Scottish Maritime Museum

On a tour you can also visit the Pontoons in the harbour, where the floating boats are moored, the restoration slipway. A tour also includes the shipyard workers' tenement flat, restored to its pre-1920s appearance.

The Museum shop stocks a wide selection of general and maritime souvenirs, books and videos.

Puffers Coffee Shop on the Museum Wharf is being refurbished and will reopen during early summer 2009 serving light meals, snacks and drinks throughout the year.

Irvine Harbour was once one of Glasgow's main trading ports. Now the Harbourside offers many attractions for visitors, from the Magnum Leisure Centre to bird watching on the river estuary. The Beach Park offers fine walks and rides with magnificent views of the Firth of Clyde.

If you are interested in the restoration of old vessels and machinery or maritime research, there are opportunities with the Scottish Maritime Heritage Association based at the Museum.

Disabled access is limited in some areas of the Museum.

Don't forget to visit the Scottish Maritime Museum's other two sites - The Denny Ship Model Experiment Tank at Dumbarton, where you can step into the world of the Victorian ship designer, and Clydebuilt Maritime Museum at Braehead, which explores the story of the River Clyde. See separate entries for these sites and their opening times.

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