Right near the site of Plymouth Rock in Massachusetts sits a complete replica of the Mayflower called the Mayflower II. This ship was constructed in England and sailed to Plymouth in 1959. Now it sits in the harbor as a living museum to the Pilgrims who came from Europe in 1620. When you visit this area, you can tour the Mayflower II in Plymouth, Massachusetts.
Visiting the Mayflower II does require a ticket, but you can pair this adventure with Plimouth Patuxet just down the road and save a bit of money. The walk through the ship will take about 30 minutes, because it is surprisingly small!
History
When I think about 102 passengers on the Mayflower, I’m shocked at how tight the quarters were. The upper deck of the Mayflower is only about 4 long steps across. From front to back, the decks aren’t much bigger. The Pilgrims were housed below, where the ceiling is just 5 feet high, and the humans lived on that deck with pigs, chickens, and goats. Exploring the Mayflower on this tour gave us a really good idea of what the pilgrims faced for their 66 days on the Atlantic. We sometimes forget, though, that the Pilgrims lived on the boat much longer than that. Alongside the Mayflower II, you can also see the smaller boat that they rowed ashore as the Mayflower was moored several miles offshore.
One thing that we liked about the Mayflower is that it was very familiar to our kids. The story of the Mayflower is universally known by American kids, and so this was more interesting to our kids than some of the other historical sites we visited. We also liked the folks onboard the ship that were a wealth of knowledge. They answered all of our questions and told several stories about the voyage that we hadn’t heard. Our adventure aboard the Mayflower II was a great way to spend an afternoon.
Tips for Families
Here are a few helpful tips for a tour of the Mayflower II in Plymouth, Massachusetts:
- We recommend combining a visit with Plimoth Patuxet Museums. It is a little cheaper, and it is fun to see all of the interactive activities in Plimoth.
- We arrived at the Plymouth Patuxet Museums first and spent a few hours here seeing all the sights. Then we walked down to the Mayflower II.
- Park near the Plimoth Grist Mill at Town Brook Park. It is easier than finding parking down along the roads near Mayflower II, and we walked down to the ship. It is a nice little walk and took us right past Plymouth Rock, too. The museum docents told us this trick, so you can ask for clarification. We also ate our picnic lunch there in the gardens and enjoyed the birds and cute pond.
- Mayflower II is open from mid March to Thanksgiving time.
- Tickets can be purchased in advance or on site. They are not timed tickets, so you can arrive any time during their business hours.
- For all of the details, visit their site here: Plimoth Patuxet Museums.
