London Walks: Historic Greenwich

Posted by J (Anytown, USA) on 03/27/08 12:28 AM

Have any of you done the London Walks "Historic Greenwich" tour? I'm wondering if £3 for the boat ride is roundtrip or just one way? Also, is the tour only 2 hours (as their other tours are)? That doesn't seem like a lot of time and I'm wondering if you actually tour any of the sights (such as the Old Royal Observatory) or it is more just a glimpse from the outside? Lastly, would you recommend this as a good way to see Greenwich? Thanks in advance!

**And yes, I have visited the walks.com website...my questions were not answered there and I was hoping to hear from someone who has actually done the tour.

Posted by Tim

Minneapolis, MN, USA

03/27/08 02:04 PM

8700 posts

I've only toured Greenwich on my own, but based on the time I spent there I certainly don't think two hours is enough. I visited the Cutty Sark and the Greenwich Market and had lunch in an historic pub. Unfortunately I didn't allow enough time to visit the Maritime Museum (a mistake, I'm sure).

You can get to Greenwich on the Tube and DLR. The station borders zones 2 and 3 so you'll only have to pay for traveling to zone 2. Or you can take a boat one way and the Tube/DLR the other way. Plan to visit on a market day. See here: www.greenwichmarket.net.

Posted by Karis

Wisconsin/England, USA/UK

03/27/08 02:26 PM

53 posts

I did this walk in February and very much enjoyed it. The boat trip is only one way and then you need to make your way back on the tube. The guide is very good about telling you all the various options for getting back. It is a standard two hour tour, only seeing the sights from the outside, however the guide goes into great detail about what to see when the tour is over. We ended up spending the rest of the afternoon visiting Queen Anne's House, the Royal Observatory, the National Maritime Museum and just wandering through the markets. We visited on a Sunday, which is market day, I'm not sure which other days are. Hope that helps, please message me if you have any other questions.

Posted by Judy

Dallas, WI, USA

03/29/08 03:02 PM

43 posts

We just did this walks.com tour a few days ago. It takes a lot of time, for we left at 10:45 AM and didn't get back to central London until 3 PM and still hadn't seen much at all. The walks.com guide is great, but it is a tour showing the outside of Queen Anne's house and the house where Henry VIII was born and so were Mary I and Elizabeth I - plus the Royal Observatory (seen from a distance). Then we walked through a tunnel under the Thames to reach the Docklands Light Railway to get back to central London. If we had known, we'd have planned nothing else on our itinerary for that day. As it is, we've had an overview. Next time we'd forego the boat trip, take DLR out to Greenwich, spend time at the Royal Observatory, then DLR back to central London. Boat ride is a boatride. Seemed like a time waster to me. It's the only www.walks.com tour that I've regretted. All the others have been spectacular.