There are a lot of excellent parks in London. Parks with boating lakes. Parks with bandstands. Parks with spectacular scenery.
And sure, Greenwich Park has all of the above… but it also blows all other parks out the water by harbouring the very origin of time itself.
Straddling the Greenwich Meridian Line – which is used to calculate time zones around the globe – it’s a bountiful stretch of greenery, that looks out over the historic cobbled neighbourhood, the river, and the glittering skyscrapers of Canary Wharf beyond.
A royal hunting ground since 1433 (and where Henry VIII, Mary I and Elizabeth I were all born – albeit in a palace and not just behind some random bush), Greenwich Park was only opened to the public in the 18th century, when biannual contests were held to see who could roll down the big hill the fastest. Now a World Heritage Site, the park still retains a regal air thanks to the historic buildings lining its borders – there’s the Old Royal Naval College to the north, with its insanely beautiful Painted Hall, the Queen’s House (now a free-to-visit art gallery), the National Maritime Museum, and the hilltop Royal Observatory, a handful of which were designed by heavyweight Early Modern lads Inigo Jones and Sir Christopher Wren.
Flicksmores/Flickr
Greenwich Park is particularly popular in spring, when the avenue of cherry blossoms bursts into full bloom, and in summer, when you can while away the afternoon rowing on the lake, listening to live music from the bandstand, and picnicking in front of that sweeping panoramic landscape (a visit to Heap’s Sausage Deli for a takeaway bap is the smart move here). But year-round there’s also half a dozen planted gardens to explore, tucked-away viewpoints and even a small herd of resident deer at the park’s southernmost corner, just as it merges into Blackheath.
If you get peckish, we’d recommend swerving the two pretty, but pretty average, park cafés, and instead head down to Greenwich Market or the street food stalls by Cutty Sark. And there’s always Dark Sugars on the high street, which legitimately makes the best hot chocolates…
…of all time.
NOTE: The park is free to visit and open daily – you can find out more on the Greenwich Park website.
Greenwich Park | London SE10 8QY
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