Greenwich ♥♥ is a popular destination for most visitors to London, primarily because of the magnetic attraction of the Prime Meridian. Its neighbor, Blackheath Village ♥, separated from the Greenwich Park by a vast swath of open meadow, – the Heath – is also quite lively and popular, although it manages to maintain a certain quintessential English charm. Its popularity in no small way is due to the range of available eateries concentrated within a minute’s walk from the main village road intersection.
 

Greenwich

Greenwich park ♥♥ is a vast hilly expanse of grass and trees, bordering the bustling central part of the town.

The viewpoint on the top of the hill by the Observatory offers unparalleled views of London’s Docklands area, including Canary Wharf office towers.

The park is large and diverse, with a beautiful rose garden in one part, and a tranquil duck pond in another, among other things. There is a children playground and several sport facilities as well, but first and foremost, it is a place for picnics and leisurely strolls.

National Maritime Museum ♥ is a compact set of galleries devoted to naval history and sea exploration. Exhibits range from interactive scientific displays to boat models to navigation equipment. There are presentations and hands-on workshops throughout the day. Planetarium offers shows that discuss stars and planets. Kids have tons of fun.

Royal Naval College consists of a group of buildings by the river. We have explored some parts of it, including the breathtakingly magnificent Painted Hall ♥♥♥, with incredible ceilings, and the beautiful neoclassical Chapel of St Peter and St Paul ♥ (also known as Old Royal Naval College Chapel). There are scheduled guided tours and extensive reading materials for those who prefer to explore on their own.

Queen’s House ♥ is practically bereft of furnishings and the Royal Apartments are primarily an art gallery these days, heavily themed around marine and naval life. American visitors may be interested to know that this classical building was a model for the White House.

Royal Observatory ♥ is located at the top of the hill within Greenwich Park.

The main attraction is obviously the Zero Meridian – you often have to spend quite some time in line to get to take your pictures in front of the dominating metallic installation. But there is more to see and do inside.

The old galleries building houses interesting expositions dedicated to the history of timekeeping and marine navigation. Rooms occupied by the Royal Astronomers in centuries past can also be visited.

You can climb up to the dome to see the old telescope.

At certain times during the day, you can join a 20-minute presentation on the history of the Royal Observatory and the Prime Meridian, delivered by an exuberantly expressive lady in the main courtyard. Inquire with staff for available times.

In the new building, there are several galleries devoted to astronomy with awesome interactive computerized exhibits. Those always go extremely well with kids. There is also a Planetarium, with hourly shows, but we so far did not manage to fit one into our schedule.

Entry free, except Planetarium.

About two blocks from the busiest entrance to the Greenwich park, a mildly curious Fan Museum has a couple of dozen exhibits related to fans and their making. There are only three small rooms, and a pleasant non-exhibition orangery, and the visit, even with an audioguide, is unlikely to last more than half hour. £4 for adults, £3 for children over 7.

Greenwich market ♥♥ is the most fun on the weekends. It is located in the center of the town and is a lively jumble of colors and smells. It consists of three parts – crafts, food, antiques – crammed together under one roof. There is plenty of interesting stuff being peddled: Glassware, shawls, carpets, camel-fleece blankets, purses, accessories, pastries, spices, flavored coffee… The list can go on and on. There are several simple eateries around, with more sophisticated food just a few steps away.

The historic ship Cutty Sark, moored by the Thames at the center of the town, is being re-built following a botched refurbishment and a fire.

On Tuesdays and Thursdays, there are free classical music concerts ♥ in early afternoons that are held at either the Naval College Chapel or the St Alfege Church (in Greenwich center). If you are visiting on one of those days, you may want to think of working it into your schedule.

Places to eat

San Miguel ♥ is a pleasant tapas restaurant right outside the Greenwich market. The food is excellent, the interior colorful, the service not half bad. Tapas under £5; our damage has varied between £40 and £55 for a lunch for four. Last visit: Spring 2008.

North Pole bar and restaurant ♥ is a pub/fine dining combination establishment half a mile up Greenwich High Road from the village center. The pub is on the ground level and the restaurant is upstairs. Nice place, good food, not very busy on Saturday afternoon. We went all out with a two-course meal for everybody, plus a couple of desserts, and everything we chose, from soup of the day to smoked duck for starters to lamb, rib-eye steak or sea bream for the main course, was tasty. Overall damage came to £143 for two adults and two children, including an inexpensive bottle of wine and gratuities, but we were armed with a 50% discount on food selections, reducing the damage to a round £100. Last visit: March 2009.

A bit away from the center of Greenwich, there is the French brasserie Le Guildford ♥. Nice environment, nice music, French-speaking staff. We targeted a visit for quite some time, and ended up going for lunch on a weekday, when they have £7.50 or £9.75 specials (depending on whether you have dessert or not). The place was initially completely empty, but other customers soon followed. The feeling is that it should be quite busy on nights and weekends. The specials menu was rather limited, but adequate. A la carte menu looked rather promising for a dinner visit sometime. Last visit: Summer 2008.

We love sushi and Japanese cuisine in general, and Ginza ♥♥ serves an excellent opportunity to indulge. It is located on Woolwich Rd about a mile from Greenwich center. The decor is unobtrusively traditional. The stuff is friendly to the point of being annoyingly ever-present, but that is the only – and mild – negative about the place. The food is simply great. Our damage: £90 for a party of five. Last visit: Fall 2008.

Blackheath Village

The center of the village consists of a picturesque intersection of several roads, which are lined with attractive shops and restaurants. The area is bordered by the heath itself – a large expanse of grass, frequented by kite-flyers, – with the impressively positioned Church of All Saints. The walk around the village center could take as little as 15 minutes, but the temptation to step inside some of the shops is too high…

Places to Eat

In the years that we lived in the area, we had meals at a number of different establishments in Blackheath village.

Buenos Aires Cafe ♥♥, which looks out on the heath, offers Argentinean cuisine, with steaks being the prime attraction. There are various appetizers and sides that make it a great meal, and for the especially hungry, there is a meat combo (which can easily feed three people). As Italian heritage is very strong in Argentina, many items on the menu are unmistakably Italian. Reasonable wine list. The waiters were a bit stiff, but the owner melted upon realizing that people in our party in one of the visits had spent a couple of weeks traveling in Argentina a couple of years ago. The place looks very simple and rustic, but that makes it even more inviting. Very popular with locals, and since it is rather small, reservations are essential any day of the week.

The latest visit to Buenos Aires Cafe left a couple of smudges on my overall perception of it, namely a too warm bottle of wine (I had to ask for an ice bucket) and a clearly less than freshly-baked baguette in the bread basket. Roasted peppers for an appetizer failed to impress my Mother. The meat, though, was excellent and aplenty, and the overall experience still enjoyable. Our damage last time: £130 for four people, including a bottle of wine and a couple desserts. Last visit: Summer 2008.

We first ate at Chapters ♥ when it was called “Chapter Two” in spring of 2007. The place is located on Montpelier Vale, also looking out to the heath, and was a bit of an upscale variety. Our dinner was on the lower level of the restaurant. The service was surprisingly attentive, despite the fact that the place filled up on Friday night. The menu was not very extensive, French-inflected, on a prix-fixe basis: You selected an appetizer and a main course. Some of the selections had extra charges associated with them, noted on the menu, but still they came as a surprise on the bill. The food was good-to-excellent. Prix-fixe dinner: £19.95 (without desert), £24.95 (with desert).

As the place has been re-branded, we assume that the dinner notes in the previous paragraph no longer apply. We made a couple of visits, first for lunch, then for dinner, and were not shown to the lower level. The seating was on the contemporary-styled upper (ground) level. The menu had a number of interesting choices, with several specials noted on the chalk-board. We tried a terrine for appetizer, and a rack of lamb and a duck for main dishes. Very tasty. The lunch damage came to £34 for two. Last visit: May 2009.

The adjacent coffeeshop has a nice dessert selection and an appropriate atmosphere for a cup of coffee, a piece of cake, or maybe a snack.

A couple of doors down is Zero Degrees ♥♥, which is mostly popular for the beer that is brewed on the premises. I am told that it is the most happening place in the village. It is, however, a pretty good lunching place as well, with several tasty specials and a large selection of pizzas and pastas. The interior decor suggests brewery in a very hip way. Our damage: £17 for a lunch for two. Last visit: Spring 2008.

Bella Vista ♥ is a nice Italian place in the heart of the Blackheath village. The service is excellent, the atmosphere quite nice. Fairly authentic Italian dishes are served, although the portion size is probably a bit on the smallish side. The food quality is pretty good, even though I could not really get excited about my plate. It should be noted that the friends that we were together with liked the place more than we did. Our damage: £110 for four adults and four kids, including a bottle of wine. Last visit: Spring 2007.

I personally like Strada ♥♥ even better. This Italian eatery is located at the top of the hill away from the heath. The food is top-notch; agnello brasado and pollo ai funghi were extremely well received, and the rest of the dishes were great as well. A very picky little member of our entourage devoured her pizza margherita and asked for more. The adults were offered a complimentary shot of limoncello at the end of the meal. Our damage: £130 for four adults and four kids, including a bottle of wine. Last visit: Spring 2008.

Posted in Britain, London: Further afield.