Best Maritime Museums Around the World!

The Maritime Museum shows Lisbon's and Portugal's pioneering roles in the exploration of the oceans. It includes model ships from the Age of Discovery, a wooden figure representing the Archangel Raphael that accompanied Vasco da Gama on his voyage to India, ancient globes, old maps showing the world as it was then known, and the plane that made the first crossing of the South Atlantic in 1922 piloted by Portuguese aviators Gago Coutinho and Sacadura Cabral.

A statue of Prince Henry the Navigator and a map showing the routes of Portugal's explorers welcome visitors to the museum。

Other highlights include 17th-century astrolabes found on shipwrecks off the coast of Brazil and Florida, and the cabins of the royal yacht "Amélia" dating from 1900.

The International Maritime Museum of Hamburg starts with the story of a little boy who grew up to become an avid collector of all things nautical. Throughout his life, Peter Tamm (1928 - 2016) collected everything having to do with maritime history. As a young child, Peter's mother always brought him a gift when he was sick and had to stay in bed — a miniature ship. And so his collector's passion was sparked. Today, over 1 million pictures,100,000 books, and 38,000 miniature ships, as well as countless oil paintings, nautical instruments, uniforms, maps, telescopes, and other nautically themed collectables make up the treasure trove stored within the International Maritime Museum.

The museum, located in Hafen City Hamburg, opened its doors the the public in 2008. The extraordinary collection is distributed throughout various exhibits over nine levels, with each exhibit telling its own unique story through artifacts. For example, you might wish to visit the world's largest bone ship collection on level eight.

Since Roman times, Greenwich has been associated with the sea and navigation. It is fitting that one of the largest maritime museums in the world was built here! The museum is home to stunning archives and memorabilia that capture the history of seafaring Britain, which holds over 2.5 million items, including astronomical and navigational instruments, ship models and plans, coins, medals and flags, uniforms and weapons, plus historical art, film and photography. The National Maritime Museum also contains the world's largest maritime library and archive collection.

When it comes to exploration trade, shipping and navigation, no other country in the world has a more advanced naval history than Britain’s. As a matter of fact, Britain has such a vast and important maritime history, it’s often associated with British culture and identity. That’s why the National Maritime Museum is considered to be a treasure trove for any naval enthusiast, young or old.

Australian National Maritime Museum on the waterfront of the stunning Darling Harbo ofSydney is an exceptional tribute to Australia’s relationship with the sea. With exhibitions ranging from the discovery of Australia to the naval defense of the nation to surf culture, this maritime museum has plenty of things for you and your family to explore. Upon entering the museum, you will be greeted by the famous Welcome Wall, a marble monument inscribed with the names of all those who migrated to Australia. After exploring the historic galleries inside the museum, take a walk on the attractive waterfront. See what naval life was like below the water on the HMAS Onslow or walk through a replica of Captain Cook’s Endeavour. For even more adventure, reserve tickets to sail across the harbor in the 19th century vessel, the James Craig.

The National Maritime Museum is housed in Amsterdam, a former naval storehouse from 1656. The museum is dedicated to ships and ship transport. It illustrates the story of five hundred years of maritime history in the Netherlands and shows the sea’s influence on the Dutch culture. The collection of The National Maritime Museum is one of the largest and most notable maritime collections in the world with approximately 400,000 objects.The collection includes ship models, paintings, world maps and various weapons. A 1990 replica of the famous VOC ship Amsterdam is moored next to the museum.

Kobe Maritime Museum Located inside a stunning building with a dramatic steel framework in the shape of sails, the Kobe Maritime Museum holds a unique collection of model ships and interesting history about Japan’s oceanic connection to the world. Though many of the displays are only in Japanese, non-Japanese speakers can still easily comprehend the exhibitions and enjoy the displays. Kobe Maritime Museum opened in 1987 to commemorate the 120th anniversary of Kobe's opening as a foreign Treaty Port in 1868 at the end of the Edo Period of Japanese history.

The Maritime Museum of San Diego has earned an international reputation for top quality in reconditioning, preserving, and functioning historic vessels. With a high-class selection of sailing ships, submarines, and steamboats, the museum has various ancient vessels. It includes Star of India as the oldest active ship of the world, HMS Surprise from the famous film “Master and Commander,” and the B-39 Russian submarine. Visitors can join daily public tours to enjoy the exhibition of the collection of ships. Guests will have a chance to uncover onboard each vessel’s enticing exhibits, as well as enjoy an art gallery, gift shop, and attractive play area for children. Moreover, they can enjoy a voyage to San Diego Bay on board a classic vessel as well. The Maritime Museum of San Diego gives an international class exploration for everyone.

From a distance it is almost invisible, but below ground, in the middle of the newly renovated Culture Harbour Kronborg in Elsinore and neighbouring the majestic Kronborg Castle, is Denmark’s maritime museum. If one follows the gently sloping bridges down to the old dry dock, one will experience one of the recent year’s most spectacular new buildings in Denmark。The M/S Maritime Museum of Denmark tells the story of Denmark as one of the world’s leading maritime nations, in an evocative and dramatic way, within an innovative architectural setting .

Maritime Museums aren’t exactly easy to describe. The collection housed within each maritime museum is different and unique which presents different slivers of information to the patrons. The enhancement of marine museum’s significance thus perhaps stems from this singularity that they provide to the communities.