Shop the market for handmade trinkets or calculate global times from the Meridian line

Greenwich is a place of exciting arts festivals, free public events and the location for many blockbuster movies, being strikingly located between the Thames, as it widens towards the Estuary, and its great park that ascends dramatically up to the Royal Observatory. By the river is the Royal Naval College, home to the talented student opera singers and musicians of Trinity College of Music. But this imposing seventeenth century building is also something of a movie star itself, featuring in Pirates of the Caribbean, Les Misérables, Skyfall and the King’s Speech. In fact, come the summer and days of good filming weather, there’s usually a lighting crew or two drifting around looking for a coffee.

Students and visitors love the covered market where you can buy handmade jewellery, delicious street food and vintage sunglasses, amongst other one-off items. However, the big attractions are the open vistas of the park where there’s always a remote spot, away from the crowds, to enjoy your picnic. Take your camera to the top of the hill where you can stand on the Meridian Line by the Royal Observatory, as the views across the river to Canary Wharf and the O2 are truly spectacular, showing a rapidly changing London skyline.

Arthouse cinema, the Greenwich Picturehouse provides an indie and mainstream programme and there are plenty of places to eat and drink, including local foodie favourite The Vanbrugh, which does your roast meatie or vegan, or speciality sausage emporium Heaps.