Portsmouth Historic Dockyard

The dockyard is still an operational naval base, and the historic section holds three ships that between them cover four centuries. HMS Victory, launched in 1765 and Nelson's flagship at Trafalgar, is the oldest commissioned warship in the world and sits in dry dock under a long restoration. The Mary Rose sank in 1545 in front of Henry VIII, was found in 1971 and raised in 1982 in a televised operation watched by sixty million; half the hull survived buried in silt, and after decades of spraying with polyethylene glycol and controlled drying she is now displayed in still air alongside nineteen thousand recovered objects. HMS Warrior of 1860 was the first iron-hulled armoured warship, so advanced that she was obsolete within a decade because everything else changed to match her.

What you actually see

• HMS Victory - Nelson's flagship, the world's oldest commissioned warship.
• The Mary Rose - half a Tudor warship with nineteen thousand of its objects.
• HMS Warrior - the first iron-hulled armoured warship, of 1860.
• The working base - active Royal Navy ships alongside the historic ones.

When to go

Year-round; the ticket lasts a year, which the site depends on since one day is not enough. Harbour tours run when naval movements allow. Victory has been under scaffolding for a long restoration.

Honest expectations

Victory's restoration has kept parts of her covered and closed for years. The full ticket is expensive and individual attractions add up. The site is large with a lot of walking, and ship interiors have steep ladders and low headroom.

Nearby

The Spinnaker Tower is on the neighbouring quay; Southsea and the Solent lie south.