Hotel in Abbey Wood, London

Ten miles out of the city on the south eastern side of the Thames, Abbey Wood is close to the urban town of Plumstead and has good rail links to central London.

Just a mile from the River Thames, it’s essentially a small suburban town with quite a bit of greenery around, not least Lesnes Abbey Woods, from which the town takes its name. As well as wild trails and ornamental gardens there’s the ruins of Lesnes Abbey itself, an ancient Augustinian priory dating back to the 12th century.

Plumstead and Woolwich on the riverside have a range of restaurant and bar options ranging from ethnic foods to traditional London pubs, and a good option for a day out without making the trek into central London is maritime Greenwich, served by most rail services from Abbey Wood. With rich royal and naval history and a genuinely sea-doggish feel around its alleys and pubs, it’s listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site for its unique atmosphere and architecture.

You can explore London’s relationship with the sea, covering war, trade and exploration in the outstanding National Maritime Museum (Queen’s House, 020 8858 4422, www.nmm.ac.uk), and the Royal Observatory (also part of the Maritime Museum) can lay claim to being the home of time itself, lying at longitude 0 degrees, from where Greenwich Mean Time is measured.

Trains from Abbey Wood connect to London Bridge, Cannon Street and Charing Cross in around half an hour.

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Abbey Wood: Tube (underground)

Abbey Wood: Rail (overground)