Emirates Air Line and The Cutty Sark

After visiting The Museum of London at Dockland, a recent day trip of ours saw us head up onto the DLR and take the short trip to the Royal Victoria station. Not an obvious stopping point, but it’s where you get off to get on board the Emirates Air Line.

This cable car link across the Thames has gone a little under the radar, compared to, say, the Millenium Eye at the old County Hall near Westminster. The Air Line is run by Transport for London, and is priced accordingly, and it’s an amazing experience for just a few pounds. The terminus is just a couple of minutes walk from the DLR station, and when we went (midweek) there weren’t any queues, and we were shortly stepping onto our very own cable car.

The car rises quickly to afford amazing views. To the east you can see the London City Airport (and their runway surrounded by water on both sides), and the Thames Barrier. There’s the Millenium Dome on the other side of the river, and you can see Canary Wharf, the City and it’s ever-proliferating skyscrapers. The cable car drops you down to the terminus, and you could choose to head straight back. We walked the couple of minutes to the North Greenwich DLR station, and after a quick change at Canary Wharf DLR headed down the few stops to the Cutty Sark DLR station.

Popping out above ground, take the opportunity to pop into the nearby market (especially on a weekend). There is of course the Maritime Museum nearby, but as time was limited we chose to look around the Cutty Sark. Once the fastest ship of it’s kind, the ship has survived the recent fire, and you get to explore below decks, and look into the cabins. You can also get under the ship in the dry dock, where there’s a cafe. And back onto the DLR and with another quick change at Canary Wharf, we got back to Stratford BR in time to have a quick look around the Westfield Shopping Centre before catching a train back into Essex.