SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - MAY 20, 2010: A splendid replica of James Cook's HMS Endeavour, moored alongside the Australian National Maritime Museum in Darling Harbour, Sydney. ; Shutterstock ID 203274241; Your name (First / Last): Josh Vogel; Project no. or GL code: 56530; Network activity no. or Cost Centre: Online-Design; Product or Project: 65050/7529/Josh Vogel/LP.com Destination Galleries

Shutterstock / David Steele

Australian National Maritime Museum

Top choice


Beneath a soaring roof, the Maritime Museum sails through Australia’s inextricable relationship with the sea. Exhibitions range from Indigenous canoes to surf culture, and from immigration to the navy. The worthwhile ‘big ticket’ (adult/child $35/20) includes entry to some of the vessels moored outside, including the atmospheric submarine HMAS Onslow and the destroyer HMAS Vampire. The high-production-value short film Action Stations sets the mood with a re-creation of a mission event from each vessel. Excellent free guided tours explain each vessel's features.

You can also visit a lighthouse and an 1874 square rigger, the James Craig, which periodically offers sailing trips. Normally a replica of Cook’s Endeavour also drops anchor here. There's plenty to do for kids, especially at weekends and in summer, when major exhibitions focus on young visitors.

Other parts of the museum include a free exhibition on wooden boats in the next building north and, opposite Pyrmont Bay ferry stop, the Welcome Wall, a commemoration of migration to Australia that seems particularly relevant in the current political climate.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby attractions

1. Harbourside

0.13 MILES

The first major Darling Harbour development, Harbourside shopping centre is like that nightclub guy still wearing a pirate shirt and an unreconstructed…

2. Wild Life Sydney Zoo

0.16 MILES

Complementing its sister and neighbour, Sea Life, this surprisingly capacious complex houses an impressive collection of Australian native reptiles,…

3. Madame Tussauds

0.17 MILES

In this celebrity-obsessed age, it's hardly surprising that Madame Tussauds' hyperrealistic waxwork dummies are just as popular now as when the eponymous…

4. Sydney Sea Life Aquarium

0.18 MILES

As well as regular tanks, this impressive complex has large pools that you can walk through – safely enclosed in Perspex tunnels – as an intimidating…

5. Star Casino

0.2 MILES

The Star, Sydney's first casino complex, includes hotels, high-profile restaurants, bars, a nightclub, a good food court and a light rail station – plus…

6. King Street Wharf

0.22 MILES

The central one of three major developments along the east side of Darling Harbour, this is a modern metallic affair in three sections. Below plush…

7. Cockle Bay Wharf

0.25 MILES

The showpiece of the innovative redevelopment of the southeastern corner of Darling Harbour in the late 1990s, this bar and restaurant precinct occupies…

8. Ribbon

0.32 MILES

Due to open in 2020, this striking building will incorporate the current Western Distributor flyover and add office space, a sizeable business hotel and…