The National Maritime Museum
The Australian National Maritime Museum is well worth a visit on an overcast day! Visit the ships – inspect the inside of various vessels, learn about the inner workings of a patrol boat or submarine.
Where is The Maritime Museum
The official address is 2 Murray Street, Darling Harbour, Sydney NSW 2000.
It is just across the water from SeaLife etc and alongside the Harbourside Shopping Centre.
Parking for the Maritime Museum
We parked at the Harbourside Car Park operated by Wilson at 100 Murray Street, Pyrmont. Museum visitors can park all day for $14. You must must remember to get your parking ticket stamped at the museum reception.
If the weather is good you can bypass the shopping Centre and walk along the wharf. If its raining or miserable weather you can walk through Harbourside shopping Centre.
In the map below, the red pin is the parking and the Museum is just above that to the right.
The Maritime Museum Features
There is SO much to see and take it that it is all a bit overwhelming.
We only got through 3 of the vessels at top speed and the exhibits. In hindsight I think 3 is too young to enjoy the full experience but there were portions of the museum that he absolutely loved.
Visiting the vessels
There are guided tours on each of the vessels or you can walk through them yourself or with a tour guide.
So, the vessels we got to go on were:
The patrol boat
The HMAS Advance which is an Attack Class Patrol Boat (I have no clue what that means).
Volunteers give you personal tours of the boat.
The submarine – the HMAS Onslow
The destroyer – the HMAS Vampire.
Last boarding is at 4:10pm and the tours start at 10am and thereafter are every hour and also 10:30 am, 1:30pm, 2:30pm and 3:30pm.
There is also a lighthouse which is open between 11am to 1:50pm and 3pm to 3:50pm.
I also spotted a tall ship which looks awesome but my son was having none of it by the time he realised it was nap time.
The replica of the Endeavour is usually on the wharves but is out visiting other states until April 2016.
I’m definitely going to take my dad to check this out when he next visits Sydney although I reckon it’ll take him all day and he’ll still not see it all.
The Maritime Museum Facilities
Everything is wheelchair and pram friendly, except for the vessels themselves.
You can’t take a pram on the vessels.
There are lockers for any big backpacks or bags.
Admission and Ticketing
The Maritime Museum is open 9:30 am – 5pm every day (in January its open until 6pm).
It seems the ANMM is only closed on Christmas Day.
Tickets for all exhibits and the vessels cost are called BIG tickets and cost $30 for adults, $18 for children (ages 4 – 18) and concessions. You can get a family ticket for $75 which is for 2 adults and up to 3 children. You can often get specials on Groupon so I would definitely look there before buying tickets.
Important Information
You’re going to want to wear flat, non-slip shoes if you’re planning on going on the vessels.
The only limiting factor is that children have to be over 90 centimeters to go on the vessels. If either or any of your children is shorter than this someone will have to stay off the boat. I had to sit with our daughter while my husband went on the vessels with our son. I did however, get to go on the destroyer though which was awesome.
