Royal Museums Greenwich - Cutty Sark
Supplied by: Royal Museums Greenwich
Visit Cutty Sark, the celebrated historic sailing ship and fastest of its time. Now an award-winning visitor attraction in Greenwich, London.
Highlights
- Explore all decks
- Walk beneath the hull of the ship
- See how the crew lived
- Family activities and interactives
- Guaranteed entry time
- Audio guide included
Overview
Cutty Sark is more than 250 years old. During its years as a British merchant ship, Cutty Sark visited sixteen different countries and travelled the equivalent of two and a half voyages to the moon and back.
Cutty Sark takes its name from a poem by Robert Burns called Tam O’Shanter. It refers to a short nightie worn by one of the main characters in the poem, a young, attractive witch called Nannie.
Launched on 22 November 1869 in Dumbarton, Scotland, it embarked on its maiden voyage from London to Shanghai on 16 February 1870. On its first voyage, Cutty Sark carried ‘large amounts of wine, spirits and beer’, and came back from Shanghai loaded with 1.3 million pounds of tea.
Cutty Sark was built to last for just thirty years but served as a working ship for fifty-two years, a training ship for twenty-two years and has been open to visitors in Maritime Greenwich for sixty years.
Cutty Sark was opened twice by Queen Elizabeth II. Once in 1957, and again for its reopening in 2012.
Cutty Sark held the record for fastest journey from England to Australia for ten years.
The ship’s motto was ‘When there’s a Willis away’
Cancellation policy
non-refunadable