Cutty Sark Museum
Cutty Sark is the last great tea clipper you can step aboard, launched in 1869 for speed. Walk her decks, then stand beneath the suspended, Muntz-metal hull to admire those knife-sharp lines. Displays trace tea races with Thermopylae in 1871 and later record wool passages from Australia in the 1880s. Fire damage in 2007 led to a careful 2012 reopening, so conservation is part of the story. It's compact, hands-on, and brilliant with children. Book ahead at weekends, arrive early, and allow 60-90 minutes. Pair your visit with the National Maritime Museum or the Royal Observatory for a full Greenwich day anchored in Britain's seafaring past.
Opening Hours
Admissions
What's not to miss inside?
Suspended Hull Walk
See her hydrodynamic linesCutty Sark’s Muntz-metal clad hull now floats above you after the 2012 conservation, revealing the sleek shape that made her fast.
📍 Dry dock, beneath the ship
Tea Trade Story
Great age of sail commerceLaunched in 1869, she raced new-season tea from China; in 1871 she famously duelled Thermopylae on the homeward run.
📍 ’Tween decks exhibition
Wool Run Years
Record passages from AustraliaAfter tea, she shifted to Australian wool, posting sub-70-day runs home in the 1880s - exceptional for a sailing ship.
📍 Main deck displays
Figurehead ‘Nannie’
Name from Burns’ poemHer name comes from ‘cutty sark’ - a short chemise worn by the witch Nannie in Robert Burns’ 1791 poem Tam o’ Shanter.
📍 Bow, main deck
Captain’s Quarters
Life at sea in tight spacesOriginal woodwork and fittings show how officers lived on long hauls to China and Australia with minimal comforts.
📍 Aft, main deck cabins
Inspire your Friends
- Cutty Sark was launched in 1869 at Dumbarton and is one of the last surviving tea clippers.
- She suffered a major fire during conservation on 21 May 2007 and reopened in 2012 after restoration.
- Her fastest logged speed under sail was over 17 knots - flying for a cargo ship.
- The hull is sheathed in Muntz metal - a copper-zinc alloy - to resist marine growth.
- The name ‘Cutty Sark’ comes from a short shirt in Robert Burns’ 1791 poem ‘Tam o’ Shanter’.
