Scottish Maritime Museum

Overview

Visit the Museum's Boatshop on Irvine's harbourside, where you will find exhibitions, ship models and a children's activity area, as well as the museum shop. Guided tours start here throughout the day. You can also visit Scotland's "Cathedral to Engineering", the Linthouse Engine Shop, built in 1872, where you can explore much of the Museum's collection inside, including shipbuilding machinery and machine tools, smaller boats, canoes, lifeboats, and much more. On a tour you can also visit the museum's Pontoons in the harbour, where the floating boats are moored, and you can always board at least one vessel. Boats here include "Carola", a steam yacht, "Garnock", a harbour tug,the puffer "Spartan. A tour also includes the shipyard workers" tenement flat, restored to its pre-1920s appearance. The hulk of the tall ship "Carrick", formerly the "City of Adelaide" sits behind the boatshop.

Puffer's Coffee shop on the wharf is open all year, for coffee, lunches and delicious cakes. You might also see Sammy the Seal basking in Irvine harbour.

Don't forget to visit the Scottish Maritime Museum's other site The Denny Ship Model Experiment Tank at Dumbarton, where you can step into the world of the Victorian ship designer. See separate entry for this site and the opening times.