royal navy submarine museum

Gives a real insight into the lives of submariners in the days before nuclear submarines.The highlight of the visit is the opportunity to go onboard a real life (albeit retired) submarine and get a feeling of how it must have been to spend several weeks at sea on one of these things. The guides are all ex-submariners who are very knowledgeable. Apart from the submarine, there are many interactive displays to keep the kids entertained, as well as a cinema showing a short film about the submarine. We were tight on time so didn't spend as much time here as we would have liked and will return one day. Well worth a visit when in the Gosport area.

This is an excellent museum with a great selection of Submarines, from the preserved 'Holland 1' to a WW" diesel boat, and they even have a midget submarine.The staff are knowlegable and friendly, there is a boat that runs across to portsmouth to the historic dockyard, which was good fun as well

4 Adults and 3 Kids (ages 3 - 12) had a fantastic day out. Excellent facilities, friendly staff and of you sign up for gift aid you get a return visit. The submarine tour was so interesting although not for the claustrophobic! It gave an amazing insight into life as a submariner. Well worth a visit

We took the little boat across the water from Portsmouth Historic Dockyard and then booked the tour of the submarine by an ex-serviceman with a twinkle in his eye. The old subs really were snug! There is plenty to see over the site and we started out by walking up to the torpedo buildings, which were quiet, and then working our way back down via the earliest submarine and the museum. There is lots of technical information if you are interested in that and a chance to peer into the innards of things that you don't normally see.

Museum has been transformed since I first visited many years ago - excellent facilities. HMS Alliance is main attraction and our guide was a joy to listen to - so knowledgeable and informative and obviously proud to have served in the service. Take as many photos as you like - nothing secret there now! My wife is in a wheelchair and she could have taken a lift to the aft section of the Alliance, but she chose not to - her choice, staff were extremely helpful and it would not have been a problem. Wheelchair access otherwise was very good.Café looked good with reasonable prices.

The submarine museum is fascinating. The restored sub Holland 1 is impressive and the museum exhibition very interesting. There's an activity area for children where they can pump water in an out of chambers turn valves etc. However, whilst quaint I don't think it will keep kids occupied for too long. The star of the show is obviously HMS Alliance the Amphion class submarine which you can board and look round. Guided tours are conducted by ex submariners and they are fascinating chaps to listen to. I'm not sure how many visitors are normally taken into the sub for the tours but we were in a group of 6 and that was just enough people where you could comfortably look around the cramped interior and get a proper look at what the guide was talking about. Although currently being renovated, the HMS Alliance is very impressive and I can only imagine what it was like to serve on her back in the day.One criticism I do have of the museum is a distinct lack of any mention of the HMS Affray. This was another Amphion class sub which sank in 1951 in the English Channel with the loss of 75 men. There's no mention of the disaster in the museum or indeed the guide book that you can buy at the museum. Though the crew of the Affray are listed in the Remembrance garden that is the only reference there is.Considering the memorial to the HMS Affray is actually in Gosport I thought more mention would have been made of it. Especially since the broken snort mast from the Affray used to be housed at the submarine museum.

A great set up with our nations seafaring history all around. The conditions that our Mariners and sub Mariners endured are amazing. A fun and fact filled day out for the whole family. The annual ticket also lets you explore the historic dockyard in Portsmouth and the Explosion museum!

Amazing experience visiting the huge submarine at Gosport. The guides on board were so knowledgeable and passionate about the submarine service, and at least one had obviously served. The museum was great, too, with loads of interactive stuff for the kids. Then a short ferry back to Portsmouth - great day out.

Perhaps if I had been a submariner I would have found it more interesting, grandsons had lots of questions though

Finding the museum was simple enough even though it is tucked away in a marina. The day we went it was wet and cold, but that doesn't really impact on the venue, as everything is 'indoors'. Buying tickets 'on-line' saves you a bit of money but not any time. The museum, adjacent to the submarine, has interactive elements for kids. I took my 6 yr old daughter, who engaged with the different tools quite easily, although I would say a couple of the them weren't working. There is also an original mini sub, which offers a graphic idea of what early sub warfare involved. Having bough tickets on line, I thought that we would be able to just roll up and go aboard the submarine when we wanted. That is not the case, as one then has to join a queue for the next group that is going aboard. This is perfectly understandable given the tight space aboard. Our arrival was ill-timed, as we had to wait over an hour before we could go aboard. We spent this time going around the museum, which thankfully just about filled an hour. For anyone with young children they will know, they don't like hanging around waiting in queues. If you are going in summer, expect loooonnnnggg waits and queues. The interior of the sub (what we really wanted to see) was very interesting, if rather short-lived, as the public only gets to see one level. I asked why and was cited health and safety. So in reality, the public only gets to see about a third of the ship, which is rather disappointing and very one dimensional. Once aboard, an ex service man gives the group a brief description of where everything is and conditions aboard. The man we had was, I have to say, less than respectful to a Japanese woman in his flippant use of wartime vernacular talking about the Japanese foe. The lack of laughter from the group reflected that. For the limited time aboard the brief insight was very interesting what with scenes set as though the crew has just gone ashore. Bottom line question: is it worth the money. Well, its pretty much on a par with most other tourist venues, so perhaps the question is irrelevant. The positive side is that your ticket can be use over an over again during the course of the year.

Excellent day out very educational the guide was very knowledgeable as he had served on the vessel when it was in service

Most of the attractions are indoors so you can visit any time of the year, aprox 3 hours in total lots to look round and touch, Great guided tour inside Alliance

We visited the alliance last november, much improved since I last went about 20 years ago. The guides are ex submariners and the one we had was very good he told us stories from when he was a submariner which makes the tour even more realistic, the museum part is also very informative.the cost is around 14 pound. But we bought a portsmouth historic dockyard ticket for a year from travelzoo,cost £25 for 2 adults and allows you access to warrior mary rose victory and the marines museum also harbour tour and alliance and explosion museum brilliant value for money

The submarine museum is a must visit site .it has had a multi million pound .refit and upgrade HMS alliance their full size sub has been complely refurbished with its whole casing repaired to give it years of life. HMS Holland is repaired and in its own building .parking is free if you come on the road to Gosport . if on Portsmouth gun WARF side a cheap Frey will get you there . added to the dockyard ships victory .Mary rose. Warrior also explosion and haubour tours are all include d in the one ticket .do not miss offers on Groupon and amosom local 1 year ticket s for 2 adults £25 .family may be £28/£35 To visit all as many times as you wish .the submarine museum blows your socks off and is my favourite of all the attraction s . You will not be disappointed I promise you good for all age 6 to 86 years old ¡!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I went here recently, and being local I visit quite often. Brilliant guided tour of the Alliance. Well worth making the effort to see.