The University of Greenwich occupies the site of Greenwich Palace where King Henry VIII was born. Nothing is left of the original Palace but the present buildings, dating from early 18th century, were built as a home for retired and invalid sailors of the Royal Navy until the mid-1800s. The buildings were then used as a Naval College until 1990s. It is possible to see the Painted Hall and the Chapel which you may recognise from movies filmed here including Les Miserables, Iron Lady, Patriot Games and Pirates of the Carribean.

The Maritime Museum have exhibits on the slave trade, navigation and the London docks. The UK’s greatest naval hero, Viscount Horatio Nelson, was killed at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. Also on display is the uniform that he wore at the battle which still has the bullet hole.

The Royal Observatory was established in late 17th Century in order to conduct investigation of how to calculate longitude when at sea to aid navigation. There is a collection of astronomical equipment, ocean chronometers and it is also home to the Prime Meridian of the world, zero degrees longitude where east meets west.

The tour leaves from central London and we journey to Greenwich by boat which takes about 1 hour.
From the river, you’ll see Houses of Parliament, St Paul’s Cathedral, London Eye, Shakespeare’s Globe, Tower Bridge and Tower of London. Once passed the Tower, it is eastwards toward Greenwich pass the redundant docks at one time the busiest port in the world.

A different route back to central London from Greenwich on the Docklands Light Railway (DLR). Sections of the DLR are elevated which weave through the modern sky scrapers of Canary Wharf, a second financial centre for London, part of the ongoing regeneration of Docklands.