For centuries the hub of Britain's naval power, Greenwich is best known to tourists as home of Cutty Sark, the last of the 19th-century tea clippers that sailed between Britain and China. The ship is adjacent to the Discover Greenwich Visitor Centre with its exhibits showcasing more than 500 years of maritime history, and the Palladian mansion known as Queen's House. The impressive collections of the National Maritime Museum, the largest of its kind in the world, illustrate the history of the Royal Navy.
The revitalized Docklands across the river has been transformed into an international place of business and recreation, filled with some of London's smartest new restaurants. The excellent Museum of London Docklands, in the old Georgian warehouses, brings to life the river, port, and its people from Roman times to the present through hands-on displays that are especially interesting for children.