Royal Observatory Greenwich - Review for families

Best for:

12 +. The majority of young children will probably not be interested in going here.

OK for:

Babies / Toddlers & Preschool / 5 - 8 / 9 - 12

Cost

££. It’s free to get into the Astronomy Centre & Galleries, but everything else carries a fee.

What’s on offer

This historical UNESCO World Heritage site is, by international law, at the stroke of midnight GMT, the official start point for each day, year and millennium. This is measured by the Prime Meridian. It’s also the Prime Meridian of the world, which means it has Longitude 0 degrees.

So, as far as attraction offerings go, the Royal Observatory Greenwich is pretty unique.

Other than that, it’s a fairly small building with a selection of things to look at. The whole Observatory experience consists of an Astronomy Centre and accompanying galleries, Flamsteed House and astronomer’s apartments (which is the original Observatory building at Greenwich) and the Meridian Courtyard, which is where you can stand on the line.

Within these venues, you can see everything from Greenwich Mean Time being signaled to some of the world’s earliest public time signals, the UK’s largest Equatorial Telescope and visit exhibits exploring the themes of time in the context of longitude, Greenwich, for the navy and society.

That’s not all – you can also visit the planetarium and experience the magic of the world beyond the night sky at a scheduled show.

The museum has made some effort to be interactive and includes some interactive table-top galleries and the planetarium uses images from real like spaceships, telescopes and advanced CGI. These all project in HD into a huge dome. How’s that for immersive?

In terms of facilities, a maximum of four buggies and wheelchairs are allowed in the Astronomy Galleries and Planetarium at any one time. Buggies are not allowed anywhere else in the Royal Observatory. There is a buggy park, but there’s not that much space to store them and leaving them is at your own risk.

Highlights

Any inquisitive, curious and thoughtful children can really learn a lot here. Any child with even the slightest interest in time and space will get a kick out of it, too. Standing on the world-famous Meridian Line is a unique experience – how often do you get to be in 2 hemispheres of the globe at once?

John Harrison’s five preserved revolutionary timekeepers are very interesting (which are now being shown at the National Maritime Museum), as well as the out-of-this-world planetarium shows and camera obscura being a highlight for a lot of visitors. Children will enjoy what few interactive elements there are and will hopefully enjoy the great views of London, particularly East London, from the Observatory.

What to watch out for

- Book Planetarium shows in advance, online or by the telephone.

- Be there at 1pm sharp if you want to see GMT being signalled (alternatively known as ‘seeing the ball drop’)

- There will be lots of people trying to take pictures on the Meridian line – be prepared to wait or get there early in the day, perhaps on a weekday if possible.

- The walk from Greenwich Station is up a steep hill, the top of which is where the Royal Observatory lives. It’s quite a climb. Make sure you and the children have got comfy walking shoes on and are prepared for a ten to fifteen minute trek.

- Everything isn’t clearly detailed or explained properly – and this is not a fluffy museum where this would be acceptable. If you want to know more about something you’re seeing, speak to a member of staff.

MFM tips:

- If you want to liven up this trip a little, or have a mini-sailor aboard your party, why not travel the Observatory along the River Thames by boat?

- Combination tickets with the National Maritime Museum and Cutty Sark are available via the official website. They're valid for a single entry to each place, but you can view the attractions (along with the Queen's House) over a 30 day period.

What the owners say

"Discover the past, present and future wonders of astronomy at the centre of time – home of the Prime Meridian of the World and London's only planetarium."

Visit the Royal Observatory Greenwich website