Deptford
Deptford is an area on the south bank of the River Thames in southeast London, in the Royal Borough of Greenwich and London Borough of Lewisham.
Deptford is an area on the south bank of the River Thames in southeast London, in the Royal Borough of Greenwich and London Borough of Lewisham. It is named after a ford of the River Ravensbourne. From the mid 16th century to the late 19th it was home to Deptford Dockyard, the first of the Royal Dockyards. This was a major shipbuilding dock and attracted Peter the Great to come and study shipbuilding. Deptford and the docks are associated with the knighting of Sir Francis Drake by Queen Elizabeth I aboard the Golden Hind, the legend of Sir Walter Raleigh laying down his cape for Elizabeth, Captain James Cook's third voyage aboard HMS Resolution, and the mysterious apparent murder of Christopher Marlowe in a house along Deptford Strand.
Adapted from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Worth seeing in and around Deptford
10 places within 25 km that the world writes about, in the order of how widely: the ones a visitor has heard of first, then the ones only a local would name.
- 01Royal Observatory
The Royal Observatory, Greenwich is an observatory situated on a hill in Greenwich Park in south east London, overlooking the River Thames to the north. It played a major role in the history of astronomy and navigation, and because the Prime Meridian passed through it, it gave its name to Greenwich Mean Time, the precursor to today's Coordinated Universal Time.
1.7 km · observatory in Greenwich, London, UK · Wikipedia - 02Canary Wharf
Canary Wharf is a privately owned central business district in London, England, located in the Isle of Dogs, Tower Hamlets. With the City of London and the West End, it constitutes one of the main financial centres in the United Kingdom and the world, and it is home to many of the world’s major financial corporations, including the headquarters of more than 150 major businesses.
3 km · privately-owned district in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets · Wikipedia - 03The O2 Arena
The O2 Arena, locally referred to as The O2, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the centre of The O2 entertainment district on the Greenwich Peninsula in south east London, England. It opened in its present form in 2007.
3.5 km · indoor arena in the O2, London · Wikipedia - 04National Maritime Museum
The National Maritime Museum is a maritime museum in Greenwich, London. It is part of Royal Museums Greenwich, a network of museums in the Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site.
1.5 km · museum in London, England, United Kingdom · Wikipedia - 05The Den
The Den is a football stadium in the New Cross and Bermondsey area of south-east London, and the home of Millwall Football Club. The Den is adjacent to the South London railway originating at London Bridge, and a quarter-of-a-mile from the Old Den, which it replaced on September 30, 1993.
1.9 km · football stadium in London, home to Millwall F.C. · Wikipedia - 06Queen's House
Queen's House is a former royal residence in the London borough of Greenwich, which presently serves as a public art gallery. It was built between 1616 and 1635 on the grounds of the now demolished Greenwich Palace, a few miles downriver from the City of London.
1.6 km · historic house museum in London, UK · Wikipedia - 07Isle of Dogs
The Isle of Dogs is a peninsula bounded on three sides by a large meander in the River Thames in East London, England. It includes the Cubitt Town, Millwall and Canary Wharf districts.
1.3 km · large peninsula in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets · Wikipedia - 08One Canada Square
One Canada Square is a skyscraper in Canary Wharf, London. It is the third tallest building in the United Kingdom at 770 feet above ground level, and contains 50 floors.
3 km · skyscraper in Canary Wharf, London · Wikipedia - 09University of Greenwich
The University of Greenwich is a university within the London and South East University Group in Greenwich, England. It was an independent university from 1992 to 2026, when it merged with the University of Kent to form LASE. Following the merger, Greenwich is formally an academic division within LASE, but continues to operate as a university, including recruiting students, teaching and granting degrees, under the branding of the University of Greenwich, under LASE's shared governance, management and academic board.
1.7 km · university in Greenwich, UK · Wikipedia - 108 Canada Square
8 Canada Square is a 45 floor skyscraper in Canary Wharf, London.
3.1 km · skyscraper located in Canary Wharf, London, England · Wikipedia
Ranked by the number of language editions of Wikipedia with an article on each, from Wikidata; the sentences are the openings of those articles, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Getting to Deptford
- Airports
- London Heathrow (LHR), 30 km · London Gatwick (LGW), 38 km · London Stansted (STN), 49 km
- Stations
- Canada Water station, 2.8 km · North Greenwich tube station, 3.3 km · Bermondsey tube station, 3.4 km · Surrey Quays railway station, 2.3 km · Rotherhithe railway station, 3.1 km
- London, Essex → Deptford8 km · quickest by road, 38 min · £1
- Luton, Luton → Deptford53 km · quickest by road, 1h 55m · £6–8
- Birmingham, West Midlands → Deptford170 km · quickest by road, 3h 32m · £18–24
- Plan a tripFrom anywhereThe planner compares every way there from wherever you are.
Road and air are today’s quick answer; timetabled trains, buses and ferries load on the results page from the operators’ feeds.
No local-transport research exists yet for Deptford
Our researched notes are written from a sourced entry: every shared taxi, boat and village bus with its operator, its rule, its fare and the year we saw it, and what could not be confirmed. Nobody has done that work for Deptford. What is above is what we hold from open sources; nothing here pretends to be more.
- Go nextPopularly known as the Garden of England due to its green landscape, the county includes a number of attractions that could be included on day trips outside of the capital.
- Go nextFrom the Greenwich Peninsula, take the IFS Cloud Cable Car (formerly Emirates Air Line) – the UK's first urban cable car.
From Wikivoyage: London/Greenwich, CC BY-SA. Not yet checked by us; that article was last edited 2026-09.
- 01125 km
- 02324 km
- 03394 km
- 04567 km
- 05603 km
If you know how people move in Deptford – the stand, the rule, the fare – tell us, and the note gets an entry.
Next door to Deptford
Deptford is 8 km from London, the nearest large city, whose note carries the wider picture.
- Greenwichtown in south-east London, England, UK1.8 km
- Royal Borough of Greenwichroyal borough in the London Region in England1.8 km
- London Borough of Tower Hamletsborough in the London Region in England3.8 km
- London Borough of Lewishamborough in the London Region in England3.7 km
- Blackheathinner suburban area of South East London, England2.6 km
- Peckhamdistrict in south-east London2.6 km