Greenwich is the rare London base that feels like a small town: a market, a park on a hill, a river and a proper evening of its own. Bank is 21 minutes away on the DLR and Canary Wharf 13. The catch is the late shift home, because the DLR stops around midnight, there is no Night Tube here, and a night bus from Charing Cross takes the best part of an hour.
The town sits on the south bank of the Thames, about six miles downstream of Westminster. Its centre is a compact grid of Georgian streets between the river, the covered market and the gates of Greenwich Park, with the Old Royal Naval College along the waterfront and the Royal Observatory on the hill above. Almost everything a visitor comes for is within ten minutes' walk of the DLR station.
Our Greenwich neighbourhood guide covers the place and its sights, and the Royal Observatory and Cutty Sark has the tickets and opening times. This page is about basing yourself here for several nights: which station, which fare, which streets, and what happens at midnight.
Greenwich as a base
- Zone
- Cutty Sark and Greenwich are on the Zone 2 and 3 boundary, so the £8.90 daily cap for Zones 1 and 2 normally applies
- To Bank
- 21 minutes, DLR, no change
- To Canary Wharf
- 13 minutes
- To Westminster
- 33 minutes with one change
- River bus
- Uber Boat RB1, £11.40 off-peak for a Central and East zone trip. Not covered by daily caps
- Late nights
- No Night Tube. Last DLR around midnight, then night buses
Greenwich and North Greenwich are not the same place
Start here, because it is the mistake that ruins Greenwich stays. Two distinct areas share the name, and hotels in both advertise themselves as being in Greenwich.
Greenwich town is the historic centre: the market, the park, the Observatory, the Cutty Sark, the riverside. Its stations are Cutty Sark and Greenwich, both on the DLR, plus Greenwich and Maze Hill on the National Rail line from London Bridge and Cannon Street.
The Greenwich Peninsula is a redeveloped industrial spit of land a couple of miles downstream, built around the O2 arena, with new apartment towers, a shopping outlet and several large modern hotels. Its station is North Greenwich on the Jubilee line, and it is excellent for one thing in particular: a concert at the O2, with Bond Street 18 minutes away.
The two are connected by bus, not on foot. If your reason for choosing Greenwich is the park, the market and the village atmosphere, a Peninsula hotel will not give you any of them, and you will be taking a bus every time you want a pint. If your reason is a concert, a big modern room and the Jubilee line, the Peninsula is the better choice and the town is the wrong one. Our page on Canary Wharf covers the third option in the same corner of London.
Check which station a "Greenwich" hotel is near before you book. North Greenwich and Cutty Sark are two different worlds with one name between them. Put the hotel's postcode into a map, find the nearest station, and make sure it is the one you actually want. This is the single most common complaint we hear about staying here.
Photo: DiscoA340 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons · resized
Four ways into town, and what each one costs
Greenwich is unusually well connected for a place that feels this far out, and most visitors end up using a different route in the morning from the one they use at night.
| Route | Where it takes you | Time | Cost and capping |
|---|---|---|---|
| DLR from Cutty Sark | Canary Wharf, Bank, Tower Gateway, Stratford | 13 min to Canary Wharf, 21 to Bank | Tube-style fares, inside the daily cap |
| National Rail from Greenwich or Maze Hill | London Bridge and Cannon Street | About 8 min to London Bridge | Pay as you go, inside the daily cap |
| Uber Boat RB1 from Greenwich Pier | Tower, London Bridge City, Embankment, Westminster, the London Eye | Slow and scenic | £11.40 off-peak, £13.70 peak for Central and East zones. Not capped |
| Jubilee line from North Greenwich | Canary Wharf, London Bridge, Waterloo, Westminster, Bond Street | 18 min to Bond Street | Inside the daily cap, but you have to get to the Peninsula first |
The river bus is the reason many people want to stay here, and it deserves an honest note. It is a genuinely lovely way to travel, it is fast in its own way because it never sits in traffic, and it drops you at Westminster and the London Eye. But it does not count towards your daily cap, so it is an extra charge every time, and the published fares run only until 31 October 2026, after which new prices apply. Our guide to the Uber Boat river bus has the zones and the timetable, and Thames river cruises compares it with the sightseeing boats.
The cable car across the river from the Peninsula is a fifth option, though more an attraction than a commute: see the London Cable Car. It costs £7.00 one way and is also outside the caps.
The zone question, and why it usually works in your favour
Both Cutty Sark and Greenwich sit where Zone 2 meets Zone 3, and a boundary station is charged at whichever of the two rates is cheaper. In practice that means a day spent travelling between Greenwich and central London falls inside the £8.90 daily cap for Zones 1 and 2, the same as if you were staying in Camden or Islington.
Two things can push you over it. A journey that takes you properly into Zone 3 or beyond during the same day lifts your cap to £10.50 or more. And the river bus, as above, sits outside the system entirely. Otherwise, staying in Greenwich costs no more in fares than staying in the middle of town, which makes it one of the better-value bases in London. Our explainer on the DLR and the Overground covers how the DLR is fared and ticketed.
Getting home after the theatre
Here is the honest weakness, and it is worth reading before you book five nights.
Greenwich has no Night Tube. The DLR's last trains from Bank reach Cutty Sark at around midnight on weeknights and a little later at weekends, and the National Rail trains from London Bridge stop at a similar time. A West End play finishing at 22:15 is comfortable. A concert finishing at 23:00 with an encore, a bar afterwards, or a dinner that runs late, is not.
What happens instead is night buses, and they do work. From Charing Cross at two in the morning, the journey to Greenwich takes about 45 to 55 minutes using one or two buses: routes N1 from Aldwych, 188 from Elephant and Castle or Canada Water, and N199 from Lewisham all reach the town centre. That is a perfectly reasonable way home, but it is three quarters of an hour rather than eight minutes, in the cold, after a long day. Our guide to London night buses explains the network.
The practical advice: if your trip is built around West End evenings, stay north of the river. If your evenings will mostly be in Greenwich itself, this barely matters, because the pubs are a five-minute walk from your bed.
Where to stay within Greenwich
The town is small enough that the choice is really between four positions.
- The town centre, around the market, Nelson Road and Greenwich Church Street. Everything on foot, some noise from the pubs at weekends, and the most character.
- The riverside, west towards Deptford Creek and east past the Naval College. Quiet, with river views from some rooms, and a short walk to the DLR.
- West Greenwich and the park edge, up Crooms Hill and around the west side of the park. Residential Georgian streets, a few small hotels and guest houses, and the steepest walking in the area.
- Blackheath, over the hill to the south. A village around a large open heath, with its own station to London Bridge, and a calmer, more expensive feel. It is a twenty-minute walk across the park to Greenwich, which is a pleasure in daylight and a dark trudge at night.
The stock is different from central London: fewer chain hotels, more small guest houses, pub rooms and apartments in converted buildings. That makes apartments and short lets a stronger option here than in most of Zone 1, particularly for families and longer stays.
What a week here is actually like
The thing that surprises visitors is how little they use central London. Greenwich has a market five days a week, a covered food hall, a run of good pubs, cinemas, a park with a view, two rivers' worth of walks, and four free museums within ten minutes of each other. Days end up being built around the town rather than around the Tube.
That is the argument for staying here rather than visiting for a day. Our published guide to Greenwich Park describes the hill, and the Old Royal Naval College covers the Painted Hall. What a day visitor cannot do is walk up to the Observatory viewpoint at eight in the morning before the coaches arrive, or eat in the town on a Tuesday night when the market crowds have gone. Those are the two best things about sleeping here.
The counter-argument is repetition. Greenwich is small. After five days you will know it, and the journey into central London, while short, is a journey rather than a walk. Two or three nights here as part of a longer trip is often the happiest arrangement.
Eating, the market and the weekend rhythm
Greenwich Market is the centre of the town's eating, and it is busiest at weekends, when the streets around it fill in the same way Camden's do, though on a much smaller scale. Our guide to Greenwich Market sets out which days are crafts days and which are antiques days.
Away from the market, the town has old riverside pubs, a cluster of restaurants along Greenwich Church Street and Nelson Road, and, across Deptford Creek, one of the liveliest and least polished food scenes in south London. Sunday evening is the quiet point of the week here: several places close early, and it is worth checking rather than wandering out at nine o'clock and finding the shutters down.
Families, hills and step-free access
Greenwich is one of the best family bases outside Zone 1. There is a large park to run in, boats to watch, a ship to climb over, free museums with things to touch, and a town small enough for a child to walk across. Children under 11 travel free with a fare-paying adult on the DLR, and the front seats of a driverless DLR train are a free attraction in themselves. Our page on where to stay with children compares it with the other family districts.
Two physical notes. The town is flat but the park is not: the climb to the Observatory is steep enough to be work with a pushchair, and there is a longer, gentler route around the eastern side. And on access, every DLR station is step-free from street to train, which makes the DLR one of the easiest lines in London to use with a wheelchair or a pram, though the older parts of the town have narrow pavements and cobbles. Our guide to accessible London has the detail.
Who should stay in Greenwich
Choose Greenwich if
- You want a neighbourhood with its own life rather than a hotel district
- You are travelling with children and want space and a park
- You like the river and will use the boat at least once
- You are working at Canary Wharf, 13 minutes away, or flying from London City
- You are staying a week or more and want somewhere to come back to
Stay central instead if
- You have two or three days and a list of first-time sights
- Your evenings will be in the West End and will end after midnight
- You are flying through Heathrow, which is an awkward journey from here
- You want a wide choice of hotels at short notice, which Greenwich does not have
London City Airport is close: the DLR reaches it from Cutty Sark in about half an hour with one change, and it is in Zone 3, so an arrival there fits neatly with a Greenwich base. See London City Airport for what flies from it, and staying overnight at a London airport if you have an early departure. For a wider view of how Greenwich compares with the rest of the city, read our comparison of the main areas to stay.
Boat one way, train the other, and only pay for the view once. The river bus is charged separately from your daily cap, so a return trip costs you twice. Take it into town in the morning, when the light is good and you are fresh, and come back on the DLR, which is faster, warmer and already paid for by the cap.
Frequently asked questions
Is Greenwich a good area to stay in London?
Yes, for a second visit, a family, or anyone who prefers a neighbourhood to a hotel district. It is 21 minutes from Bank on the DLR, has its own market, park and museums, and normally falls within the Zones 1 and 2 daily fare cap. It is less suitable for a short first visit or for late nights in the West End.
How long does it take to get from Greenwich to central London?
About 19 minutes to London Bridge, 21 to Bank, and 33 to Westminster or Tottenham Court Road with one change. The river bus takes considerably longer but is more enjoyable, and costs extra because boat journeys do not count towards the daily cap.
Is Greenwich in Zone 2 or Zone 3?
Its stations stand on the boundary between the two, and a boundary station is charged at the cheaper of the rates. In practice, travel between Greenwich and central London normally falls within the £8.90 Zones 1 and 2 daily cap.
How do I get back to Greenwich late at night?
There is no Night Tube here, and the DLR and the trains from London Bridge stop around midnight. After that, night buses run from central London and take about 45 to 55 minutes from Charing Cross, usually with one change. If your evenings will regularly end after midnight, stay north of the river instead.
What is the difference between Greenwich and North Greenwich?
Greenwich is the historic town with the market, the park and the Observatory, served by the DLR and National Rail. North Greenwich is a modern development around the O2 arena on the Greenwich Peninsula, served by the Jubilee line, about two miles away and connected by bus rather than on foot. Hotels in both use the Greenwich name.
Is Greenwich cheaper than central London?
Usually on the room, and no more expensive on fares, since the boundary zoning keeps most journeys inside the Zones 1 and 2 cap. The choice of hotels is much smaller than in the centre, though, so book earlier than you would for a central district.
Sources
- Transport for London - Journey Planner (checked September 2026)
- Transport for London - Fare capping (checked September 2026)
- Uber Boat by Thames Clippers - Ticket information and fares (checked September 2026)
- Transport for London - About the River Bus (checked September 2026)
- Transport for London - Docklands Light Railway (checked September 2026)
- Transport for London - London Cable Car fares (checked September 2026)
- Transport for London - Night Tube (checked September 2026)