has the Peter
Harrison Planetarium, a brand
new state-of-the-art facility housed in a contemporary
new building, and four Time Galleries:
1. Time & Longitude
- solutions to the Longitude problem both using a mathematical
method and accurate timekeepers.
2. Time and Greenwich - the earliest Greenwich clocks andexplores
how Greenwich became the centre of world time.
3. Time and Society - shows how time has influenced society
through the centuries including its significance in religious
and social history.
4. Time and the Navy -a display of Naval chronometers some
of which saw service in key events in naval history. |
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Many examples of an elegant fashion accessory of the
17th- and
18th-centuries are displayed in changing exhibitions in
two charming early Georgian houses. The museum is the
only one of its kind in the world. |
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| London's oldest enclosed Royal Park. Greenwich
Park is situated on a hilltop with impressive views
of Greenwich and across the River Thames to Canary Wharf,
the ex-Millennium Dome newly rebranded The O2 and the
City of London. There are also flower gardens, a
deer park and a boating lake. |
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| The Wernher Collection,
Rangers House |
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The celebrated collection of Renaissance
objets d’art as well as antique
furniture and Georgian paintings amassed by Sir Julius Wernher are shown in
the house once owned by the letter-writing Fourth Earl of Chesterfield. Sir
Julius, a founder of De Beers, made his fortune in the South African
diamond mines at the end of the 19th century.
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The fastest
sailing ship of her day, the Cutty
Sark was launched in
Scotland in 1869 and sailed initially on the tea route
to China. Later she
brought back wool from Australia. She has been in dry
dock in Greenwich since 1954.
She is currently
closed to the public for conservation work
but adjacent to the ship is the Cutty Sark Pavilion
visitor centre, an exhibition that will last for the
duration of the project.To find out more about the Cutty
Sark's restoration project, click
here for a progress update.
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More
places of interest just outside the World Heritage Site
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