Evening Walk - Thames Path - East-to-West (Woolwich to Greenwich): Royal Woolwich Arsenal, Thames Barrier, Charlton, Greenwich Peninsula, Maritime Greenwich

Length: 11.0 km (6.8 mi) [Shorter and slightly longer walks possible, see below] 

Ascent/Descent: negligible 

Net Walking Time: ca. 2 ¼ hours 

 

Meet outside Woolwich Elizabeth Line Station at 18.30.

For that, take…

- either the 17.54 Dartford train from Cannon Street via London Bridge (17.59) and Lewisham (18.10) to Woolwich Arsenal and walk across to the Elizabeth Line Station. [This is a Kent Loop Line service back to Cannon Street, possibly showing as ‘Dartford via Slade Green’.] You can also get to Woolwich Arsenal with the DLR.

- or an Elizabeth Line train: i.e. the 18.11 from Liverpool Street (via Canary Wharf).

Return trains: every 10 minutes to 20.47, then about every 20 minutes, all via London Bridge, then either to Cannon Street or via Central London Thameslink stations. Woolwich is in Zone 4, Greenwich in Zone 2.

The route summary in the original direction, west-to-east:

Follow quiet lanes from Greenwich Station to the Thames by the Cutty Sark and turn right downstream along this extremely fascinating stretch of London’s main river along Maritime Greenwich and around the rapidly changing Greenwich Peninsula with the O2-Dome and the IFS Cloud-cable car as well as its views across the river to Canary Wharf, the Mouth of the River Lea and the Royal Victoria Dock, before walking past Charlton and the Thames Barrier, with Silvertown and its Tate & Lyle Sugar Refinery opposite, and on to the finish at the former Royal Arsenal site in Woolwich.

You pass reminders of Britain’s great maritime past, many historic pubs, the imposing Greenwich Power Station, some new housing developments as well as some long-established industrial sites (including some spectacular Aggregates Businesses), some large outdoor artworks, an Ecology Park, Woolwich Dockyard and the refurbished Royal Arsenal site with its mixture of historic buildings, new and old housing, food & drink establishments and an Arts Centre (in development).

 

Walk Options:

Alternative Finishes are possible from various points along the route (from 680m to 7.1 km before the end of the walk), principally at Charlton Mainline or North Greenwich Underground. For details see the Walk Directions pdf. 

A Cross-Peninsula Shortcut cuts 1.2 km.

 

Refreshments en route: positively plenty options. 

Tea at the end: positively plenty options.

 

For walk directions, maps, height profiles, photos and gpx/kml files click here. t=short.42 

#2026-06-24T17:54