The DLR from Bank station to Cutty Sark for Maritime Greenwich takes approximately 20 minutes. The DLR is fully automated, which means the front seat of the first carriage gives an unobstructed forward view through the elevated track sections over the Docklands. Bank station is on the Central and Northern lines; the journey from most central London points to Greenwich is 30 to 40 minutes total. The fare is covered by a standard London Travelcard or an Oyster card tap. Alternative: the Thames Clipper river bus from Embankment or Westminster pier to Greenwich takes approximately 40 to 55 minutes on the Thames. Sitting on a boat for 45 minutes is a valid post-marathon choice.
Greenwich is the most visited royal park in east London and the site of the Prime Meridian, the line from which all longitude is measured, established here in 1884 because the Greenwich Observatory had been producing accurate maritime charts for 200 years and the shipping world had already calibrated against it. April in Greenwich is mild (10 to 15°C), the park is in early spring bloom, and the DLR runs continuously without requiring any route planning.
The Waterfront and the Cutty Sark
The Cutty Sark (entry approximately £18) is a tea clipper built in 1869, the last surviving ship of the era that carried tea from China to Britain under sail. She sits in a dry dock in the piazza outside the DLR station, her hull suspended above the dock floor, allowing visitors to walk beneath the copper-sheathed bottom and look up at the keel. The ship's interior covers the history of the China trade, the age of clipper racing, and the engineering of the composite iron-and-wood hull. The exhibitions involve some stairs; the upper deck is accessible by a gangway.
The Old Royal Naval College immediately east of the Cutty Sark was designed by Christopher Wren from 1696 as a hospital for retired naval officers. The two baroque chapel-flanked buildings are now part of the University of Greenwich and Trinity Laban Conservatoire. The Painted Hall (entry approximately £15) contains James Thornhill's vast ceiling painting (The Triumph of Peace and Liberty over Tyranny, 1707 to 1727): 3,000 square metres of trompe-l'oeil allegory that took nineteen years to complete and occupies the entire ceiling and end wall of the hall. The building is flat at the main floor level.
The Park
Greenwich Park rises steeply from the riverside to the Royal Observatory on the hill above: 47 metres of gradient in about 800 metres of path. On post-marathon legs, the relevant question is whether the Observatory is the objective or whether the riverside and the lower park are sufficient. The Queen's House (Inigo Jones, 1635, the first Palladian building in England) and the National Maritime Museum are both at the flat lower level of the park, adjacent to the Royal Naval College. The Maritime Museum is free and extensive; the collection covers British naval history from the Elizabethan period through the 20th century with an emphasis on the objects rather than the narrative.
If the Observatory is the objective: the path is sustained uphill but not long. The Prime Meridian line is marked at the Observatory gate (entry approximately £18 for the Observatory; the meridian is free to photograph from outside). The view from the Observatory terrace over the Thames, Docklands, and the City is one of the better elevated views in London.
Greenwich Market
The Greenwich Market (open daily, covered) is inside the historic market building on College Approach: a flat, covered market selling antiques on Thursdays and Fridays, crafts and food at weekends, and street food throughout the week. In April on a weekday, the food stalls are the main offer: Ethiopian, Japanese, South American, Caribbean.
Goddards at Greenwich on Greenwich Church Street, a short walk from the market, has been serving pie and mash since 1890. Minced beef pie, mashed potato, and the green liquor (parsley sauce, slightly viscous, specifically east-London) that makes the dish unlike anything else. This is the correct lunch.
Getting Back
DLR from Cutty Sark to Bank throughout the afternoon and evening. Alternatively, the Thames Clipper back to Westminster or Embankment is the scenic option: sitting on the river looking at Greenwich from the water is the view the painters came here for.