London Greenwich 3-hour self-guided walking tour and scavenger hunt

• Starting point: outside the Cutty Sark for Maritime Greenwich DLR station, FXJQ+MM London, United Kingdom
• Distance: 3.4 km / 2.1 mi
• Duration: 3 hours
• Method: walking
• Required: Fully charged smartphone with internet access (data plan) – Wifi will not be enough.
• Suggested:
  • Water bottle
  • Local map

Ancient History

This area, including London Covent Garden, was inhabited in 4800 BCE as structures have been unearthed through archeology.

The Roman Empire settled the area in around 100 CE and called it Londinium. This lasted until the 5th century.

Then it was the Vikings who initially assaulted the coastlines then settled in north-eastern England until the 11th century.

The city evolved in every sense (architecture, governance, religion, and more) from then on. The population grew rapidly through the centuries, despite losing ⅓ during the Black Death in the mid-14th century.

History of Greenwich

Greenwich Park includes ruins of a house from the early Bronze Age (3300 BCE), re-used by the Saxons in the 6th century as a burial ground.

Archbishop Alphege of Canterbury was taken prisoner by invading Vikings in 1012. He was stoned to death and achieved sainthood in the 12th century. A church now bears his name.

Henry VII (1457-1509), and later Henry VIII (1491-1547), made this their home in London until Whitehall Palace was built in 1530.

Charles II (1630-1685) chose the site for a Royal Observatory, which originated the global Prime Meridian in 1721. 

In 1838, the London and Greenwich Railway was completed. Queen Victoria (1819-1901) renamed the Palace and Queen’s House the Royal Hospital School in 1892. 

In 1937, within the Palace, was finally created the National Maritime Museum by King George V (1865-1936) which he’d prepared before his death.