Royal Observatory Greenwich Entrance Ticket: Stand on the Historic Prime Meridian Line

Stand on the historic Prime Meridian Line at the Royal Observatory Greenwich. Discover the wonders of astronomy, space, and the stars while enjoying stunning views of London.

Duration: 2 hours
Cancellation: 1 day learn more
Highlights
  • Royal Observatory Greenwich - Make your way to the Royal Observatory Greenwich which is located on a hill in Greenwich Royal Park. As you do, you will enjoy dramatic views of London across Greenwich Royal Park, the City of London and the River Thames. Once inside, you can pick up a complementary audio guide. There are 7 languages available.

Your visit will begin in the Meridian Courtyard where you will stand astride the Prime Meridian Line, with one foot in the east and the other in the west at the home of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT).

The tour will take you through Flamsteed House where you will walk in the footsteps of the Astronomers Royal. Visit the Octagon Room which was designed by Sir Christopher Wren and is one of the best preserved Wren interiors in London. See Harrison’s clocks, the inventions that changed the world. Discover the Shepherd Gate Clock, mounted outside, which was the first clock to show Greenwich Mean Time to the public. Learn about the discoveries of great scientists and inventors based at or associated with the Royal Observatory, including Harrison, Newton, Halley, Bradley, Maunder, Harrison, Airy, Einstein.

The bright red Time Ball on top of Flamsteed House is one of the world’s earliest public time signals and was first used in 1833 and still operates today. Don’t miss the Great Equatorial Telescope, located in the huge iconic onion dome, which gave astronomers new views of the universe over 100 years ago.

Located in the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Maritime Greenwich, the National Maritime Museum and the Queen’s House are both located within a short walking distance from the Observatory and are free to visit. Cutty Sark, the world’s sole-surviving tea clipper is now an award-winning museum and visitor experience and is a must-see when visiting Greenwich.

What's Included
  • Attraction admission ticket included
What's Not Included
  • Transportation to/from attractions
Additional Information

No trip to London can be deemed complete without a stopover at the Royal Observatory Greenwich, the birthplace of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). Here, you’ll have the unique experience of placing one foot in the east and the other in the west while standing on the Prime Meridian Line. Follow in the path of past Astronomers Royal, learn about their contributions, and delve into the fascinating journey of astronomy and space exploration, traversing the past, present, and future. Marvel at the breathtaking views of London cityscape, Greenwich Royal Park, and the River Thames.

  • Children under the age of 4 years are free to enter the attraction
  • Children must be accompanied by an adult
Location
Royal Observatory Greenwich
Blackheath Avenue
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
4.1
(293 Ratings)
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Cornelia_l
Jul 24, 2024
Interesting and educational place - Very interesting and educational place. We enjoyed standing over two parts of the glob and to learn about the activities of the Royal astronomers. The only thing that we didn’t really like it was going up hill to reach the observatory.
Review provided by Viator
257gildaf
Jul 19, 2024
Very interesting - Magnificent views of London, see in the museum the first lenses to look at the stars and devices to navigate and not get lost, the compasses, latitude, meridians, etc, amazing!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Jeorgina
Jul 18, 2024
Highly recommend day trip! Great experience. - It was a beautiful day, we took the commuter boat along the river Thames. Walked to the observatory and had more amazing views! We took advantage of two complimentary short educational lectures, resulting us having an amazing experience. Mike D. made our experience memorable!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Eddie-yorkshire
Jul 18, 2024
An interesting visit - It's an interesting place to visit, made more memorable by a free talk given by Mike Dryland. He explained how Harrison designed and built clocks that would help navigate at sea. The clocks re working originals and are beautiful and amazing pieces of engineering. Mike's talk was both informative and entertaining.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Mikefromtorontor
Jul 14, 2024
Nice short visit. - Took a day trip to Greenwich to walk through the Royal Observatory. If you take an Uber to the Observatory you can avoid climbing the hill (we walked down to the village of Greenwich after). Go early as there were a lot of school groups. It took approx 45 mins to see everything, and took pictures of the Prime Meridian. Satellite meridian (which is more accurate) is approx 300m away and you can find it via your compass app on your iphone.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Sarah_d
Jul 5, 2024
Very cool experience - Very cool place for anyone that is interested in the subject. Was one of the first ones in as the gates opened in late June. Get very crowded very quickly. If you would like a picture of the line you will want to do that first thing and then continue tour. Nice that it is also so close to other museums that you can just walk over to
Review provided by Viator
Allotmentjunky
Jul 15, 2024
Looking forward to going back again. - Took visiting relatives here, so impressed. The do e telescope and octagon room are incredible, lovely outdoor spaces too. We are booking a scheduled event visit soon so we can see the view when opened. Very worthwhile.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Jonaq6949tu
Jul 30, 2024
Expensive for what it is.... not great value for money... - Visited the observatory on Friday 27th July, would I recommend it.... probably not unless you are really interested in this subject. Two stars seems mean, so gave it three. Very expensive for £20 each, especially for what is was.... It was busy, mostly tourists including tourist groups, so i presume tourists don't mind paying these prices. There were families who had taken kids in, the kids who you cant blame were obviously bored rigid and were either running around or crying. We saw a tour guide doing his best to talk to his group, but even with earphones in you could see some of the people were struggling to hear over the kids. Glad we didn't pay the £5 extra to go on the tour. I think someone in these reviews has already said £10 would have been a fairer e, and for that we would have come away happy, but at £20 to much. If you have young kids take my advice don't go.... they will hate it ... you will get frustrated and they will get totally bored, On the upside, outside you have fantastic views of the maritime museum and beyond .... but you don't need to go into the observatory for this. Pleasant walk up from the Maritime museum and really enjoyed out boat ride to get there. ... loads of running around space outside for kids and families. Whilst in the observatory, yes it was interesting to read about the families and work done within the observatory, I think we were finished within 40 minutes though... Glad we did it, one thing ticked off the things we would like to do... but cant see us returning to be honest.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Mal
Jul 18, 2024
The home of GMT was expensive to visit - The home of GMT on a hill in Greenwich, is not worth the entrance fee. As museums go I found it crowded in places with too much info to take in. And walking up and down some of the narrow stairs felt dangerous. Teachers stopped some small pupils from using stairs to the Great Equatorial Telescope. Some of the time pieces were interesting but for me the most interesting items were the boards with statements about time. I think you pay extra for the planetarium show and there wasn’t a tour on while I was there. A lovely highlight was walking up the hill to the Observatory and enjoying the stunning views, including Canary Wharf in the distance! May be the observatory is best visited in quiet season!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
268fionar
Jul 3, 2024
Too expensive so depends on how much you want to see it - Be aware that it is small and you'll go round pretty fast. It is also VERY expensive for what it is. £20 each is way too much. I would say its worth £10 max. Its interesting enough and the telescope is very special.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
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up to 4 guests
1 Adult
September 2024
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