Some days deserve the long way round. Greenwich is the furthest we’ll send you from the Mayfair base, and it earns every one of those kilometres: a genuine 19th-century tea clipper to climb around, a free line on the ground where the world’s clocks technically start, and a market to reward everyone for making it that far.

This is a proper day out, not an afternoon. Bring snacks, bring patience for the hill at the end, and let the motor do the work it’s there for.

Before you roll

• Distance: roughly 22–24km round trip from Mayfair — one of our longer rides. Mostly flat riverside path, with one genuine hill inside Greenwich Park itself.
• Route: the Thames Path hugs the river the whole way out — through Bankside, Bermondsey and Rotherhithe to Deptford and Greenwich. It’s a proper waterside ride rather than a slog through traffic.
• Booking ahead: Cutty Sark and the Royal Observatory both need paid, timed tickets — book before you set off, especially in school holidays. The National Maritime Museum is free to enter.
• The AHOY! Children’s Gallery inside the Maritime Museum (under-7s) is free on weekdays in term time, but ticketed at weekends, bank holidays and school holidays (around £5 per child, including one accompanying adult), in 45-minute timed sessions — book in advance if you want a guaranteed slot.
• The foot tunnel: Greenwich has a genuine Victorian pedestrian tunnel under the Thames. It’s a fun detour on foot once you’ve parked up, but cyclists must dismount and wheel the bike through — and the lifts at either end have a habit of being out of order, so don’t build your route around it.

Cutty Sark: a tea clipper in dry dock

~1.5–2 hours’ ride from Mayfair

You’ll see the masts before you see the ship. Cutty Sark is a real 1869 tea clipper, one of the fastest ships of her era, now dry-docked in Greenwich with a glass viewing deck built underneath her hull — genuinely striking, and the closest most children will ever get to standing beneath an actual ship. Open daily, 10am–5pm (last entry 4:15pm, extended to 6pm in high summer). Tickets are timed and best booked ahead.

The National Maritime Museum and the AHOY! gallery

~5 minutes on from Cutty Sark

Free, enormous, and genuinely good with children. The main galleries cover polar exploration, naval history and the Thames itself, but the real draw for younger kids is the AHOY! Children’s Gallery — an interactive maritime playground for under-7s where they can steer a boat, work a fishmonger’s stall, or stoke a steamship’s boiler. It’s ticketed at busy times, so book a slot before you arrive if you want to guarantee entry.

Up the hill to the Royal Observatory

~10 minutes into Greenwich Park

This is the one hill on the whole route, and it’s a real one — which is exactly the kind of climb an electric cargo bike makes trivial. At the top, the view back over Canary Wharf, the O2 and the bend of the Thames is one of the best in London, free of charge.

The Observatory itself — the Prime Meridian courtyard, the exhibitions, the Peter Harrison Planetarium — is paid entry. But here’s the trick: the meridian line itself also crosses a spot just outside the paid area. Head to the gate on the right-hand side of the main entrance and you’ll find a marked line on the path where you can stand with one foot in each hemisphere for free, no ticket required.

Greenwich Market: lunch and a browse

~10 minutes back down the hill

Greenwich Market trades daily, 10am–5:30pm, under a covered Victorian roof — food stalls for lunch, crafts and small makers to browse, and enough cover that a spot of rain won’t end the day early.

The ride home

The return leg retraces the Thames Path back through Deptford, Rotherhithe and Bermondsey. It’s the same distance again, so treat the whole day as exactly that — a full day, powered by the motor doing most of the climbing for you.

The loop at a glance

Stop	Highlight	Notes
Cutty Sark	Real 1869 tea clipper, glass-floored dry dock	Paid, timed tickets, book ahead
National Maritime Museum	Free galleries, naval and polar history	Free entry
AHOY! Children’s Gallery	Interactive maritime play, under-7s	Free weekday term-time; ticketed weekends/holidays
Greenwich Park & Observatory	Hilltop views, Prime Meridian	Free courtyard view outside the gate; paid galleries inside
Greenwich Market	Food stalls, crafts, covered roof	Daily, 10am–5:30pm

Total distance: roughly 22–24km round trip. One significant hill, handled easily with the motor. A full day out.

Frequently asked questions

Can you cycle from central London to Greenwich?

Yes — the Thames Path runs almost the whole way, through Bankside, Bermondsey, Rotherhithe and Deptford, making it a mostly flat, riverside ride of around 11–12km each way from Mayfair.

Is the Prime Meridian line free to see in Greenwich?

Part of it is. Standing on the meridian line inside the Royal Observatory’s main courtyard requires a paid ticket, but there’s a separate marked spot on the path just outside the entrance gate where you can stand on the line for free.

Can you take a bike through the Greenwich foot tunnel?

You can bring a bike through, but you must dismount and wheel it — cycling through is not allowed, as the tunnel is shared with pedestrians. The lifts at either end can be unreliable, so it’s better treated as an optional extra on foot rather than part of your planned route.

Is Greenwich Park hilly?

Yes, in one section — the climb up to the Royal Observatory is the steepest hill on this route. It’s easily managed on an electric-assist cargo bike, and the view from the top is one of the best in London.

Photo: view of the Royal Observatory from One Tree Hill, Greenwich Park, by Jakub Hałun — CC BY 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

Fancy trying it yourself?

We hire electric family cargo bikes from Mayfair — the motor is exactly what turns a 22km round trip and a hill up to an observatory into a genuinely relaxed family day. Book your ride on gozoom.uk and we’ll get you rolling.

If you make it all the way to Greenwich and back, you’ve earned a proper dinner.