The Historic Dockyard Chatham, Kent, United Kingdom

4Ian L 5:00 PM Feb 12, 2023

Great exhibitions cafe could be improved
The exhibitions are excellent and the knowledge of the guides outside the actual ships on show are good. We took our 10 year old and 9 year old at half term. Booking was easy online although you do have to register names date of births. We arrived at 10.00am and it took a few minutes to get our tickets processed. I should imagine later in the day this would be annoying if you pre-booked and then had to queue for several families to be processed because when you arrive the adults have their picture taken as the ticket lasts a year. After that you can come and go as you please. We saw the lifeboat museum, the hook a duck, games at the museum and the 2 ships and the submarine. We did break off to use the cafe for lunch but it took about 15mins to serve 5 families before us so this left little time to eat anything else his was the only real area that could do with improving . Allow an hour for lunch. Not vegan friendly. The submarine and the games you have to book a slot at the start. We didn’t bother with the rope making room and other exhibitions as it would have been too long a day for our kids and as we live 45 mins away and can make use of the yearly ticket. We took 4 hours including 40-60 mins breaks without rushing. The ships and the sub are very interesting but as you can imagine they aren’t very Accessible for everyone. There are steep ship ladders and the sub has small hatches that you have to navigate through along it’s length. I recommend going in last on the sub so you can take it in without feeling pressured to move along for people behind you in your group. It’s like a very narrow corridor. The ships you can move at your own pace.

4David 5:00 PM Sep 14, 2022

A great place to visit but....
A fantastic day out with too much to do to fit in one day! However, whilst the website states that it is open until 17:00 and that exhibits only start to close at 16:30, don't expect to be able to get in anywhere beyond this. The place really closes at 16:30 with the staff liking to shut things as soon as possible in order to leave 10 minutes early. Most staff are wonderful but one man was quite condescending and another is quite self righteous and not pleasant about the guests when he thinks that he can't be heard. It makes sense to book the online tickets as they are cheaper but be aware that you can't book them on the same day that you are arriving. Luckily the very kind lady on the front desk helped us out. Overall, it is definitely worth visiting with really informative and entertaining exhibits and tours. Just make sure not to plan on visiting any exhibits after 16:30 and try and book tickets at least a day before.