The SS Great Britain is perhaps Bristol’s most famous tourist attraction. It can be found on the quayside of the Great Western Dock, off Cumberland Road.

The ship was designed by the famous Victorian engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel, and was built in 1843. It was the first ocean-going iron ship in the world, and marked a breakthrough in ship design.

Over the next 43 years the ship sailed thousands of miles, circumnavigating the globe over 30 times.

Then in 1886 the ship was damaged in a storm off Cape Horn. It was too badly damaged to justify repairing it and so it ended up as a storage ship in the Falkland Islands.

It wasn’t until 1968 that the SS Great Britain was recovered and brought back to the same dry dock where she was first built. Since then the ship has undergone extensive restoration work, which is still continuing.

The SS Great Britain is open to the public daily from 10am to 5.30pm from April to September, and from 10am to 4.30pm October to March. Admission costs around �or adults.

Next door to the SS Great Britain is the fascinating Maritime Heritage Centre, where you can find out more about Bristol’s ship building industry.