| ranked #9 out of 10 attractions | rated 1.57 out of 5 | total 280 votes |
HMS Belfast
Why HMS Belfast is one of the worst London tourist attractions
A warship from World War II sits in the middle of London as a tourist attraction. Apparently, it’s a unique part of Britain’s naval history that’s been on display and open to the public since 1971.
The closer you get to it, the tattier it looks – it could really use a paint job. However, if you fancy being on a narrow warship exploring the feeling of claustrophobia for nearly two hours – go there!
On your way around the ship you can take a tour of the Quarterdeck, the Bridge, and go all the way down through the nine decks to her massive Boiler and Engine Room. Definitely not something you should be putting at the top of your “to do” list whilst in London.
HMS Belfast, moored on the south side of London’s River Thames, is old, looks old and smells very old. Probably only mates who like war-toys would enjoy visiting this London tourist attraction!
Address
Morgan’s Lane Tooley Street,
London SE1 2JH
Opening times/Cost
Summer 10am-6pm, Winter till 5pm (last admission 45 minutes before close).
Adults: £7, Students: £5, Children (under 16): free,
Seniors: £5, Concessions: £1
Related links
Read more about the HMS Belfast
HMS Belfast – read the history
January 27, 2005 @ 3:00 pm
Nick said,
I’m NOT a mate who likes war-toys! But nevertheless I enjoyed the tour through the HMS Belfast very much! It’s a vivid sign of our British history. Our grandfathers fought for our freedom and independency and we should honour this by not making fun of it!
January 31, 2005 @ 1:10 pm
Jason said,
Forget the history, we have now 2005 and we do not need a warship in the centre of London!
February 21, 2005 @ 8:09 pm
peter said,
Sorry, but I liked the Belfast, interesting to tour, you can actually go into spaces, quite informative. As for the 2005 comment, how does the reader think we got here?
March 2, 2005 @ 7:48 pm
David said,
Fantastic visit, full of history, fascinating to see just how the sailors of the day lived, what a wonderful feature and how lucky we are to still have her and available for the public to view. Who are these dull and boring people who judge her to be one of the 10 worst attractions?
July 13, 2005 @ 12:24 pm
Paul said,
I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to the Belfast…although my wife was not at all interested. The volunteer crew on board were very helpful & courteous.
August 10, 2005 @ 7:10 pm
Pat said,
A real London Highlight. 2 hours well spent out of a weekend. The best museum I’ve ever visited. Boarding the Belfast is like taking a long journey. Disembarking you take a lot of memories with you.
August 13, 2005 @ 11:38 pm
Pete said,
HMS Belfast is a good place to visit, its an impressive site to see and well worth a look round.
August 14, 2005 @ 4:21 am
Pete said,
Was this site built by some Johnny Foreigner who didn’t enjoy his trip to London and decided to dedicate his spare time to bitching about it and slagging London off. Just dont come back again. Go to Holland instead. They have windmills don’t you know.
August 26, 2005 @ 7:25 pm
David said,
What an stupid website this is! The richness of London is exactly the variety of things that it offers, the fact that you can visit warships, museums, parks, different things that appeal to different people, it doesn’t mean it’s better or worse. HMS Belfast is a great attraction and an unique piece of floating history.
August 29, 2005 @ 10:23 am
John Kerr said,
My father served on HMS Belfast during the Korean War. I find your critique offensive.
October 8, 2005 @ 10:59 pm
Guy Offord said,
HMS Belfast is a very good place to go and it is a good insight to what happened all those years ago.
October 17, 2005 @ 4:40 pm
David Cattell said,
Avery interesting ship to see, everyone very friendly in showing you around. The day we visited we had the bonus of meeting the new James Bond on his introductory day on 14th October.
November 4, 2005 @ 4:12 am
Bill Chambers said,
Considering my Uncle spent three years war service, as a young man in his prime, on his beloved Belfast in A turret, I find some comments posted offensive to his memory and to countless others for what they gave and for us today to enjoy. Belfast represents a breed of men to be saluted, not insulted.
November 22, 2005 @ 5:13 am
Rich said,
Came back from a weekend in London this morning, went to the Belfast and thought it was really interesting, I mean yeh it did smell abit fousty but that’s all part of it, think you have too much time on your hands!
November 22, 2005 @ 9:43 pm
brian verlander said,
it was great, cant wait to go again
November 22, 2005 @ 9:45 pm
damon mcdermot said,
Doring day out right up my street.
December 7, 2005 @ 12:35 am
Gareth said,
I visited the Belfast years ago with my grandparents. My Great Uncle served as dentist on this ship too. I thought it was great and 15 years later I’d like to visit again.
January 1, 2006 @ 9:25 am
Neil said,
This website is total pants…..London is a great place to visit and contains the variety of things to do that can keep you occupied for days. We all have different tastes and some things may not ‘float our boat’ so to speak. But by slagging things off for no reason is the british way….wake up and see all the good things this country has to offer. As for Jason’s comments….’forget history…..’ Shall we pull down London and start again then and replace everything older then 2 years old with something new. After all its full of history and who needs that!!!!!!!
January 14, 2006 @ 2:41 pm
Barbara said,
My Father served on the Belfast in WW2. If you had read anything about the ship instead of wasting your time created this web sight just to bag what was a great Warship with quite a battle history maybe you might have honoured the Men who died fighting for the freedom you have to be able to do what your doing now. I visited this sight in the hope of getting information, its a load of rubbish and I will not visit again.
You have insulted and dishonoured all the men that served on her.
February 21, 2006 @ 2:43 pm
chris clarke said,
my grandfather served on that ship and i do not like what is said about it.
March 14, 2006 @ 1:32 pm
andy said,
my grandad served on the belfast and anyone who thinks its one of the worst sites in london to visit should take the time to respect those who died on those great battle ships and take the time to learn what theses men went though.
March 31, 2006 @ 12:31 pm
Colin said,
Obviously written by peace activists! This vessel is an important piece of our heritage. Your views are an insult to the skill of the craftsmen who designed and built her and to those served on her. No sane person likes war and the horrors it brings but we should not be allowed to forget the sacrifices made on our, yes OUR behalf by those who gave their all.
April 8, 2006 @ 9:43 am
vince said,
Well, almost packed up for the trip to HMS Belfast. Looking forward to another great week aboard. This will be my sixth or seventh trip from the US West coast and I can hardly wait!
April 10, 2006 @ 3:48 am
Roger Martin said,
I could not disagree with you more. If it was not for places like HMS Belfast the conditions that people had to endure and at the same time fight for our freedom would be lost forever.
June 1, 2006 @ 7:34 am
Holly said,
Walking onto the belfast ship was amazing. It will be the closest i will ever get to my grandad who worked hard and served his country well, as many other heros did.
Those of you who make comments about it taking space up, just think of the men who fought for our country. Have some respect.
July 16, 2006 @ 2:28 am
S. Knight said,
HMS BELFAST Excelent attraction, free to explore and roam
October 18, 2006 @ 4:03 am
gerard coghlan said,
I served aboard HMS Belfast 1958/59 in the Far East.
Our armed forces have made this country a better and safer
place to livein . those people who have made disrespective
remarks have probably never been in the armed forces.
National service would do a few of them the world of good
Ex Navy – 14 years service.
December 14, 2006 @ 2:51 am
Valerie said,
I have visited the Belfast 3 times over the past 20 years and each time the tour has been immensely inproved. I went 4 weeks ago again and it was so fascinating, in fact ai could hardly drag my husband away from the place.
My father served on the Belfast during WW2 in 1943 and was a first class gunner during the attack on the Scharnhorst. Other people who have fathers’ or grandfathers’ must feel like I do when I can visit a ship that they served on during conflicts, which they may have lost their lives.
I can definitely say that The Belfast is a sight worth going to see when visiting London, unlike The London Dungeons which I also went to see 4 weeks ago. It cost twice as much as the Belfast, and I was bored silly by “wannabe lousy actors” and it took only half the time to visit[thank goodness, but what a cost per minutte, compared to the Belfast.
Valerie
January 30, 2007 @ 4:11 pm
ricwine said,
Yes ! a very informative educational ! and informative ! attraaction. What is exactley the counter argument ?. Replace her with a floating chinese restaurant ( no offence to the chinese ) or maybe ANOTHER funny looking visitor attraction, like the inner city beach surf emporium or such like.
Come on guys and girls get your jib out and get to it !!
February 18, 2007 @ 1:21 pm
Alan said,
I enjoyed it.
Besides the forward guns are trained on Watford.
February 24, 2007 @ 9:21 am
Washington said,
Great Site, Yeah. Hope you can improve it again!
April 5, 2007 @ 3:05 am
Okla said,
I finally decided to give you a little feedback ! well you got it! i love your site !!! no , really, its good…
April 12, 2007 @ 11:11 pm
Christine Vine said,
I am deeply offended by this web cite, I loved seeing H.M.S Belfast as a child and now I take my children. I do this because I want my children to keep the memory of these brave men alive.I feel this is agreat opportunity to use all sences (including being hot and sweaty)to have some insight to what conditions these men lived in FOR OUR COUNTRY GOD BLESS EM
June 14, 2007 @ 11:43 pm
ray g. hernandez USNR ret. said,
“He who forgets history is doomed to repeat it.” What a marvelous monument to your war heros, both living & dead! “The tree of liberty is watered by the blood of patriots.” Jason 1/31/05 … your comment is an insult to all involved with the Belfast and all who preserved your liberty. You should be ashamed of yourself Jason. I would be thrilled and honored to visit and walk those hallowed decks. Alas I’m afraid I’ll never make it to London. A poor landlocked sailor in the high desert of Albuquerque, New Mexico. Commodore Ray
August 19, 2007 @ 3:09 am
Chris ( from NI) said,
Shame on you! This is a piece of history were men died fighting for their country and you take it upon yourself to ridicule it! I would very much enjoy the PLEASURE OF PUNCHING your face in!
SHAME ON YOU!
December 30, 2007 @ 3:38 am
Suzanne Cooley said,
Its a shame that a website like this finds it acceptable to say this is the worst tourist attraction – men died fighting to save our future freedom, my father was one of those on-board who thankfully came home, this is a piece of history and people should be respectful of what this great ship stands for !
November 5, 2008 @ 12:57 pm
Graham said,
I took twenty boys with other adults to see the ship and they and I loved it. Its a reminder that our peace has been fought for. This website is a sad reminder of the ignorance of people that take freedom for granted, keep up the good work HMS Belfast.
December 5, 2008 @ 7:26 pm
paul campbell said,
great ship,great history.
March 8, 2009 @ 4:51 am
wayne davey said,
less we forget these guys show the youngsters what it was about
April 13, 2009 @ 12:27 pm
dawn f said,
Took my son. Great day out and not expensive. We had a great day.Really makes you think about what the brave people did for us.would recommend going to others
August 7, 2009 @ 2:57 am
Stuart Tidman said,
I visited the Belfast as a sort of pilgrimage since my maternal grandfather served upon her during WW2. Where else can you see and experience history like this these days? A real, bonafied WW2 battleship!! Well worth the visit!! As for a warship being in London, how come the USS Intrepid is moored permanently on the Hudson River off Manhatten Island, New York?????
September 23, 2009 @ 3:19 pm
Dex said,
I thought the Belfast was one of the greatest and coolest things I seen when in London for the first time about 16 years ago. To make a point how great it is I am marking it as a
‘To-Do’ when I come back for the 10th time this summer!
Keep The Belfast!
November 2, 2009 @ 5:08 pm
Doug Milburn said,
Having brought H M S Belfast back from Singapore in 1961, I was present for the whole of the round Britain flag waving goodbye tour of the British Isles. At the time when I left, we had just placed her into ‘reserve’, and at the time the Admiralty thought so much of her, that she was due for scrap! A former Captain, turned M.P. created such a fuss that almost uniquely she was belatedly saved for the nation.
Could anyone who does not agree that she deserves a place in history please acquaint me with any other vessel extant, from any period of the 20th Century?
December 10, 2009 @ 7:22 pm
dave brothers said,
I’m a canadian who had the priveledge to tour the Belfast 10 years ago. I found it very enjoyable, some people were complaining about oders, but what do they expect on a river in the middle of a city of 7 million people. The Belfast gave covering fire over Juno beach on june 6th 1944, four of my uncles beached there that day and are all still alive, possibly because of the help of this ship. Not every thing pleases all people, London is a great place to learn about history, but after all some get tired of looking at piles of grey rock where Joe the 700th took a dump. if you decide to get rid of her give her to canada we have lots of room for her ; and appreciate military history.
June 10, 2010 @ 11:01 am
Mitch Hinde said,
What a philistine. An idiot with absolutely no sense of history.
Probably thinks Wayne Rooney is a celebrity.
August 13, 2010 @ 4:15 am
Kevin Germany said,
Wow, pointless website that just has a catchy title to try and flog advertising. I found most of the information on here useless, inaccurate or disingenuous. I find it very hard to understand how you’ve arrived at this view of HMS Belfast and would recommend it to young and old
December 18, 2010 @ 8:52 am
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January 22, 2011 @ 7:55 am
Nic said,
It would appear you got it entirely wrong with your listing of HMS Belfast as ‘Number 9 of the Worst Attractions’.
March 5, 2011 @ 11:18 am
John Heinz said,
I’m a yankee, a veteran and a pacifist, age 77, and I understand all these good comments. HMS BELFAST, and her big sisters, have the force of circumstance.
April 18, 2011 @ 7:32 pm
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April 18, 2011 @ 7:38 pm
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October 5, 2011 @ 9:54 pm
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October 16, 2011 @ 6:30 am
R Head said,
I think the Belfast should retrain its guns from scratchwood to the Idiot’s house who thought of this website, & then blow it up
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