30 Things to See First

Thirty places to see first, in order, for somebody who has never been to London. Each says what it is, whether it is free, whether you must book, and whether the queue is worth it.

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Greenwich

A palace site, a naval hospital, an observatory and a tea clipper on one bend of the river, with a hill to see the arrangement from.

Dusk over the river, the Cutty Sark's masts behind the foot tunnel dome.

Greenwich is where England put its monarchy, its navy and its science on the same bend of the Thames, and the whole arrangement is still readable from the top of the hill in the park.

A Tudor palace stood on the riverbank: Henry VIII and Elizabeth I were both born on the ground the Old Royal Naval College covers now. Christopher Wren laid that out in four blocks and split it deliberately down the middle so that the Queen's House behind it kept its view of the water - a house begun in 1616 and the first properly classical building in England. Behind and above that, the park climbs to the Observatory.

The riverside, the park and the streets of the town cost nothing, and the market in the middle of it runs most days. The Observatory and the clipper in dry dock are ticketed.

Where
King William Walk, Greenwich, SE10 9NN
Nearest station
Cutty Sark for Maritime Greenwich · 6 min walk

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Photo by Mx. Granger, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons · Photo by Daderot, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Data is compiled from public sources including OpenStreetMap, under the ODbL. Hours change often, so check before making a journey.

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