Portsmouth harbour…. Mary Rose or HMS victory for kids?

[Reallyimeanreally2022]

Flying visit to Portsmouth with two children 11 and 8

Never been to Portsmouth but thought the harbour looks brilliant

Both children love history and exploring

Which would you recommend? Or do I splurge and do both?

Many thanks

I would also say Mary Rose and am a recentish visitor. I thought it was one of the best, cleverest museums I'd ever been to. My kids loved it and while one is a 'let me read all the boards' type the other really isn't. They both really enjoyed it.

@TheOneWithTwoParties

I would also say Mary Rose and am a recentish visitor. I thought it was one of the best, cleverest museums I'd ever been to. My kids loved it and while one is a 'let me read all the boards' type the other really isn't. They both really enjoyed it.

Your two just like to do Mary rose or did they do the others too?

Thinking maybe the harbour boat tour and then the Mary rose?

Took my 9 year old DD to the Mary Rose recently and she loved it. It feels more like an immersive experience than a museum. Really impressive.

It's worth flagging that HMS victory has extremely low ceilings on most decks so it can be a bit uncomfortable (I'm 5'1" so being unable to stand upright is an unusual experience for me). Still fascinating but if you are a tall family that might tip the balance!

Do both if you can, especially if you're not local and unlikely to come back in a while.
It's a lovely day down here today too so boat trip as well if you can possibly squeeze it in.
(And then there's Warrior, boathouse, action stations, submarine in gosport, gunwharf, watch the hovercraft at Southsea...)

We didn't do the Mary Rose as the museum was being completed. But @Shirtyllama I want to go back for this exact reason!! (I didnsay it lots when we were there!!)

In term of choice doesn't it depend on the kids interests? So for mine seeing Nelsons boat would mean far more to them than a random Henry the 8th warship......Iyswim.....But the whole dockyard is fascinating. Do try to go back to do the rest another time....and the boat tours and submarine museum too

I am 60+ can still remember going round the Victory when I was about 10. Cannot recommend it enough. I am sure the MR is great but to be on such a ship, see how they lived, the size of things, how a battle would be fought etc makes the Victory a winner for me.

How much is a harbour tour please?

Can’t find this info

Trying to work out if better blue to buy the ultimate if I’m going to see two?

www.historicdockyard.co.uk/tickets-and-offers

Get the Ultimate ticket, it includes all attractions and is valid for 12 months!

www.portsmouth-boat-trips.co.uk/timetable-fares/

Boat trip on its own £10 per adult or £26 family ticket.

If you had to do one I would say the Mary Rose. If you can do both then I would say both!

The Mary Rose museum gets better and better and better every time we see it (3 times in the past 4-ish years)

Get the full ticket and do the Mary Rose! The projections on the MR are brilliant, Victory is fab but the ladders take some getting used to, and Action Stations is our go-to rainy day activity

Mary Rose is very different from even a few years ago. There's a kids trail leaflet for £1 and you get a pop badge at the end, and there are some activity tables as you go around. There's lots of video footage of the archaeology and projections of sailors on the ship. And you get to go through airlocks on the top floor and look down on the ship.

Boat tour is ok but can be a bit meh, depends how many naval ships are in the harbour at the time is that mainly what they look at. You had to start queuing very early to get on a tour last time I was there - like 30min early the queue started

And you don't need a separate ticket for the Mary Rose anymore (obviously you doing you at just paying for one attraction but it is included in multi attraction tickets).

All booked
Thanks so much

Definitely both!

@Reallyimeanreally2022

All booked Thanks so much

Have a great time!

@Shirtyllama

HMS Victory because you go aboard and it's very immersive. The Mary Rose is less exciting because it's a wreck that you look at but can't get into. (It's still great but kids probably find HMS victory more interesting and fun).

If you go to the Mary Rose and you're of a certain age you will bore your kids silly by telling them that you saw it being raised from the sea on Newsround/Blue Peter and they will have no idea why this is such a big deal to you over 30 years later!

This is why I would go Mary Rose every time. They made it sound so exciting, we were all glued to the tv😂

All booked
Thanks so much

Yay! Have a great time!

If looking at Mary rose and victory
And that’s it

How long do you reckon in total?

Reason I ask is that want to book something in the afternoon

Thanks

The Mary Rose is crap compared to actually getting on a ship, if your kids walked past the amazing ships and went into a museum I think they would be disappointed. The whole experience is worth doing with the boat trip to the submarine exhibition.

A couple of hours at least @Reallyimeanreally2022

Actually, allow more for queuing, sorry

I'm sure you can fit whatever you want to in, but I wouldn't try because you will wish you had longer at the dockyard however long you spend there, honestly, if you've got the ticket for everything. If the other thing is a bucket list thing then do it but be prepared to drag your kids away.

@Dinosauria

The Mary Rose is crap compared to actually getting on a ship, if your kids walked past the amazing ships and went into a museum I think they would be disappointed. The whole experience is worth doing with the boat trip to the submarine exhibition.

When did you last go? They’ve done major work apparently and very changed