Essential Information
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| Price | Free |
Understanding the Arctic and Antarctica is key to understanding our changing planet.
As global temperatures rise, ice melts and sea levels rise. What happens in the frozen north and south affects us all.
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But this isn't just a story of what is happening now. Ice contains a record of our climate stretching back hundreds of thousands of years. Digging into that ancient past can help us understand what the future holds for our planet.
RRS Sir David Attenborough is the UK's newest polar research ship. This is a state-of-the-art vessel, capable of breaking through the ice and sending submersibles down to explore the ocean depths.
For months at a time, the ship is also home to dozens of scientists and seafarers. What's it like to live and work on board?
Poles Apart: Explore the World of RRS Sir David Attenborough aims to shine a light on the challenges facing our polar regions, and the people striving to make sense of them.
Visit the National Maritime Museum for free, and travel to the icy frontiers of modern polar science.
Delve deeper
Find out more about the objects and stories featured in the new Poles Apart gallery.
Wayne Binitie and the art of climate change
Artist Wayne Binitie explores how ice cores can help us reckon with our changing world
What's it like to camp in Antarctica?
Find out what it's like to live and work in the Antarctic with British Antarctic Survey scientist Joanne Johnson
Ice cores and climate change
By extracting ice cores from Antarctica, scientists are able to travel more than 800,000 years back into Earth’s climate history
RRS Sir David Attenborough: inside the UK's new polar research ship
Learn more about one of the most advanced polar research vessels in the world
Plan your visit
Where is the Poles Apart gallery?
The gallery is located in the National Maritime Museum, in a dedicated space right next to the Great Map at the heart of the Museum.
Tickets and prices
Poles Apart is free for all visitors to the National Maritime Museum. We recommend booking your tickets online in advance to guarantee entry.
Getting here
The National Maritime Museum in Greenwich is a quick, easy journey by train or DLR from central London. Find more travel information, maps and public transport guides here.
Facilities and access
Find out useful information about facilities at our museums including cloakrooms, baby change and accessibility, and information for visitors with disabilities coming to any of our sites.
Make the most of your visit
There's loads to explore at the National Maritime Museum.
If you're interested in the polar regions, don't miss the Polar Worlds gallery containing relics from centuries of Arctic and Antarctic exploration.
Special exhibitions now open include the free photography exhibition Exposure: Lives at Sea and the landmark Canaletto's Venice Revisited.
If you need a break for refreshments, the Great Map Café is right next to the Poles Apart gallery, or you can head to the Parkside Café for fantastic views of Greenwich Park and beyond.
Tickets and Opening
Free entry
Open daily
10am-5pm
- Greenwich Station
- Cutty Sark DLR
- Maze Hill Station
- Greenwich Pier
Main image by Jamie Anderson courtesy of British Antarctic Survey
Choose your tickets
National Maritime Museum
- Guaranteed entry time
- Access to all free galleries and activities
- Special exhibitions free in 2024
| Free entry |
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| Book online |
Member tickets
- Unlimited free entry
- Priority booking and exclusive events
- Access using your membership card
| Membership card number required |
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Become a Member
- Unlimited entry all year
- Royal Observatory
- Cutty Sark
- Planetarium Shows
- Special exhibitions
| Direct Debit | One-off |
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| Individual: £50 | Individual: £60 |
| Family: from £60 | Family: from £70 |