We booked this tour based on the excellent reviews we saw on Viator. Our actual experience ended up being less than ideal. Let’s start off with the positive aspects of the tour: our guide was punctual and friendly. He chose a lovely place for us to have lunch (which is included in the tour), and he brought us to all the important places to visit in Greenwich. He is as also flexible in terms of adjusting the order of site seeing to what worked best for us. Unfortunately, the negatives outweigh the positives of this tour. He seemed to lack detailed knowledge of the places he took us. He often relied on reading signs at each place we visited. When asked for more substance or detail, he was unable to provide it. And he repeated the same set of facts repeatedly, seemingly forgetting that he had already told us these things. All in all, we were left with the impression that we could have done the tour on our own with a guidebook and saved a lot of money. We have done many private tours in the past and throughout the world and have never really experienced this level of lack of expertise. We did speak with the owner of the company regarding our experience and he is offered us a free tour of Greenwich in the future as a way to make us for our experience. As we do not have plans to visit Greenwich again, this remedy is unuseful to us.
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Diane_H
May 29, 2025 · via Viator
A very comprehensive tour of Greenwich!
Out tour guide, Muhsin, was very friendly and knowlegable. We got a very detailed tour of Greenwich and saw everything the tour advertised, including lunch! Our walking was a bit slow and Muhsin was most kind in moderating to meet our walking gait. Our questions and discussions were most interesting. I would recommend highly!
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martinsM7619FB
May 18, 2025 · via Tripadvisor
Laughably Bad. To Be Avoided.
Certainly one of the two worst private tours we've been on. Over 5+ hours, the guide told exactly 3 interesting stories. We felt as though we were indulging a grandparent by taking part in this tour. Some example lines from our guide, which now cause us to laugh, "This is a painting of Burns. You know Burns? He's famous." "This wall is blue. It was white." "Cook. Famous for the islands. Sailor."
Whenever we approached another guide who was talking, our guide would hustle us along to prevent us from overhearing anything being said, as that might prove interesting. He was very interested in telling us what things cost, but in each instance unsure about each figure quoted. "This painting cost £13 millions, or was it something like that?" (Turns out it was £8.9M.) He also insisted we cut across the grass, "We will take a shortcut," but each time would begin sneezing and wheezing, complaining about the grass, "It must have just been cut, or they have sprayed it, or something."
After the Cook comment, I stepped in to give some history lessons, as I often do while on family travels. The guide couldn't stand it and would interrupt. "Imagine the cannonball bursting through the walls, killing and maiming all in its path. In a battle like this, half the men might be injured or killed. Ships like these with 500 or 600 men turn and sail into the fire of a row of enemy ships, getting close enough for the ideal shot..." "Excuse me, excuse me...this ship," referring to a nearby model, "had 600 or 700 men, not 500," while victoriously pointing to a sign. Before the interruption, the guide's only comment regarding Napoleonic sea battles had been something like, "Nelson was very popular, but he died at Trafalgar."
I don't believe our guide has watched a documentary, read a single book, or even the Wikipedia pages focused on the subject matter of this tour. If he has, he was unable to pass along any acquired expertise. As mentioned, he had three skin-deep sets of prepared comments, but mostly he liked to point at the signs underneath the displays and read phrases from them.
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Inna_Z
July 4, 2024 · via Viator
Great time in Greenwich!
The tour of Greenwich was wonderful! I met with the guide on time at the specified location. The organization and structure of the tour was very efficient. We did not encounter any crowds even though it was Sunday, bc we started with most popular sites first. The tour was informative and well paced. The historical information was presented in a lively manner. The lunch was great and the time I spent in Greenwich was memorable.
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SyrGerm
June 11, 2024 · via Tripadvisor
A Day in Greenwich.
Theo was a very informative guide. We covered a lot of areas at a nice pace. The restaurant was excellent. Historic and delicious food. We are glad we decided to explore this area of (London) England. Thank you Theo.
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sharyn m
May 25, 2024 · via Tripadvisor
A day in Greenwich
Our guide Musaf was very informative and we learnt so many new things about Londons maritime history.
Would highly recommend
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armikap2024
April 6, 2024 · via Tripadvisor
A must-do if you are in Greenwich for a day!
We did not regret booking this tour! Our guide Muhsin was exceptionally knowledgeable and friendly. He made us feel comfortable and went at our pace, allowing us to interact and ask questions. Having a local lunch at the pub along the river was a great scenic experience. Thank you Muhsin!
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rameg
December 12, 2022 · via Tripadvisor
Great walking tour of Greenwich!
We highly recommend this excellent tour of Greenwich with Greenwich Royal Tours. Our guide, Stephen, did a great job of tailoring our activities to our interests. We started with a tour of the famed Cutty Sark sailing ship. We loved touring that beautiful vessel, and learning about the tea and wool trades. We toured the beautiful grounds along the river where Henry VIII was born. We explored the National Maritime Museum, where Stephen shared his great knowledge about many pieces of art and the Naval battles depicted in the paintings. We walked the grounds of the Old Royal Naval College, and saw the Navy Pensioners Home. We had lunch at a wonderful pub on the banks of the Thames River that was included in the price of the tour. The traditional pub fare was delicious, and we enjoyed our conversation with Stephen as we ate. The highlight of the day for us was our trek up to the Royal Meridian Observatory. The view on the walk up that hill was lovely, and it was fascinating seeing the collection of clocks and navigational instruments displayed in the Observatory, which helped sailors figure out longitude. We had the experience of standing on the meridian line, where east meets west at zero longitude. The Royal Observatory is the home of Greenwich Mean Time, and is a totally fascinating place filled with amazing artifacts. We cannot recommend this tour highly enough!
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debbiem189
November 5, 2022 · via Tripadvisor
Great day in Greenwich
I had a very informative full day tour of Greenwich with Muhsin. I went expecting maritime history and to see the observatory, but there is so much more. I learned this is where important English royal history occurred, the site of many movie sets and so much more. It was helpful to have someone guide you through all of the sites because on my own I wouldn’t known how much time to spend at each one and be able to see everything in one day. Muhsin is so knowledgeable and was willing to answer all my questions. It was like having an old friend take you around their community. It was fun and there was a great lunch, what more could you want.
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Marlene G
July 14, 2022 · via Tripadvisor
Highly recommended tour of Greenwich!
The Best of Greenwich Day Tour was very exciting for me as I saw and learned so much about Greenwich - its history and also how we came up with " Greenwich Mean Time ".
My guide, Graham, was very knowledgeable and friendly. This is a walking tour so one must be ready and fit for it! The tour included a nice, delicious lunch.