Brunel's ss Great Britain
About
The world's first great ocean-going ship, designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel and launched from this same dock on the Bristol Harbourside in 1843: the first iron-hulled, screw-propeller-driven liner built to cross the Atlantic. After decades carrying passengers and cargo and a long, near-fatal spell scuttled in the Falkland Islands, she was salvaged and towed home to Bristol in 1970 and has been restored in the dry dock where she was built. A glass sea at the waterline lets visitors walk underneath the hull as if she were still afloat, and the ticket also covers the Dockyard Museum and the Being Brunel museum next door. In summer 2026, online adult tickets were £22 (£25 on the door), with a cheaper afternoon-saver rate from 14:30.
Photos
Highlights
- ✓The glass 'sea' letting visitors walk beneath the hull in the dry dock
- ✓Restored first-class and steerage passenger cabins
- ✓The Being Brunel museum covering the engineer's wider career
- ✓Annual passes give unlimited entry for a year from first visit
Tips
- →Book online for a discount over on-the-door prices.
- →The afternoon saver rate from 14:30 is a cheaper option if you only have a couple of hours.
- →Combine with M Shed and the Harbourside cranes, all within a short walk.
- →Parking at the adjacent Maritime Heritage Centre costs around £5.60 for up to 5 hours.
Best Season
More Attraction Activities
Clifton Suspension Bridge
Brunel's 1864 suspension bridge across the Avon Gorge. Free to cross on foot or by bike; only cars pay the £1 toll.
M Shed
Bristol's free social history museum on the Harbourside, in a real dockside transit shed, now home to Banksy's Grim Reaper.
Bristol Museum & Art Gallery
Bristol's civic museum and art gallery on Queens Road: Old Masters, Egyptology, natural history and Bristol glass under one Edwardian roof.