Greenwich has four museums under one organisation. Two of them are free and two cost £22 and £24, and all four keep almost identical hours.
Nobody puts that side by side, so here it is.
Cutty Sark: adult £22, child £11.
Royal Observatory: adult £24, child £12.
National Maritime Museum: free.
Queen’s House: free.
All open daily 10am to 5pm. Members go free at both paid sites, and booking is recommended at the free ones.
So a family of two adults and two children pays £66 at Cutty Sark, £72 at the Observatory, and nothing at all at the other two. A full day in Greenwich can cost £138 or it can cost nothing, depending entirely on which doors you choose.
Closing on 2 November 2026. The Royal Observatory closes for a refurbishment project on 2 November 2026, with no reopening date published, and its Peter Harrison Planetarium has been shut since September 2025. The park, the view and the rest of Greenwich are unaffected. See the planetarium for where shows run instead.
The Observatory closes its door first
A fifteen minute difference that decides the order of your day.
Cutty Sark, the National Maritime Museum and the Queen’s House: last entry 4.15pm.
Royal Observatory: last entry 4pm.
If you are doing both paid sites, the Observatory has to come first. It is also the one at the top of the hill, so doing it first is the right order anyway, but the ticket desk makes it compulsory rather than merely sensible.
Your £22 buys a different day depending on the date
This is the part worth planning around, because a lot is included with entry and none of it runs every day.
Sea shanty singers: the first weekend of every month. Resident shanty groups singing traditional maritime songs, included with entry.
Shipkeeping Wednesdays: the second Wednesday of every month, 11am to 3pm, drop-in. Talks and activities on the art of ship care, free for ticket holders.
Cutty Sark Characters: weekends during term time, with a separate schedule in the school holidays. Costumed characters from the ship’s past, included with entry.
Volunteer explainers are on board throughout the week, bringing the ship’s history to life.
So the same ticket gets you shanties on one weekend, shipkeeping on one Wednesday, and characters on most weekends. A midweek visit outside the second Wednesday is the quietest version and the one with the least included.
What is on now
Niki Gorick: Dock Life runs daily until 18 October 2026, 10am to 5pm, included with entry. A photographic display of life along London’s dockside, with images and stories from the Royal Museums Greenwich archive.
Black and Asian seafarers in the age of Cutty Sark opens 23 October 2026, daily 10am to 5pm, included with entry. Stories of sailors from around the world who served on Cutty Sark and other British naval and merchant ships.
Note the five day gap between the two, from 19 to 22 October, when neither is showing.
October half term family activities run 24 October to 1 November 2026, at selected times, free with entry to the ship.
There is also a book launch on Wednesday 11 November 2026, 6.30pm to 9pm, for Black and Asian Seafarers: A Visual History, at £20 for adults and £16 for members. That one is separately ticketed.
Afternoon tea under the hull
Separately bookable, and the only afternoon tea in London served beneath a nineteenth century tea clipper, which is a reasonable joke on the ship’s own cargo.
Talks and tours also run, covering the ship’s history as the fastest sailing vessel of its time.
Getting there
Cutty Sark DLR is the obvious station and sits a couple of minutes away. Greenwich station and Maze Hill also serve the area, and Greenwich Pier puts you alongside if you come by boat.
Arriving by river is the best approach to this particular ship, and the pier is directly beside it.
How to plan it
Spending nothing: the National Maritime Museum and the Queen’s House, both free, both open 10am to 5pm.
Doing both paid sites: Royal Observatory first, because its last entry is 4pm against 4.15pm here.
Best value day on one ticket: the first weekend of the month for the shanty singers, or the second Wednesday for shipkeeping.
With children: a term-time weekend for the costumed characters, or October half term.
A family of four visiting both paid sites: £138. Membership is worth pricing against that.
Arriving: Cutty Sark DLR, or the pier if you come by river.
Cutty Sark
- Address
- King William Walk, Greenwich, London SE10 9HT
- Nearest
- Cutty Sark DLR, with Greenwich and Maze Hill stations and Greenwich Pier all nearby
- Hours
- Open daily 10am to 5pm, last entry 4.15pm
- Booking
- Online in advance or on the day. Afternoon tea beneath the hull is booked separately
- Price
- Adult 22 pounds, child 11 pounds. Members go free. The Royal Observatory is 24 and 12, while the National Maritime Museum and Queen’s House are free
- Standing
- The fastest sailing ship of its time, preserved in dry dock at Greenwich, with a tea room under the hull
How to get in
Two of the four Royal Museums Greenwich sites are free and two cost 22 and 24 pounds, so a day here can cost 138 pounds for a family of four or nothing at all. The Royal Observatory’s last entry is 4pm against 4.15pm here, so it must come first. Sea shanty singers appear the first weekend of every month and shipkeeping talks the second Wednesday, both included with entry.
Where to go next
Greenwich covers the rest of the area, including the two free museums and the Observatory.
The free museums page covers the national collections, and the Oval is the other cheap London tour worth knowing about.
Questions we get asked
How much is Cutty Sark?
£22 for an adult and £11 for a child, with members going free. The Royal Observatory nearby is £24 and £12, while the National Maritime Museum and the Queen's House are both free.
What are Cutty Sark's opening times?
Open daily 10am to 5pm, with last entry at 4.15pm. The National Maritime Museum and Queen's House match those hours, but the Royal Observatory has an earlier last entry of 4pm.
Which Greenwich museums are free?
The National Maritime Museum and the Queen's House are both free, with booking recommended. Cutty Sark at £22 and the Royal Observatory at £24 are ticketed. All four are open daily 10am to 5pm.
What is included with a Cutty Sark ticket?
Quite a lot, but it depends on the day. Sea shanty singers perform on the first weekend of every month, shipkeeping talks and activities run on the second Wednesday from 11am to 3pm, and costumed Cutty Sark Characters appear on weekends during term time. Volunteer explainers are on board throughout the week, and the current exhibitions are included too.
Can you have afternoon tea on Cutty Sark?
Yes, served beneath the hull of the ship, and booked separately from general admission.
What exhibitions are on at Cutty Sark?
Niki Gorick: Dock Life runs daily until 18 October 2026, and Black and Asian Seafarers in the Age of Cutty Sark opens on 23 October 2026. Both are included with entry, and there is a five day gap between them from 19 to 22 October.
How do you get to Cutty Sark?
Cutty Sark DLR is a couple of minutes away, with Greenwich and Maze Hill stations also serving the area. Greenwich Pier is directly beside the ship, so arriving by river boat puts you alongside it.
Written by Robert J Wills, no. 276 in the guide.
Last checked 5 October 2026 against the venues' own published information. Nobody pays to appear here and we take no bookings.
