HMS Belfast

Our oldest loves historic battle ships. He was super excited and we took the self paced tour with the handheld audio guide. It wasn't busy when we visited. A great experience. Quite fascinating. Lots of history on this ship while going through the various areas of the ship. Very insightful tour about the ship and the daily life of those who've served on it. Get a deeper appreciation of all those who've served and are actively serving.. quite fitting with Memorial Day just a few days away. From the ship you'll get a nice view of the Thames area and London bridge. Btw, our first visit to London long ago, we didn't realize the ship was there.

I always love paying a visit to historical military ships and this one does not disappoint! With the HMS Belfast being a cruiser, this ship isn’t as daunting as a larger battleship, and you can explore this one comfortably in about 2 - 4 hours depending on your speed and if you feel the need to stop and read / listen to each section (audio guides come free with admission). There are directional arrows to guide guests along the right path so you don’t get lost. Be ready for lots of tight spaces, especially when going up or down the stairs that are really more like ladders. There is also a cafe on the ship with bathrooms so they have done a good job to provide amenities to visitors. The gift shop was fun but I wish it had more to offer.

Best experience for those who love military crafts, tells a quite good story about British manufacturing and military abilities in the previous century.
Note: HMS Belfast team should tell people that moving around the ship is not easy, you need both hands to climb steep stairs, and sometimes even a pack back could cause you some difficulty in movement.

HMS BELFAST boat in London I can only recommend. It is not just an ordinary museum. I liked the possibility of interaction that bring the ship's history to life. For a moment you feel like you are part of the crew. All those who served on HMS BELFAST were heroes to me. We spent a few hours on the boat. definitely worth a visit. 👍👍👍👍⚓

Superseded my expectations.

Firstly, the ship is huge. I suppose that’s no surprise, but the fact you can explore just about all of it is outstanding. You can spend hours here!

Secondly, I was in awe by the level of restoration and maintenance which must be required to keep the ship in this state.

Finally, it was the story of how the HMS Belfast came to live on the Thames. Don’t miss the videos on the computer screens at the end of your visit. There’s a ton of history, told by the men who once served on the ship. It was one of my favourite parts!

If you like ships, this is for you. I spent 2 hours here. Quite a lot to see. A few tight stairs to climb up and down. Some small places on board. But it's an amazing visit, how big it is and how heavy it must be, and still floats.

What an incredible experience. I couldn’t recommend it more.
Different to other museums, it’s interactive, you can touch everything and it’s a good workout going up and down the ladders.

Learnt so much.

Was also very impressed to see the gaming room with the warships towards the end.

Great views and really nice staff. One of the staff was so enthusiastic about the history and took his time showing us around. 10/10

I recommend becoming an IWM member, as it’s free entry to this and other museums. £5 a month for 12-months, so you save money really!

A beautiful piece of history that sits on the river right in the centre of London. Didn't have time to go in and check out the interior, but worth seeing even from afar, especially if naval history piques your interest.

Do you want to become a marine for a day and to discover what it was like living on a floating fortress? Why not taking a sit in the captain’s chair and see the view from his eyes. The sizes of the vessel would impress you and if you ask me- that’s one of London’s best attractions to visit, especially if you like huge military machines.

Amazing Museum. It includes Audioguides in anwide variety of Languages. It also offenes exclusive Talks of specific topics Like Radar and so on. The Staff is very kind and atemptive. The ship is huge, very well maintained, please bring enough time to fully enjoy the whole tour. It took us around 3 hours to see everything. It is definitely worth it.

Absolutely beautiful warship, you could spend hours in it. I am just in awe and I love it so much. I wish there were more existing ships like it.

Absolutely fantastic time on board HMS Belfast and the staff were awesome. You have to be fairly nimble to get around some parts of the ship but definitely worth seeing it all. Not exactly cheap to get in but you will be there a long time so worth every penny.

Unique "museum", it was a surprise for me, I've found about it during a river Thames cruise. A very interesting lesson of history and engineering and a rare ocasion to step on a real war ship.

Visiting the HMS Belfast (part of the Imperial War Museum trust) is a must for the military history passionate and regular tourists alike, when in London.
Purchasing tickets online guarantees a quick entry and less queuing than otherwise. The ship is kept in excellent condition and the work done on it to restore various pieces of equipment and decks is admirable. The visitors can explore most of the ship's decks, from the engine rooms to machine rooms, workshops, dispensary and med bay, canteen, store rooms, to the admiral's deck and radar/weapons control rooms and the main 6" battery turrets.
Audio guides are also available and care must be taken when moving from one deck to the other as the stairs are quite narrow and the wrungs, slim. Kids seem to also really enjoy the light cruiser.

Fantastic place to visit. Be prepared to spend more than 2 hours. Tours are a bit complicated and not marked too well. There is an audio guide that is worth listening to.

Been meaning to visit this for many years. It was well worth the wait.
I suggest researching the history of the ship beforehand to get the most out of your visit.
There are lots of steep steps, so be aware of this and your own physical abilities before buying a ticket.
On a side note, we picked up an interesting snippet of info about why the forward guns are pointed where they are, but if I told you, I would have to kill you 🙂

A very interesting place with lots of details about ships and how they operate. Besides the technology, HMS Belfast has a great history and a very interesting story to tell. Definitely worth a visit.

Missed visiting this on previous holidays, but this time around I finally got to see it. You can either have an audio guide or do a self guided tour and I opted for the latter. Despite having a map of the ship it was a little confusing at times as to how to access the various areas, which direction to follow and as a consequence I never made it to the engine rooms. You'll also have to descend and ascend a number of steep stairs if you want to access all areas, so if stairs aren't your thing you may want to forego visiting the ship. It's an amazingly well preserved ship, gives you a great appreciation of how the crew lived, what they had to endure and the various functional areas.

Amazing bit of history. If you have an interest in WW2 history or ships, this is a must see display. It’s very much as it was when service ended, so there are lots of steep narrow ladders required to go between decks. If you have mobility issues this probably isn’t one where you will be able to see everything

Great museum ship to visit! Wonderful to see how well they maintained the Belfast. Its amazing to be able to walk through the entire ship. Would recommend a visit!