The ship models
Fine miniatures across centuries, some very large.
CGE — CC0 · Claude Monet — Public domain · Didier Descouens — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Didier Descouens — Public domain
They are neighbours in Bacalan north of the city, and combining them is the right way to justify the trip. The **Bassins des Lumières** is a huge digital projection thrown onto the concrete walls of the submarine pens, with water and sound, running about an hour — a sensory rather than informative experience. The **Musée Mer Marine** by contrast is a large conventional museum needing two hours. Buy a **combined ticket** if one is available, and take the museum in the morning and the show in the afternoon. Tram line B reaches both.
It is if you combine more than one site. The tram takes 20–25 minutes, which is a lot for one museum and not much for a full day. The **Bacalan** quarter holds three neighbouring sites: the Musée Mer Marine, the Bassins des Lumières, and the submarine base itself — a colossal concrete structure built by the German occupation in the Second World War and worth seeing in its own right. Fold them into a half-day or a day, and add the nearby Cité du Vin if you want.
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A relatively new museum — opened in 2019 — in a large contemporary building on an old dock north of the city, covering some **12,000 square metres**, which makes it one of the biggest museums in Bordeaux by floor area. Its subject is humanity's relationship with the sea in the broad sense: the history of navigation and exploration, shipbuilding, the maritime trade that made Bordeaux, war at sea, and today's ocean science and marine environment. Its standout holding is the **ship models**: a large collection of finely crafted miniatures made across the centuries, from sailing ships to steamers, some of them very large. With them come old navigational charts, instruments and objects recovered from wrecks. It runs **large temporary exhibitions** filling a whole wing and changing seasonally, and these are often the focus of a visit. It stands practically next to the Bassins des Lumières and the submarine base, and the three make a single day.
Fine miniatures across centuries, some very large.
Old maps, navigation tools and objects from wrecks.
A whole wing, changing seasonally.
89 Rue des Étrangers, 33300 Bordeaux