Cutty Sark Greenwich with Kids

The Cutty Sark is a great place to visit in South London with Kids. If you’re not familiar with London or the South East, you may not know about the Cutty Sark which is the oldest surviving tea British clipper ship built in 1869, which was also the fastest ship in her time. It’s been recently restored after recent fires, with lots of hands on activities for children and toddlers. It’s in Greenwich, on the edge of the Thames – not far from central London and just minutes away from the other Greenwich attractions such as the park, market and National Maritime Museum and The Royal Observatory. Surprisingly, although we’re big fans of Greenwich and have visited many times – we’d never actually been on The Cutty Sark and just admired it from the outside. We visited this weekend though and found it to be a fun place to explore for kids. If your kids are learning about the tea trade at school – the Cutty Sark would be the perfect place to visit in the school holidays. Read here – if you’re looking to discover more of our best places to visit with kids in South East London. Here’s all you need to know before you visit the Cutty Sark with kids.

Our review of Cutty Sark Greenwich

First up, you can travel to the Cutty Sark via public transport using the tube (North Greenwich Station) or you can drive and park in the pay and display car park near the Trafalgar Tavern. This is the favourite bit of any of our trips to Greenwich because Mr M and I had our wedding reception there! We visited the Cutty Sark when our kids were 9, 7, 5 and 2 and found there was plenty to do to keep older kids and younger kids busy. It’s a great place to visit with kids of different ages.

I think the Cutty Sark is what you call a ‘living museum’ because you climb aboard the actual boat and then there are two floors including the deck of the ship of musuem interactive displays and exhibitions – all which are hands on for kids and innovative so it would make a good school holiday activity. Aren’t we spoilt for choice with kid friendly museums these days?! You can find all of our favourite museums for kids here. Finlay’s favourite part of the museum was an interactive map where you get to pretend to drive a real ship and navigate the rocks – kids will have a great time in this part! Highlights for Elodie and Orla were writing a letter to a sailor which you could post in a post box and the second floor, where there are interactive games to play, knots to tie and a swinging seat to feel the waves. Although Orla said she felt a little sea-sick after this! There are lots of films playing to explain the voyages made by The Cutty Sark Ship and we were entertained by a sea shanty group who sung around the ship. There are lots of actors playing cutty sark characters, particularly during the school holidays where they lay on extra activities.

Cutty Sark Review

Next you can explore the top of the ship and the towering masts (there is a special activity for older children which can be booked to climb the miles of rigging) which has lovely views of Canary Wharf and the markets in Greenwich. It was funny to see the spectacular shipping masts in the frame of the modern Canary Wharf, depicting how much times have changed. On the top deck, there is an interactive part where kids can ring the ship’s bell and our kids spent ages climbing in and out of the shipmates bunk beds! It’s a great experience to steer the ship’s wheel and younger children will love practising how the ship mates washed! If you’re lucky, you can catch a performance from one of Cutty Sark’s characters – we saw Mrs Ray who recounted tales of her son at sea which brought the ship to life. This is a great opportunity to learn more about the historic sailing ship in a child friendly way. If you’re a history buff, you’ll love the written stories of the historical accounts from the crew quarters on the cargo ship.

There is a cafe on the ground floor which also shows the remarkable view of underneath the ship, it’s been elevated by 3 metres and so you can see it’s bottom in full glory – it’s very impressive! The tea chests and pounds of tea and old artefacts make the whole experience really realistic.

We expected the Cutty Sark to not be suitable for buggies but we were pleasantly surprised – it’s easy to navigate a buggy around the ship using the lifts they have to access the different floors although, part of the fun of the ship for toddlers is the windy steps to the upper deck and climbing the rigging!

If you’re visiting Greenwich for the first time, The Cutty Sark is an iconic ship is not to be missed as a fun exploration and a spot of History about one of our last tea clippers. There’s lots of interactive activities with interesting facts coupled with stunning views of the Thames. We spent a few hours there exploring and then heading for a street food lunch overlooking the Thames from some of the food stalls they have in Greenwich! Delicious! The Cutty Sark is a short walk from greenwich park and the other royal museums greenwich so there’s plenty of fun things to do in Greenwich that can easily last a whole day!

If you’re looking for more things to do in London and a great day out for families, check out our Top Ten Places to visit with kids in South East London.

Please check out our little video of our day!