Greenwich by Car: Riverside, Park Gates and River Crossings

A town centre built for walking

The heart of Greenwich, around the market, College Approach and King William Walk, is largely pedestrian or heavily restricted. The riverside by the clipper ship is a public space rather than a road. Romney Road carries the through traffic across the front of the Old Royal Naval College and is busy, narrow in places and not somewhere a vehicle waits. An arrival in Greenwich therefore means an arrival on the edge of the centre and a short walk in.

The park and the hill

Greenwich Park rises steeply from the riverside to the Observatory, and the difference in effort between arriving at the bottom gate and the top is considerable. The park has gates at Blackheath Gate on the southern side, St Mary's Gate and Park Row near the river, and others around the perimeter. Vehicle access within the park is limited and the internal roads are not a through route. For the Observatory, the Blackheath side is the arrival that avoids the climb.

Park gates operate to set hours which vary through the year, so an early morning or late evening plan should account for the possibility of a closed gate rather than assume one is open.

• Blackheath Gate at the top for the Observatory without the climb
• Park Row and the Romney Road side for the maritime buildings
• Gate hours vary seasonally, so check before an early or late visit

Crossing the river here

Greenwich sits at one of the more awkward stretches of the Thames for a vehicle. The foot tunnel to the Isle of Dogs is pedestrian only. Blackwall Tunnel carries a height limit on the northbound bore and is one of the most incident-prone crossings in London. The newer Silvertown crossing alongside it operates a charging arrangement. Rotherhithe Tunnel to the west has weight and size restrictions that exclude many larger vehicles.

The consequence is that a journey from Greenwich to north London or the City needs a crossing decision made in advance and revised if conditions change, and that a vehicle unsuited to Rotherhithe simply has fewer options.

The peninsula and arena nights

North of the town, Greenwich Peninsula carries the large entertainment arena, a growing residential district and the approach to the tunnels. On an arena event night the roads around it fill in a concentrated window before the performance and empty in an even more concentrated one afterwards, and that pressure reaches the tunnel approaches. For an event there, a collection point agreed away from the main entrance is worth considerably more than a fixed pickup time.

Blackheath and the southern approach

Blackheath sits directly above Greenwich and is a far easier place for a vehicle. The heath is crossed by open roads, the village has usable kerb space outside its busiest hours, and the A2 runs close by towards Kent. For a Greenwich visit arriving from the south or east, coming in over Blackheath and down through the park gate is often more pleasant and no slower than approaching along the river.

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