Up-to-date ticket prices are available on our tickets page. Standard admission is available for adults and children aged 5–17. Children under 5 visit free. A student rate is also available, valid student ID will be requested on arrival.
Save 10%: Pre-book adult or child tickets online before the day of your visit for a 10% discount on standard admission prices.
Advance booking isn’t essential and tickets are available on arrival. However, pre-booking online before your visit date saves 10% on standard admission prices, so it’s worth doing if your visit is planned.
A standard admission ticket gives access to permanent galleries and temporary exhibitions, including the Tidal Zone underwater gallery, the 100ft Lookout Tower, the RNLI Rescue Zone, the Boat Pool and Skull Island Play Zone. It also includes a free Annual Pass for unlimited return visits over the following 12 months. Twilight Tickets (valid from 3pm) are single-visit only and don’t include an Annual Pass.
Every standard admission ticket is an Annual Pass, letting you return to the Museum as many times as you like for the following 12 months at no extra cost.
Through Gift Aid, this also means your ticket fee counts as a charitable donation, helping fund our work as a maritime heritage charity. Twilight Tickets don’t include an Annual Pass.
Gift Aid lets us claim an extra 25p for every £1 you spend on admission or donate, at no extra cost to you, provided you’re a UK taxpayer. We reclaim this directly from HMRC, which helps generate additional funding for our charitable and educational work. Your address is needed to confirm your UK taxpayer status.
The standard admission ticket to the Museum is also an annual pass that allows you unlimited entry for a whole year. Many people only visit us once in a year but, through Gift Aid, offering annual passes in this way allows us to treat your ticket fee as a donation and therefore increases funding for our charitable work.
We offer a Twilight Ticket which is valid from 3pm until close on the day of visit, for one visit only and does not grant visitors an Annual Pass.
The following discounts are available:
Yes, organised groups of 10 or more receive a 10% discount on entry and free entry for a tour guide or driver. This discount isn’t available on Twilight Tickets.
Schools and other organised educational groups can benefit from education group rates.
If you booked online or in person and gave an email address, you’ll have received a confirmation email with a QR code, you can bring this along with photo ID to gain re-entry.
We’re unable to reprint lost paper tickets or resend confirmation emails, and if no email address was provided at booking we won’t hold a record of your purchase.
Please call us on 01326 313388 to discuss a lost ticket before you make a visit.
Carers who are required to assist disabled visitors are admitted free of charge with the person they are assisting. Eligibility evidence is required.
National Maritime Museum Cornwall membership is an increased level of support for our charitable organisation, members enjoy a range of exclusive benefits, including:
For full details and to join, visit our membership page.
The Museum is open Monday to Sunday, 10am–5pm. We close on Christmas Eve (24 December), Christmas Day (25 December) and Boxing Day (26 December). Please check our website opening times before visiting for any temporary gallery closures.
We recommend allowing a minimum of three hours to fully explore everything on offer. Some visitors enjoy a focused hour-long visit, while families and enthusiasts often spend a whole day here, and with a free Annual Pass included in your admission you’re always welcome to come back and take your time.
Our address is National Maritime Museum Cornwall, Discovery Quay, Falmouth, TR11 3QY. The Museum is easily reached by car, ferry, bus or train and there are bike racks nearby. Visit our Getting Here page for directions, maps and details of nearby car parks and public transport links.
Highlights for younger visitors include:
Yes, National Maritime Museum Cornwall is one of the top family attractions in Falmouth and the wider Cornwall area, with hands-on, interactive galleries designed for children of all ages and hours of indoor exploration across multiple floors.
National Maritime Museum Cornwall has something for every age. Under 5s enjoy FREE entry and love the Skull Island Play Zone and Minnows Tales sessions. Primary-age children love the Boat Pool, RNLI Rescue Zone, Lookout Tower and the Tidal Zone. Older children (and grown-ups!) might enjoy testing their sailing skills on the Boat Pool and exploring the temporary exhibitions and permanent displays.
Yes, the Museum is entirely indoors, with hours of exploration across multiple floors and galleries, making it one of the best wet-weather activities in Falmouth and Cornwall. With the Waterside Café on site, you can easily spend a full day here whatever the weather.
The Museum is fully accessible to wheelchair users, with:
Find out more on our dedicated accessibility page.
The Museum is fully accessible for pushchairs and prams, with:
Find out more on our dedicated accessibility page.
We host events throughout the year, from school holiday theatre shows and craft activities to evening talks and special events. Visit our events calendar for current listings.
Alongside our permanent galleries, our current major exhibition is SURF!, celebrating a century of surfing in Cornwall, running until January 2027 alongside the community exhibition Surfing Memories. Visit our exhibitions page for the latest updates.
Yes, the Waterside Café is open to Museum visitors and serves hot and cold drinks, snacks and light lunches including pasties & toasties with children’s options available. The Waterside Café at National Maritime Museum Cornwall is open 10am – 4pm Monday to Friday and 10am – 4.30pm on Saturday and Sunday.
Yes, our Gift Shop stocks maritime-themed gifts, souvenirs, books, toys and keepsakes. It’s open to non-ticketed visitors too, and well-behaved dogs on leads are welcome inside the Gift Shop. You can shop online too.
During school holidays, a designated picnic area is available for eating your own food. Only food and drink purchased at the Waterside Cafe can be consumed in the Waterside Cafe.
Food and drink cannot be consumed in the Museum’s galleries or play areas.
Only trained assistance dogs are welcome inside the Museum. Assistance dogs are dogs that have been highly trained to carry out a range of tasks and alerts to support a disabled person or person with a long-term medical condition. Other dogs aren’t permitted but well-behaved dogs on leads are welcome in the Gift Shop.
Please note National Maritime Museum Cornwall is not responsible for the loss, damage or theft of visitors’ personal possessions whilst on our premises. We kindly ask that all visitors take reasonable steps to look after their belongings during their visit.
However, if an item is found on our property, we will do our best to hold it safely so it can be returned to its owner. If you think you may have left something behind, please contact us by email or phone and we’ll do our best to help reunite you with your belongings if they have been found.
We don’t have a left luggage facility or a staffed cloakroom, so please avoid bringing large suitcases, oversized bags or backpacks. Unsupervised coat rails are available around the Museum, please don’t leave anything of value on them. National Maritime Museum Cornwall is not responsible for the loss, damage or theft of visitors’ personal possessions whilst on our premises. We kindly ask that all visitors take reasonable steps to look after their belongings during their visit.
We do not have a cloakroom but provide coat rails instead. These are not supervised. Visitors are advised not to leave anything of value. National Maritime Museum Cornwall is not responsible for the loss, damage or theft of visitors’ personal possessions whilst on our premises. We kindly ask that all visitors take reasonable steps to look after their belongings during their visit.
National Maritime Museum Cornwall is rated 4.3 out of 5 on Google (based on over 2,800 reviews), 4.5 out of 5 on Facebook and 4.1 out of 5 on TripAdvisor (based on over 2,300 reviews). It is currently ranked among the top things to do in Falmouth.
National Maritime Museum Cornwall is an award-winning museum and visitor attraction. Recent honours include a Silver award for Large Visitor Attraction of the Year at the 2025 Cornwall Tourism Awards. Earlier awards include the Telegraph Family Friendly Museum Award from Kids in Museums, Silver for Best UK Heritage Attraction at the British Travel Awards and Best Museum in Cornwall at the Cornwall Today Awards.
Visitors enjoy the interactive exhibits, the Tidal Zone underwater gallery, the panoramic views from The Lookout and the welcoming, knowledgeable staff and volunteers. Families with children are enthusiastic reviewers, highlighting the Boat Pool, RNLI Rescue Zone, and play areas as standout experiences.
Standard admission tickets grant free return visits for 12 months which represents good value for money, particularly for locals and visitors on multi-day trips or those who plan to return to Cornwall.
Read reviews or share your own on Google and TripAdvisor. We’d love to hear what you think after your visit.
National Maritime
Museum Cornwall Trust
Discovery Quay
Falmouth Cornwall
TR11 3QY
View Map
See our opening hours
Tel: +44(0)1326 313388
Email: enquiries@nmmc.co.uk
