Portsmouth Historic Dockyard
Visit the world famous historic ships at the home of the Royal Navy. Go aboard HMS Victory, HMS Warrior 1860 and see the Mary Rose Museum for the best day out in the South of England.
Portsmouth Harbour’s leading attraction also includes the Royal Naval Museum, Action Stations and Harbour Tours.
The Historic Dockyard is a great place to experience 800 years of naval history surrounded by working docks and historic buildings.
The Mary Rose
The Mary Rose is the only surviving 16th century ship on display anywhere in the world. She was the favourite of King Henry VIII and sank with all hands during a battle with a French fleet in 1545. For centuries she lay lost on the seabed before she was discovered in the 1970s.
The Mary Rose Museum is located right by the entrance to the Historic Dockyard and has recently been nationally recognised as a ‘Family Friendly Museum’. It houses many authentic domestic and military objects that have been rescued from the wreck, giving a fascinating insight to life on board Henry VIII’s flagship at the time she went down. Marvel at the exhibits, enjoy the enhanced displays, watch the exciting new Mary Rose film narrated by TV historian Dan Snow, and let our expert guides give you a real insight into life on board. It’s the closest you can get to being there at the time.
The hull of the Mary Rose is currently away from public view until 2012, whilst construction and conservation takes place as part of an exciting new £35 million heritage project to preserve the Mary Rose for all time in a state-of-the-art museum.
HMS Victory
Lord Horatio Nelson is Britain’s greatest ever naval hero. He won everlasting fame at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805 aboard his flagship, HMS Victory. Nelson paid with his life but lived long enough to hear that the battle had been won. Visit HMS Victory and experience it in all its glory. See the Great Cabin where the battle was planned and the very spot where Nelson died. Then go below and walk in the footsteps of the sailors who lived, worked, fought and died on the crowded decks of this most famous ship of the line.
Royal Naval Museum
See, touch, hear and even smell what it was like to fight in the Battle of Trafalgar. The Trafalgar Experience recreates the famous battle and brings it vividly to life. Then visit the galleries that chart the story of the evolution of naval warfare from the launch of the mighty Dreadnought to the Falklands War.
Today’s Royal Navy
Take a tour of Portsmouth Historic Dockyard and get right up close to today’s Royal Navy. Portsmouth is still a working naval port and home to aircraft carriers, destroyers, frigates, mine sweepers and other patrol vessels. Tours last about 45 minutes and are accompanied by a commentary that explains the fascinating life of the port and puts you right in the heart of it all.
Action Stations!
Calling all hands! Calling all hands! Every crew member of the family will enjoy finding out all about what’s it’s like to be in today’s Royal Navy at Action Stations, our state-of-the-art attraction.
At Action Stations you can experience up to 27 different exciting activities, including physical challenges, simulators and doing technological experiments. Command a warship, fly a helicopter, make radio waves, discover how climate change is ruling the waves and interact with the new aircraft carriers of the future. These are just a few of the exciting things shipmates of all ages can to do, see and learn in a fun-fuelled family day out.
Events
There are lots of events happening in a packed year long calendar that includes musical events, demonstrations, talks, school trips – all designed to reveal fascinating insights into our glorious naval history.