Review: Visiting Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich with kids

On a Friday before the new school term started, the children and I were running along the river, trying to catch the river bus at Chelsea Harbour. We had been invited to explore Old Royal Naval College and were heading for Greenwich.

Greenwich has been one of my favourite places to take the family when we’ve enjoyed a London staycation, but we had never visited Old Royal Naval College before. In fact, it was an attraction I didn’t know much about either.

But as soon as I started reading up on this landmark I knew I had to see it. The Old Royal Naval College is situated a stone throw away from Greenwich Pier and Cutty Sark. Entry has now been made free for children 16 and under, and there are special activity packs and colour-in sheets for children to make visits fun and informative.

We were recommended to start in the Visitor Centre, walk along the river to the Water Gate, cross the beautiful grounds, visit the chapel, and then take the path to Skittle Alley and finish in The Painted Hall.

After buying an ice cream in the Visitor Centre, we did exactly this, starting with a stroll in the sun to the Water Gate, which used to be the main waterway entrance to Greenwich. At this point, we could also admire the buildings and discuss the columns and pediment typical to neoclassical architecture.

When we arrived in the chapel, we started clicking away on the phone camera. The children enjoyed seeing the massive organ, and I was impressed by the gorgeous patterns and baroque features.

The key highlights were still the second half of our tour. We found our way to Skittle Alley (see picture at the top), which looks like a vintage-style bowling alley, and I was surprised to find that visitors could try the game as it was done when it was used by pensioners living there when it was the Royal Hospital for Seamen. The children both tried lifting and throwing the different sized cannon balls that had been used instead of modern-style bowling balls.

Afterwards we carried on to the Old Royal Naval College’s main attraction–the Painted Hall. The Painted Hall has been dubbed ‘Britain’s Sistine Chapel’ and I was delighted to be able to show the children this stunning masterpiece with ceilings painted by Sir James Thornhill over nineteen years.

We tried listening to the free audio guides, but young visitors also receive free interactive packs with search-and-find and dot-to-dot activity pages and fact boxes and next time I would focus on using those instead. In fact, these kits are among the best free resources we’ve received at a museum, and I think they can help make the attraction more accessible to young visitors.

To finish off our visit, we enjoyed a picnic with sausage rolls, quiche, vegetable sticks and hummus, which had been organised to celebrate that the newly-restored Painted Hall café in the King William Undercroft is offering picnics for families to enjoy on the large grounds.

Tags: Attractions, Family attractions, Greenwich, London with kids, Old Royal Naval College, Review, Staycation, The Painted Hall