National Maritime Museum Cornwall Museums

Housed in an award winning building on the Falmouth harbour-side, the National Maritime Museum Cornwall transports you into the world of small boats and Cornish maritime history.

What do sailors need to know about the weather and navigation? Can you steer a boat through a narrow channel? How are charts made and how do you use them?

This gallery is full of interactive exhibits that give you an insight into the art of navigation and meteorology. Try your hand at steering a boat with a tiller; launch your boat against the tide and try to get to the harbour; watch a weather system pass over; find out the facts behind weather lore sayings.

Experience racing in a regatta, the fury of a storm at sea, or the relaxing calm of an estuary at dawn, as you set off on your voyage around the Museum. Inside Set Sail, nine boats tell their stories in an audio-visual immersive experience that will enthral you whatever your background or interest.

Nowhere else in the British Isles can you experience life under the sea like this!

In the Tidal Zone you can go underwater and look out into the harbour through two large windows - if you stand there long enough you'll see the tide rise and fall! Take a really close look and you could catch a glimpse of a cormorant diving after a fish, crabs, shrimps and much more.

The Museum is open daily from 10 - 5pm.

We are closed on Christmas day & Boxing day. .