Museum · near Greenwich · London

Royal Observatory Greenwich

Royal Observatory Greenwich is an observatory in Greenwich, London. It is a scheduled monument. There are 558 more places to see within 15 km, beginning with National Maritime Museum (500 m).

Where

300 m

west of Greenwich

Run by

Royal Museums Greenwich

the operator on record

How well known

Top 1%

#18 of 8,556 places we list

Warmest months

May–Sep

highs of 18–24°C

In brief

Museum near Greenwich

One of the best-known places to visit in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland

#18 of the 8,556 museums, castles, gardens and other attractions we list, by how widely it is covered (61 Wikipedias). About ↓

Just outside Greenwich

Royal Observatory Greenwich is 300 m west of Greenwich. Towns near it ↓

Scheduled monument

On the official list of protected heritage; Greenwich has 524 listed buildings in all, on its History page. About ↓

Written from OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, the ONS built-up areas and Met Office 1991–2020 averages.

When to go

The seasons here

From May to September, Greenwich sees highs of 18–24°C.

Jan8° / 3°55 mm

Feb9° / 3°44 mm

Mar12° / 4°38 mm

Apr15° / 6°42 mm

May18° / 9°46 mm

Jun21° / 11°47 mm

Jul24° / 14°44 mm

Aug23° / 14°53 mm

Sep20° / 11°47 mm

Oct16° / 9°65 mm

Nov12° / 5°63 mm

Dec9° / 3°57 mm

Green months are the warmest. Typical afternoon highs and night lows in Greenwich, and rain in a month. Met Office HadUK-Grid 1991–2020 averages for Greenwich. Opening times change through the year: check before you go. Greenwich’s full climate →

About

Royal Observatory Greenwich

This is a site of Royal Museums Greenwich. Wikipedia covers it in 61 languages.

Greenwich’s listed buildings and monuments →

Type: Museum
Run by: Royal Museums Greenwich
Listed: Scheduled monument
Wikipedias: Covered in 61 languages
Town: 300 m west of Greenwich
Official site: rmg.co.uk/royal-observatory

Facts: Wikidata (CC0) and OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors).

Plan your visit

The essentials

Entrance fees

EntryA fee is charged

Hours and entry: OpenStreetMap contributors. They change through the year: check its site before you go.

The map

Getting your bearings

Orange: Royal Observatory Greenwich.

Towns near it

Which towns are near Royal Observatory Greenwich

Of the 8, Newham is the largest, at 351,065 people. Start with its own town; the others follow by distance.

1 · 300 m east of it

Greenwich

288,117 people · 125 places to visit

2 · 700 m southwest of it

Lewisham

300,764 people · 218 places to visit

3 · 1.1 km northwest of it

Tower Hamlets

311,072 people · 430 places to visit

4 · 2.8 km west of it

Southwark

307,076 people · 471 places to visit

Compare the 8 towns

Town	Where Royal Observatory Greenwich is	People	Places to visit
Greenwich	300 m east of it	288,117	125
Lewisham	700 m southwest of it	300,764	218
Tower Hamlets	1.1 km northwest of it	311,072	430
Southwark	2.8 km west of it	307,076	471
Newham	2.8 km north of it	351,065	133
Bromley	4.1 km south of it	325,469	66
City of London	7.8 km northwest of it	7,820	432
Lambeth	8.4 km west of it	317,108	450

Make a day of it

What else is near Royal Observatory Greenwich

Choose from 558 places within 15 km, such as 4 museums, a castle and a cathedral.

Big drawMuseumNational Maritime Museum500 m away · 2.4M visitors a year 2

Big drawCastleTower of London6.2 km away · 2.7M visitors a year (2016)3

MuseumCutty Sark800 m away 4

Big drawMuseumBritish Museum9.9 km away · 5.8M visitors a year (2023)5

MuseumQueen's House500 m away 6

Cathedral · English HeritageWestminster Abbey9.1 km away 7

AttractionElizabeth Tower8.9 km away 8

Historic houseBuckingham Palace10 km away

Within 15 km, close and well known first. Numbers match the map.

Your questions on Royal Observatory Greenwich

Where is Royal Observatory Greenwich?

Royal Observatory Greenwich is 300 m west of Greenwich, London.

What is Royal Observatory Greenwich?

Observatory in Greenwich, London, UK.

Who runs Royal Observatory Greenwich?

Royal Museums Greenwich.

When is the best time to visit Royal Observatory Greenwich?

May to September are the warmest months in Greenwich, with afternoon highs of 18–24°C (Met Office 1991–2020 averages).

Is Royal Observatory Greenwich a listed building?

Yes: scheduled monument.

What else is there to see near Royal Observatory Greenwich?

Within 15 km: National Maritime Museum (500 m), Tower of London (6.2 km), Cutty Sark (800 m) and British Museum (9.9 km).

Places: OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, Open Database Licence) and Wikidata (CC0), placed in the ONS 2022 built-up area (Open Government Licence v3.0). Visitor counts are the latest Wikidata gives, with their year.

Photos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).

Photo credits (8)

National Maritime Museum: Katie Chan, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
Tower of London: Bob Collowan, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
Cutty Sark: Krzysztof Belczyński from Warsaw, POLAND, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
British Museum: Ham, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
Queen's House: Vladimír Procházka, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Westminster Abbey: Σπάρτακος, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
Elizabeth Tower: Christian David, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Buckingham Palace: Diliff, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.