New Bedford Whaling Museum

This museum is hard to find, but it is well worth it. It is incredibly interesting and full of all kinds of New England whaling memorabilia, including a replica of a whaling ship. There are skeletons of whales and just an incredible amount of interesting things in this museum. I must’ve spent at least an hour in just the scrimshaw room alone. I can’t recommend this Museum enough.

Took my daughter here thanks to Bank of America Museum on Us program. It's small enough to spend an afternoon (unless you really dig into the facts and history). They got friendly staff members and volunteers. The 3D movie was also a pleasant experience.

On the one hand this museum was an amazing history of whaling and the local environment. But on the other hand, it bears witness to the wholesale slaughter and near extinction of whole species of whales, and so it's also very depressing. But I learned a lot and enjoyed my visit overall.

Great little museum with good amount of information about whaling history. We really like the large boat model in the museum. You will need at least 2hours to read through the information.

This place not only has a great deal about the whaling industry in general, but also how it affected New Bedford’s growth as a town. Fascinating to see all of the ways the immigrants came from across the globe to the US/New Bedford due to whaling and also how they helped contribute to US history for hundreds of years. The museum strikes a balance between showing the usefulness of whaling and details about how things were done, and a realization that while at first the whaling was a helpful source for humans eventually it became too much due to superfluous desires of materials goods and led to the large population decline of the whales. There’s a lot to see, we spent a couple of hours and plan to go back as we couldn’t take it all in. Additionally there are some areas for smaller kids specifically which is nice for the whole family.

My husband and I toured the NB Whaling museum on Tuesday afternoon. The facility itself is beautiful and the exhibits are self explanatory. However, we had the priviiedge of a free tour of the museum beginning at 2 PM. The tour was conducted by an excellent docent who really knew everything there was to know about New Bedford in general but most especially about whales. His knowledge was extensive and presented in a very nice fashion, encouraging participants to ask questions on several occasions. The tour really made our day at this museum, so if you go to the museum, be sure that you ask at the front desk about free tours. You won't regret the experience.

Very over rated and overpriced. The ship model was great, staff friendly, exhibits okay, movie blah. I feel that the exclusively homosexual/trans literature placed in the children's area was not appropriate or appreciated - it is a whaling museum.

A great place to visit ...The Whaling Museum of New Bedford, Massachusetts . A huge whaling museum that is fun for the whole family. It will take more than one visit to explore all of the different features of this mammoth-sized museum. You will enjoy many future visits with great anticipation as if they were your first. If you want to know about the early whaling industry in New England this is the place to be. Unbelievable exhibitions, numerous beyond belief. If you're interested in jewelry, relics, artifacts, whaling history, and whaling industry daily life in the 1800s you need to visit. If you'd like to step on a whaling ship and see what it was like, come visit. See firsthand how the people who worked on the ships and in the town survived during this the period of massive American growth and the people who made it possible. Neighboring parking lots are available. Handicapped ramps are available. Food is not allowed throughout the exhibits.