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Further Information
Open daily 10am-5pm.
The Piermaster's House open daily 10am-3.30pm.
Closed from 2pm on 24 December and all day on 25 and 26 December and 1 January.
Maritime Archives and Library open Tuesday-Thursday, 10.30am-4.30pm.
Please note that the former pilot boat, which you can usually see in the dry dock outside the museum, is currently closed to the public while major construction work in the dockside area is carried out. It will open again in 2010. During the closure you can still see inside the ship in our Edmund Gardner feature and online tour.
Local travel information is available on the Merseytravel website or by calling 0871 200 2233.
Please note that the riverside walkway between Pier Head and the Albert Dock will be closed until early 2009 while construction takes place in the area. Visitors are advised to use the Dock Road route until the riverside walkway is open again.
Major roadworks are currently taking place in the Albert Dock area of Liverpool which may affect Strand Street and other routes to the museum.
For the latest news about all developments affecting roads, streets and public spaces in the city centre please check Liverpool City Council's Big Dig website, which is updated regularly.
The nearest car parks are located in the Liverpool ONE complex opposite the entrance to the Albert Dock. Q-Park Strand Street has 2000 underground spaces, Q-Park Gradwell Street has 560 multi-storey spaces and Q-Park John Lewis has 580 multi-storey spaces. The entrance to the Strand Street car park is opposite the Albert Dock and is accessible from the centre of the road in both directions. The Gradwell Street car park is opposite BBC Radio Merseyside and the John Lewis car park is located opposite the Paradise Street bus interchange and the police station.
Charged car and coach parking is also available at the adjacent King's Dock. Please note that the car park at Mann Island is now closed.
There are 3 blue badge parking spaces in the car park on the right hand side of the road leading into the Albert Dock, opposite the Dock Traffic Office building (the former Granada Television building). Another 4 designated blue badge spaces are available in the on-street parking on the right hand side of the approach road, which are slightly further away from the museum building. Charges apply for parking in both these areas.
Admission to Merseyside Maritime Museum and all the National Museums Liverpool venues is FREE.
All exhibitions, events and activities at National Museums Liverpool are also FREE.
There is an information desk in the entrance foyer of the museum.
The museum shop on the ground floor has a wide range of souvenirs, books, postcards and fair trade gifts.
There are benches overlooking the docks outside the museum, but no tables, where visitors can eat a picnic on a nice day. Please dispose of rubbish responsibly.
Feel free to bring your mp3 player or mobile phone with you but please turn phones to 'vibrate only' and please consider other visitors when adjusting your volume levels.
Sorry, we do not have a designated, staffed cloakroom, although there are a small number of lockers available on the ground floor (please bring a £1 coin to operate, which will be returned after use). We also ask that visitors avoid bringing bags into the museum.
We do not have a prayer room.
Admission to the Maritime Archive and Library is by free ticket, available in person from the enquiry desk. The tickets available are either an annual reader's ticket, (for which proof of identity will be required), or a temporary daily ticket valid only on day of issue.
If you are visiting to see a particular object we suggest you contact us in advance to ensure it is on gallery (we sometimes loan objects to other galleries or remove them for conservation). Call the information desk on 0151 478 4499.
Serving a selection of hot and cold drinks, snacks and filled baguettes.
For bookings call 0151 478 4446, international telephone +44 151 478 4446. Other café enquiries can be directed via our 'contact us' system.
Non-commercial photography is permitted but neither flash nor tripods can be used.
Visitors wanting to use the venue for location shooting of any kind should contact our press department. More information on location shooting can be found here.
Artists wanting to work in any of our venues should consult our guidelines for artists working in the venues.
There is access for visitors with disabilities to all National Museums Liverpool, although limited restrictions apply.
A complete access guide for Merseyside Maritime Museum is available on the Disabled Go website (please note that this does not yet cover the International Slavery Museum).
All sites have adapted toilet facilities, with the exception of the Piermaster's House. Wheelchair access is not possible to the Piermaster's House.
Guide and hearing dogs welcome.
Table service, braille and large print menus are available in the cafe.
There are two ramped accesses (gradients 1:12 and 1:15) and a lift to upper floors. Unfortunately the following areas are inaccessible to wheelchair users:
You can learn about 19th century emigration in our fascinating online interactive, Leaving From Liverpool.
Magical History Tour (temporary exhibition gallery, 2nd floor)
A 3-screen immersive has spoken words across the bottom of the screen
The talking portraits do not have either BSL or subtitles.
There are induction loops throughout the gallery.
Permanent galleries
Lifelines gallery (1st floor) - interactives on the first floor are not wheelchair
accessible.
Sound sticks (telephones) can assist people using hearing aids in most parts of
the museum, except for some features of the Battle for the Atlantic gallery.
Quaysides (when open) are accessible to wheelchair users, although uneven.
Seating is available in the galleries.
There is a programme of learning events available at Merseyside Maritime Museum. Please check the learning pages on this website or call 0151 478 4441 for more information.
If you would like to register to receive a regular events guide you can do so here.
There is also a programme of sessions for schools, including teachers' sessions. You can search a database of these events, and also access information on making your visit a successful one.
We ask all groups to book by calling us on 0151 478 4441.
You may also be interested in visiting World Museum Liverpool and the National Conservation Centre in Liverpool city centre. Both are approximately 20 minutes walk away.
The International Slavery Museum, which is housed within the same building, is now open and could form part of the same visit.
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© 2008 National Museums Liverpool
