Portsmouth Historic Dockyard has finally put a date on its newest addition. The Royal Marines Experience, a £15 million attraction, is set to open in the summer of 2026, and it's being built into a piece of the site's own history: Boathouse 6, a Grade II* listed building from 1840, actually erected between 1845 and 1848 and completed that last year. Queen Victoria visited it upon completion, and it was originally designed by two military engineers for making and repairing ship's boats. It was repaired and repurposed in 1999, picking up a Civic Trust Award in 2003, so the building has a bit of a story before it ever became a museum.
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What's actually inside is the part worth knowing. The centrepiece is a 400 square metre special exhibition gallery that runs the history from the creation of the Marines' predecessor in 1664 right through to the present day, told through the voices of people who served. Alongside that, there's a Marines-themed Laser Quest arena and a dual-use public programming and conference facility linked to a 275-seat auditorium, so it's not just a walk-through gallery. One detail that's worth noting: the project is keeping a free Remembrance Room, a quiet space for families to reflect on those who gave their lives.
Money-wise, it's a proper heritage project. A £4.9 million pledge from the National Lottery Heritage Fund makes up a big chunk, with support from the Garfield Weston Foundation, the National Museum of the Royal Navy reserves, and private donations filling in the rest. The National Museum of the Royal Navy, which runs the whole site, is a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Ministry of Defence, and it's spread across No. 11 Storehouse (from 1763), No. 10 Storehouse (from 1776), and the Victory Gallery, which opened in 1938.
If you're planning a visit around it, the dockyard is open all year, generally 10am to 5pm with last entry at 4pm, though it stays open until 5.30pm from April to October. The Royal Marines Experience sits alongside the usual suspects: HMS Victory, currently under conservation work since July 2026 as part of the £42m The Big Repair project; the Mary Rose, Henry VIII's flagship that sank in 1545 and now sits in its own £27 million museum; HMS Warrior, the first iron-hulled warship; HMS M.33, one of only three surviving British First World War warships; the Royal Navy Submarine Museum with HMS Alliance; the Explosion Museum of Naval Firepower; and the harbour tours of destroyers, frigates and aircraft carriers.
Getting there is straightforward. It's less than five miles from the M27 exit 12, with an official car park of 295 spaces at Victory Gate, and South Western Railway runs frequent trains from London Waterloo to Portsmouth Harbour, about 90 minutes away. Local buses and regional services stop at the Hard Interchange, and ferries come in from France, Spain, the Isle of Wight and Gosport. There's even a complimentary waterbus between the dockyard, the Royal Navy Submarine Museum and the Explosion Museum, running Wednesday to Sunday over the summer and weekends in winter.
On the practical front, there are cafés at Boathouse 4, Boathouse 7 and the Visitor Centre, free WiFi, and accessible toilets at Boathouse 4, Boathouse 7 and the Mary Rose Museum. Free carer tickets and on-site support are available, and you can book manual wheelchairs or mobility scooters in advance. Tickets are sold at the door as well as online, with three levels: one attraction for the day, three attractions valid for a year, or the Ultimate Explorer for full access. It's a lot to take in, but the Royal Marines Experience is shaping up to be a genuine reason to head back down to the water in 2026.
Published Date
19 August 2026
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