A trip to the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich with kids
Considering a trip to Greenwich with kids? We recently took our boys, aged six and three, to the National Maritime Museum in London. It’s part of the Royal Museums Greenwich which includes the Cutty Sark, the Queen’s House and the Royal Observatory. The National Maritime Museum is a brilliant place for children (and adults) to learn about Britain’s naval history.
Families in the UK and particularly in London are fortunate: our national museums are free to visit (with the option of making a donation). If you have energetic children with short attention spans, you can drop in, see something specific and then make a swift exit without worrying that you’ve wasted your money or that you haven’t soaked up enough culture.
On our visit to the National Maritime Museum, with our three year old at his exuberant best, we knew time might be short so we opted to join one of the excellent child-friendly Character Encounters.
We joined John Simmonds, a black sailor who served with Nelson at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. He was played by a talented actor who engaged brilliantly with the children and took us on a very animated trip through British naval history touching on slavery, life aboard ship and the brutal reality of war at sea. I would highly recommend taking one of these tours, which run on Saturdays and last about 45 minutes.
The tour commenced at the Sammy Ofer Wing which is where I recommend families enter the museum as you will avoid coming across the Ahoy! Children’s Gallery which is next to the Stanhope entrance (once your children have discovered this play area you’ll find it hard to extract them).
After pointing out Nelson’s Ship in a Bottle, a replica of HMS Victory, John Simmonds took us up to the Nelson, Navy, Nation gallery where the children unfurled semaphore flags and took part in a recreation of the Battle of Trafalgar by dropping to the floor to avoid getting blown to pieces by cannon fire from the French and Spanish.
We saw the fatal bullet hole in Nelson’s naval uniform and the boys even got to see the metal spoon, complete with teeth marks, which Nelson bit on while doctors fought in vain to save his life.
After much singing and shouting (I’m impressed that the museum has such a spirited tour), we concluded our exploration close to the All Hands Children’s Gallery where kids can dress up as sailors, practice morse code and operate a crane lifting cargo onto a ship. If your child is going through a phase of not wanting to share, you might wish to avoid the crane, there were several disgruntled toddlers while we were there, including our own. The gallery is aimed at children aged six to twelve but most of the children were younger than that when we visited.
Once we’d exhausted the All Hands gallery we headed for the Great Map which is a suitably large, open space for children to expend a bit of energy while parents refuel at the adjoining cafe, good planning on the part of the museum.
Finally we took the children to Ahoy! Children’s Gallery which is located next to the Stanhope entrance. Aimed at children aged up to seven years, Ahoy! is a child-heaven and parent-hell kind of place.
There’s certainly a laudable amount of education to it: boats to be fixed, a fish shop to man and a replica of the SS Rawalpindi to captain, but ultimately it felt claustrophobic and intense on our visit. The ceilings are low and there’s no natural light. If you live close by I’d imagine it’s a great soft play location to bring children on a rainy day, provided you arrive early. By the time we reached Ahoy! it was around 4pm, the gallery was a bit of a mess and some children were showing signs of needing to go home (or perhaps that was just me).
Overall I was incredibly impressed by the National Maritime Museum and I’m sure we’ll return to explore it further, there are numerous themes with which to explore the museum such as art and trade and you can take other Character Encounter tours. Clearly a lot of thought has been put into making it a great family experience. However, my kids are desperate to visit the Cutty Sark so I expect that’s where we’ll head to on our next visit to Greenwich with kids.
Please note, while the National Maritime Museum is free, some of the other royal museums at Greenwich such as the Cutty Sark are chargeable.
Have you been to the National Maritime Museum at Greenwich with kids? If so, what were the highlights for you? Let me know in the comments below.
Greenwich and all are museums are brilliant, the character tour sounds like an excellent way of discovering the museum. When you go back Cutty Sark is just brilliant. Thank you for linking up to #CulturedKids
Yes, I can’t wait to take them to the Cutty Sark!
It was one of the first placeI visited in London when I was 9 and is still special today
We could barely drag out kids out of Ahoy! They loved it. We had them shovelling coal in the boiler room for ages. The map was v cool too. #citytripping
Don’t remember seeing any coal, must arrive earlier next time!
We must go here! I can’t believe we haven’t to be honest. Looks brill for kids and after our trip to Portsmouth historic dockyard our interest in naval history has been reignited. Thanks for linking #citytripping
I loved your review of Portsmouth, that’s definitely on my list!
This was on our list to see when we went to London but sadly we ran out of time…it looks like a great place to visit with or without kids #theweeklypostcard
Yes, it’s great for everyone. My school history lessons glossed over A LOT so it was very interesting to get a more rounded education on what Britain got up to…
My toddler loved the Ahoy! gallery – as you say, hard to drag them away! #citytripping
I love that many of the museums in London are free. The museums in Chicago charge an arm and a leg. This museum sounds very interesting. I think my kids would enjoy it. #CulturedKids
Yes, we are incredibly lucky here!
We so need to go here…can’t believe we haven’t! Looks so much fun for the kids and a great tip to take one of the character tours #ExplorerKids
Definitely do it, we’ll be going back soon I’m sure!
I’ve been to Greenwich many times but never into any of the museums. The Maritime Museum looks so interesting! #citytripping
I definitely recommend a visit!
We went here recently too and I was so impressed – I did not expect to enjoy it anywhere near as much as I did. Highlights for me were Turner’s Battle of Trafalgar and the section on the slave trade. My kids were fascinated by it all too – a real surprise of a find and I’d recommend it to anyone! #citytripping
It’s great visiting places like this with kids isn’t it? You see it from a whole new perspective.
We have been considering a trip to this area for quite some time. I’m wondering if my boys 9 and 15 would enjoy this? #citytripping
If they have an interest in naval history or astronomy I think they’ll love it.
We have been to the National Maritime Museum a couple of times. I think it is a museum for all ages. I loved visiting the Old Royal Naval College, especially the Painted Hall. So beautiful. #FarawayFiles
I can’t wait to return to explore the museums further.
This is so interesting. I have not visited the NMM in Greenwich for years! It has all changed! Looks very impressive. I must take the kids there one day. I like to find out what’s hell like in the Ahoy! Children’s Gallery. lol! 😉
Thanks so much for linking up with us on #ExplorerKids xx
Hopefully it’s more appealing first thing in the morning. We were there on a cold rainy afternoon in autumn so I think it was rather busy!
I must take my kids here. My daughter recently went on a school trip to Greenwich Observatory but we haven’t been to Greenwich as a family in a few years now. Sarah #ExplorerKids
I can’t wait to return to Greenwich. I hadn’t realised until we went just how much there is to see there.
These character encounter tours sound brilliant. What a fab way to get children excited about the museum and its stories. I agree that the the activity areas for kids are amazing at the National Maritime Museum. Can’t wait to take mine again. Thanks for sharing on #FarawayFiles
It’s such a brilliant place, I wish we could get into London more frequently.
I haven’t been to the Ahoy Gallery with mine yet, but I do have memories of that crane! The Character Encounters sound brilliant – we really must go back. We went through a stage of visiting the Maritime Museum every month or so, as it’s not too far from us. And, as you say, when it’s free, it’s so easy to just nip in for a short while. Thanks so much for linking up with #CulturedKids!
I’d love to have places like this so close by. We traded culture for countryside but still have to come back regularly to get a London fix!
The Great Map looks awesome and I know my kids would love to practice morse code. Looks like the perfect place to let the kids burn off some steam all the while learning some history. Thanks for linking up with #farawayfiles
We loved the map, such a great idea!
I love museums, your children are at the perfect age to go museum hopping. I can’t wait to do that with my little one in the future. X
It’s a great family outing, I just wish we had more time to go to London as we have such a long list of places we want to explore!
I know what you mean, you need a good few days there if not more, to make the most of it. 🙂
Wow! This museum seems so charming and a place I would love to visit, Annabel. Is a day trip enough to explore this place?
Sorry, I have only just discovered your message, it had been withheld without me noticing for some reason. Anyway, in case you still need the question answered, if you’re just visiting the Maritime Museum a day should be long enough. However, if you want to visit some of the other attractions in Greenwich such as the Cutty Sark and the Observatory, you’d need another day or two. We only scraped the surface on our visit which lasted around 2 hours I think.
I’m ashamed to say, in all my trips to London, I’ve still not gone to Greenwich. I really must go, as we loved seeing HMS Victory in Portsmouth – I love all the history about Nelson.
I’m chuckling to myself, remembering visits to museums with my boy when he was little – things don’t change, no matter how hi-tech the exhibits are!
I’d love to visit Portsmouth, it sounds like there’s been a lot of investment in visitor attractions since I was last there. Yes, visits with small children to museums are quite exhausting but rewarding (I think…)!