We begin at the Royal Dock Footbridge, with sweeping views over the London Docklands — once the mighty gateway to the British Empire. From the 1600s, this vast port drove global commerce, transforming London into the world’s economic epicentre. A boat ride down the Thames carries us past Canary Wharf, today’s towering symbol of Britain’s shift from trade empire to financial superpower.

In Greenwich, the story unfolds. Step aboard the Cutty Sark, the world’s fastest clipper and a sleek symbol of maritime ambition. Walk the grounds of the Royal Naval College and stand beneath the Painted Hall — the so-called “British Sistine Chapel” — its grandeur captured in Skyfall and Sherlock Holmes. At the Queen’s House, marvel at the elegant Tulip Staircase and the portrait of Elizabeth I, as we delve into how the legal order of the seas — admiralty and maritime law — helped shape our modern world.

At the National Maritime Museum, uncover innovations that powered centuries of naval supremacy and how Greenwich Mean Time became the invisible scaffold of commerce, and empire. Then, straddle East and West on the Greenwich Meridian Line — the zero point of the world’s longitude system. Finally, we ascend to the Royal Observatory and the Altazimuth Pavilion, home to radical Enlightenment-era breakthroughs in astronomy and timekeeping, throughout the day enjoying the finest traditional cuisine at quintessentially English eateries.