Maritime Museum

The Maritime Museum is currently closed for refurbishment and is expected to re-open in 2029.

Liverpool’s Maritime Museum is part of the National Museums Liverpool collection. As one of the country’s major ports, seafaring and shipping has played an important part in Liverpool’s history. Discover more about it at the Royal Albert Dock where the Maritime Museum is located.

The museum occupies four floors and two historic vessels; the Edmund Gardner pilot ship and the three-masted schooner, De Wadden. They’re both kept in dry dock opposite the museum.

The museum explores topics such as the life of Liverpool’s seafarers and passengers throughout history; the tragic story of the Titanic which was registered in the city but never visited it; the merchant navy and its role in the Second World War; and the sinking of the Lusitania.

There are also temporary exhibitions in the ground floor Quayside Gallery.

The Border Force National Museum is housed in the basement, and is more excitingly known as Seized! The Borders and Customs Uncovered. You can experience the life of the customs officer, a dark and unseen world of smuggling, intrigue and danger where things are not always what they seem.

The International Slavery Museum is on the third floor of the same building. It explores Liverpool’s role in the transatlantic slave trade and tells the unheard stories of enslaved people. It also includes a growing collection that highlights various forms of modern-day slavery.

As well as the displays themselves there is also an archive centre which holds an extensive collection of maritime and slavery books and documents spanning three centuries. Much of the information is also available online.

Visitors can book guided tours of Liverpool’s Old Dock. These begin from the anchor outside the Maritime Museum. Entrance to the museum is free but the tours are £8.50.

There’s a café serving toasties, sandwiches, soup and scouse as well as plenty of benches around the Royal Albert Docks for picnics outside in the summer.