This museum shows the range of wildlife found on Portsea Island and the surrounding area through a…read moreseries of stuffed animal displays. They are not the most modern, but children seem to like them. It also has aquariums, displays on the ice age in the area, and fossils and other prehistoric information. Again, it is nothing spectacular, but it does give a lot of information. However, the museum is worth visiting for the butterfly house at the back where you can sit and watch the butterflies fly around you, and even land on you. The museum is right next to Canoe Lake and Southsea seafront so there are lots of other things to do on the same day.

This is a lovely place to stop into as you take a walk along the seafront. It is situated between…read morethe canoe lake and the Tenth Hole Tearooms (another place worth visiting). It is a small museum with lots to see. As you walk around you go through the ages and there are some interesting exhibits. One of the highlights is the butterfly house. On the occasion I visited, there were some interesting feeding 'sculptures' designed by a local artist. These were really eye catching and unique, it gave quite a different feel to the butterflies feeding. There were plenty of butterflies and moths to see, flying around everywhere and landing nearby. There is a gift shop with some unusal and interesting gifts, it is not your normal museum and definitely worth a visit.

Mary Rose is the most fascinating story presented at the Portsmouth Dockyard. It is done through a…read morevery modern engaging museum, with multimedia introduction and well interpreted artifacts, as well as the huge portion of hull.

This was a highlight of my most recent trip to the U K. My wife and I spent Christmas in London…read morewith our daughter, her husband and our two grandchildren eight and five. My son-in-law and I are history buffs and decided that we had always wanted to see the Victory and Mary Rose so we were going to travel down to Portsmouth, spend the night and see the various ships on display. We all had some misgivings about leaving our comfortable VRBO in London and taking the train to Portsmouth but we did it anyway and we were glad we did. We stayed in the Holiday Inn Express located a short walk from the museum area. You can enter the dock area which houses the Victory, Mary Rose, Warrior, and other museums free but you have to buy a yearly pass to actually visit anything on exhibit. The pass lets you see everything and is well worth the price. The Mary Rose fascinated everyone including the children. The various artifacts give you a real sense of everyday life in the middle of sixteenth century England. The layout was absolutely fantastic. Even the kids enjoyed it. I was less impressed with the Victory. It was not well maintained and the layout wasn't informative. Too bad because the potential is so great. Don't miss the Warrior and the various museums. Our two days there was really not enough time. BTW the new British Aircraft Carrier Queen Elizabeth was there but of course we could not tour her.

Situated on the harbor looking out to the Naval yards across the water in Portsmouth is this…read moretreasure of a museum. Clean, well staffed and organized, this small museum is packed with power. Each exhibit has been extensively thought out and presented with audio, visual and an artistry that is rarely seen in a museum of this size. Things are hung from ceilings and below foot peaking out through glass, video and interactive stations abound and wall carvings worthy of awards complete your walk through the history of fire power. They ask that photos not be used on commercial sites, but I can tell you that the people carved into the walls are wood, metal and brass, and the floor to ceiling sculptures are extraordinary. Top all of this off with a cafe that makes their own scones and lasagna, and this museum rushes to the top of my worldwide must see list. It has won many awards for good reason. They know how to teach the public in an eye-catching and engaging manner. Three jolly cheers and five stars for Explosion!

The location is a bit far from the rest of the activities but the enticement of 10% off drew me to…read morethe location... being thrifty and all. I had no idea what to expect; the embroidery was interesting but not a wow. It was an interesting way to explain and catalog the events of D Day but was a little disappointed by the presentation. I would skip this or at least a slow jog would suffice to see this tapestry. The rest of the museum is worth a slow measured pace to really soak in the artifacts and read about what it was like to live through D day from being in the troop carriers to building the planes or huddling in the tunnels. Pretty amazing and worth a visit.

This is a well set out museum and a must for anyone interested in the Second World War, Operation…read moreOverlord and the D-Day landings. The highlight of the museum is the magnificent Overlord Embroidery which was especially commissioned to commerate D-Day. It is said to be a modern version of the Bayeux tapestry. The museum also offers film footage of events at the time, a range of historical artefacts, tableaux of different scenes and a reconstruction of D-Day itself. It also tells the stories of many Portsmouth inhabitants who were involved in some way. It is a moving and fascinating exhibition. There is plenty of pay parking in the museum car park and in the roads around the seafront.

Portsmouth Historic Dockyard is a must visit for history nerds and boat lovers...not so much for…read moreeveryone else. You'll get to see amazing historic ships, going back over 500 years of of Royal Navy history. HMS Victory: The Royal Navy's flagship that led the important Battle of Trafalgar, which the French Navy was put to shame during Napoleon's destructive wars. Arguably the most famous warship in British history. It's barely holding together as much maintenance and restoration ongoing work continues, but you still can decks and learn about life onboard during the Georgian era. The Mary Rose: King Henry VIII's flagship, which sank in 1545 and was famously salvaged in 1982. The museum showcases the preserved half hull and thousands of artifacts recovered from the wreck, offering a unique glimpse into 16th-century sailor life. Be sure to watch the 4D video! HMS Warrior: was the world's first iron-hulled, armored warship, built in 1860. Its still incredibly well preserved and structurally sound...as it never saw a single battle! Still very cool seeing how modern it felt compared to the older ships. £46/$62 3 Attraction Ticket: as fun this all was, it is really expensive for what you get, so minus one for that.

Saw Spanish galleon not original but has been made as a replica but still good not quite the victoryread more

This is sure worth visiting. Delightful house and historical artifacts. Very well presented and…read moregives you a feel of how it was then. The little shop has all the Dickens' books just in case you are missing any!!!

This little museum is only open in the summer months, which is a shame as its a great little place…read moreto visit. Full of history, this is an excellent place to take children.

This is the oldest commissioned warship in the world and has been turned into a museum. It also…read moreserves several ceremonial duties. The USA's claim of the oldest commissioned warship (USS Constitution) is qualified as the oldest commissioned warship afloat since the Victory has been in dry dock since 1922. The Royal Navy has put considerable effort into preserving her and making her accessible for tours. It is well worth the visit and includes a free audio tour recounting Admiral Horatio Nelson's crucial victory at the Battle of Trafalgar.

The Victory is under years-long maintenance, but the interior is barely affected and that's the…read morehighlight. It has been incredibly restored to the condition at the time of Nelson. The included audio guide does a great job in both exploring the ship and setting the context of the Battle of Trafalgar.

A very low-key, hidden museum well worth the visit…read more Docents/tour guides on the HMS ALLIANCE are men who actually served on the boat, so each tour is a bit different as it reflects their own stories and interests. The museum Cafe is very good too - friendly ladies who turn out good fresh sandwiches (may have to ask for the daily specials as they sometimes forget to post the signs!) Easy access when taking the train from London - Ferry across the harbor is right there as you exit the station. Then we recommend walking the promenade from the ferry terminal along the harbor as a pleasant way to arrive at the museum ... and on the walk back, the Coffee One in Gosport makes a great pit stop/refresher before re-boarding the ferry across to Portsmouth for the train back to London.

The featured attraction of the Royal Navy Submarine Museum is the last surviving British…read moresubmarine/u-boat from World War II, the splendid HMS Alliance. While the museum itself is rather small, if nice, the HMS Alliance is a spectacular attraction that alone is worth the trip to Portsmouth. It is part of the tremendous "Portsmouth Historic Dockyard" experience (It also includes the HMS Victory, the HMS M.33 and the HMS Warrior 1860, plus several museums) which offers at least a couple of days worth of exciting sight-seeing for adults as much as more the smaller fry. First things first: If you want to do all of the Portsmouth Harbour attractions in one day (better make it the full day, i.e. 10 a.m. to 5.30 p.m. in the summer and to 5 p.m. in the winter), make sure to book the "all attractions" ticket *ONLINE*, which will save you money: E.g. the single adult ticket costs UKP 32.00 on the door, but just 25.60 online. The Royal Submarine Museum as an individual attraction alone costs UKP 14.00. The museum is accessible either by car (dedicated parking lot) or via the free-of-charge waterbus from Portsmouth Harbour, which is included in the All Attractions ticket. It's a short boat ride (approx. 5 minutes) which I do recommend as it offers a nice view on the various parts of the dockyard and yachting harbor, and of course the spire. The waterbus goes every half hour until noon and then once an hour until 5 p.m. As the Portsmouth Historic Dockyard gets very busy around noon I would recommend that if you spend the day there you should go to the HMS Alliance/Submarine Museum first: The waterbus is small and holds just about 20-25 people. As said before, the Royal Navy Submarine Museum itself is very small (looks large from outside), but it's a nice collection of various items on the subject of submarines, including actual objects retrieved from old ones, but also paintings and documents. All very nicely presented. Visiting the museum shouldn't take more than 30 minutes. The greater attraction is the HMS Alliance. It's a spectacular, physically imposing submarine preserved in its original condition and fully fitted, including torpedo shells. Beautiful! Here's the thing: You can only enter the Alliance by guided tour, and each guided tour includes no more than 8 or so people. As huge as the Alliance may look from outside, on the inside it is a mousetrap. So they make sure that no more than 2 groups are inside the vessel at the same time. When you arrive at the museum you will be given a fixed time for your tour. If you are more than two people it can happen that you will be given a later tour time because the other spots have been filled already. The HMS Alliance is a technical marvel even today - and when you think that the total crew included 70 people you can paint your own mental picture what life on this vessel must have been like. The guides are very well informed - for a reason: They are mostly retired sailors who spent a part of their professional life as a member of a submarine crew. They're also very friendly: Ask them anything! Photography on board is allowed. See my photos to get an impression of the vessel and museum.

The HMS M.33 is a fascinating minor attraction in Portsmouth Harbour. The "M.33" moniker goes back…read moreto its production in WWI - where smaller ships weren't deemed worthy of getting a name (like Enterprise, Victory, Endeavour, Supreme Bleeding Product of Royal Incest of York, and the like) - instead, those "inferior vessels" were just referred to by a character and a number. The M.33 was one of six such ships - made to fight in the ill-fated Gallipoli campaign - and the *only* ship that has survived. In fact, it is one of just British three warships from WWI that did. It is part of the tremendous "Portsmouth Historic Dockyard" experience (It also includes the HMS Victory, HMS Warrior 1860, and the HMS Alliance, plus several museums) which offers at least a couple of days worth of exciting sight-seeing for adults as much as more the smaller fry. First things first: If you want to do all of the Portsmouth Harbour attractions in one day (better make it the full day, i.e. 10 a.m. to 5.30 p.m. in the summer and to 5 p.m. in the winter), make sure to book the "all attractions" ticket *ONLINE*, which will save you money: E.g. the single adult ticket costs UKP 32.00 on the door, but just 25.60 online. The HMS M.33 as an individual attraction alone costs UKP 10.00. The latter is not great value! While the HMS M.33 is by far the smallest of the four vessels in the Portsmouth Historic Dockyard experience, it is by no means without interest. War isn't just about being slaughtered on glorious, prestigious flagships - it's about being slaughtered aboard small, "insignificant" vessels, too! - A visit (only small groups of about 20 people or so each are allowed on the ship at the same time, and there's a brief introduction by one of the guides before you're being left to your own devices exploring the ship) shouldn't take more than 30, 40 minutes. The HMS M.33, which after Gallipoli was further employed in the Russian Civil War of 1917 and beyond, has been painstakingly restored to a condition that not only includes its (modest) selection of cannons, but even the daily chaos in the kitchen and such minor, everyday details have been carefully re-created. Which adds to the fun. All the decks are accessible, and there are guides around on each who you can ask questions about the ship and its history. The HMS M.33 is just a stone's throw from the harbour's premier attraction, Lord Nelson's HMS Victory. So when you're basking in the memory of a significant, triumphant slice of naval history - why not spend half an hour on a centuries later, significant, non-triumphant (for the British anyway) slice of naval history as well?! Recommended.