Living in Greenwich

Greenwich is one of London's most historic and beautiful places to live, and much of its centre forms a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Old Royal Naval College, designed by Christopher Wren, stands on the riverfront, and behind it the Queen's House, the National Maritime Museum and the Royal Observatory, home of the Prime Meridian, rise through Greenwich Park to the top of the hill, with one of the finest views of London across to Canary Wharf.

The Cutty Sark, a restored nineteenth-century tea clipper, sits beside the river, and Greenwich Market, a covered market of food stalls, crafts and antiques, is busy throughout the week. The Greenwich Foot Tunnel runs under the Thames to the Isle of Dogs, making Canary Wharf a pleasant walk or cycle away. Tourists crowd the centre on weekends and in summer, but residential streets a few minutes away are quiet.

Transport comes in several forms. Cutty Sark and Greenwich stations are on the DLR, with direct trains to Canary Wharf and Bank; the mainline platforms at Greenwich get to London Bridge in roughly ten minutes; and river boats run from Greenwich Pier to central London. The Jubilee line at North Greenwich, near the O2, is a bus ride away. Journeys to the West End and west London are relatively slow.

Housing includes Georgian and Victorian terraces around Crooms Hill and West Greenwich, riverside new builds, mansion blocks and council estates. Rents are generally lower than in comparable parts of central or west London but higher than in neighbouring Deptford. Greenwich suits people who work at Canary Wharf or London Bridge and want parks, history, the river and a village-like atmosphere.