Greenwich is a quaint area in the south east part of London. I felt like I was transported out of London and the bustling city when I got off the Cutty Sark tube station. Greenwich is filled with little shops, pubs (there is the Meantime Brewery), picnic spots, and the riverfront.

Getting to Greenwich: There are three stops you can get off at – Greenwich, Cutty Sark or Woolwich Arsenal. You can take the DLR from Bank to pne of those stops and then walk around.

Luckily, I had a local friend take SGDF and I around. Our first stop was the Cutty Sark Ship, known for being one of the fastest ships in the world and was recently restored. The ship sits right next to the water so we ended up strolling along the riverfront.

Keep an eye out for a brick dome and an identical brick dome on the other side of the river. These domes are part of the Greenwich Foot Tunnel that enables people to cross the river underground. Tip: There are boat rentals down the river if you want to use a boat to cross instead.

To work up an appetite, we decided to walk around Greenwich Park and make the “hike” (well not really but it was a trek to get to the top) to see an amazing view of Canary Wharf, the Naval Academy, and London (photos don’t do it justice). There are a lot of tourists but some benches and tables where you can escape the madness of tour groups and buses. Tip: There are some festivals and events hosted at the park so just look them up beforehand.

It was great to then explore the Royal Observatory, home to the timezone Greenwich Mean Time and the Prime Meridian line. Fun fact, the meridian made it possible to create an accurate map of the sky. A meridian is a north-south line selected as the zero reference line for astronomical observations and provides a reference point by comparing observations taken from the same meridian. Tip: The Observatory is free but you must pay to see the Meridian. Instead of paying, just walk outside the fence and there is another marker of the meridian line. Free!

Before lunch, we went by the National Maritime Museum, now considered the largest maritime museum. We then went to Greenwich Market, which is like a collection of markets with a diverse mix of shops, amazing ethnic food, desserts, and art.

It tends to get crowded so we bought our food and decided to eat by the Naval Academy.  I should have brought a blanket but regardless, it was a great lunch spot.

Afterwords, we walked off our food commas and went inside the free gallery in the Naval Academy. I liked that there were desks where I could zoom in to what was on the ceiling with a magnified glass and copy.

Lastly, there was nothing like ending the day at a beer garden. We spent the rest of the late afternoon at The Greenwich Union with some pub food and Meantime beer on tap.