Plymouth Attractions

Breathe in the salty air as you step from your Plymouth hotel towards the lively Elizabethan Barbican’s boutiques, the sand tiger sharks at the aquarium or the Victorian waterfront promenade.

Historic Plymouth

Stroll the 70ft-high walls of the Royal Citadel, designed to keep the Dutch out and holding 113 guns. If you climb the steps of the red and white striped Smeaton’s Tower on Plymouth Hoe to the lantern room, you’ll be rewarded with panoramic views.

Art and museums in Plymouth

You’ll get no better overview of the city than at the City of Plymouth Museum and Art Gallery, where you can step into the shoes of the Pilgrim Fathers who left the harbour in 1620. The Plymouth Mayflower exhibition at the Barbican evokes life in 16th-century Plymouth as the pilgrims prepared to sail.

Quirky things to do in Plymouth

Leave your Plymouth hotel and take a boat ride across the River Tamar to the 16th-century MountEdgcumbe House with its 865 acres of camellia-studded country park. It’s stuffed with Chinese porcelain and a fine Reynolds portrait. Don’t miss National Marine Aquarium where kids can race a mini robot through an underwater assault course.

Events in Plymouth

Plymouth Summer Festival includes May’s Jazz and Blues Festival, the Lord Mayor’s Day and the Plymouth Volksfest, a giant VW bonanza. Black leathers dominate mid-June during the Mega-Ride charity motorcycle bash.

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