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Genoa: Galata Maritime Museum and Nazario Sauro Submarine
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The Mediterranean’s largest maritime museum is fittingly located in Genoa, one of Europe’s most important port cities, which has built its fortune on maritime trade and seafaring activities since its foundation.
It is in the city’s historic port that Galata Museo del Mare is housed – an innovative and technologically advanced museum that pays homage to the city’s maritime traditions whilst representing an evolution of this natural inclination. Once a landing point for seafarers, sailors and merchants, Genoa’s historic port is today a destination for tourists keen to visit an extraordinary museum in a remarkable setting with outstanding collections.
Galata Museo del Mare consists of a striking modern glass and steel building designed by Spanish architect Guillermo Vasquez Consuegra, connected to an ancient building that once served as an arsenal of the Genoese maritime republic. An external area, perfectly integrated into the port’s setting, completes the complex.
It is one of the attractions that made possible a gigantic regeneration project of an area of great historical and cultural significance that risked falling into neglect and oblivion. Restored to its former splendour, the historic port is now one of Genoa’s most vibrant neighbourhoods.
Time to step inside the museum. With a single ticket you can board a brigantine-schooner, enter an elegant nineteenth-century yacht club, photograph the raft on which Ambrogio Fogar and Mauro Mancini drifted across the ocean for 74 days, discover whether the claustrophobic environment of a submarine appeals to you, escape from stormy seas, join the crew of a Genoese galley (would you prefer to be a slave, convict or volunteer oarsman?) and enjoy countless other thrilling experiences.
Take a moment to relax and enjoy enchanting views of Genoa’s historic quarters and the port from the museum’s panoramic terraces.
Galata alone merits a trip to Genoa, but for an exciting weekend on a maritime theme, combine the museum with the city’s other maritime attractions, including the unmissable Aquarium and the Lighthouse.
Ready to set sail? Here’s what awaits you at Galata Museo del Mare.
The museum’s route through Galata Museo del Mare unfolds in chronological order, starting from the ground floor and rising to the fourth floor.
The exhibitions cover a wealth of themes relating to life at sea: Genoa’s historic port and the glory days of the maritime republic, Christopher Columbus, maps and globes, sea monsters in various mythologies, historic shipwrecks, nautical sciences, sea emigration, art and the sea, the disaster of the ocean liner Andrea Doria and much more.
The museum’s highlights include:
An integral part of the museum is the Submarine S518 Nazario Sauro, moored opposite the museum and open to visitors. Don’t miss this rare opportunity to step aboard a genuine military submarine preserved in its original condition!
The first of a class of submarines, four of which remain operational, it was built by Fincantieri for the Italian Navy in the late seventies, entered service on 12 February 1980 and remained in use until 2002.
Powered by diesel and electric motors, it is one of Italy’s largest post-war submarines and represents a piece of naval history, playing a role during the difficult final years of the Cold War.
Before entering the submarine, visitors experience a pre-show – a visit to a room that faithfully recreates the submarine environment. Unlike the submarine visit itself, the pre-show experience is not time-limited, so you can take as long as you like to familiarise yourself with the environment you’ll be visiting and interact with equipment that is inaccessible aboard due to tight spaces or non-functioning.
The Nazario Sauro’s pre-show is a highly engaging interactive exhibition that uses visual effects and sounds typical of a submarine (sonar, radar, torpedo tubes, engines, urgent voices) to give you a feel for the emotions, discomfort and fears experienced by submariners.
You can also listen to direct testimonies from sailors and officers who served aboard the Nazario Sauro during its over 30 years of operation.
The pre-show is part of the School of Submariners, the museum’s exhibition area dedicated to navigation in the ocean depths.
The visit doesn’t end when you leave the museum. On the quays in front of the museum a permanent exhibition has been set up with panels telling the story of the shipyards and maritime commercial activities that took place on these same quays.
You can then stop to admire sailing school vessels and fishing boats, or historic vessels passing through Genoa, or perhaps pick up fresh fish at the darsena’s fish market.
Galata is a modern museum that transforms the visitor into a visit-actor: there are numerous opportunities to experience firsthand life and working conditions at sea across different centuries thanks to interactive installations and virtual reality stations.
You can go further and experience the sea in actual reality. Try Sailing is the hands-on experience offered by the museum, consisting of a three-hour outing in Genoa’s harbour aboard an ocean-going vessel with a professional skipper.
The experience is reserved for museum visitors, must be pre-booked and costs extra on top of Galata admission.
Galata Museo del Mare is open year-round; opening hours vary depending on the season, but generally run from morning until evening.
Admission allows unlimited time within the facility. The average visit duration is two hours; the submarine visit lasts approximately 20–25 minutes.
You can choose from several ticket types depending on which facilities you wish to visit:
If you plan to visit other Genoa attractions with a maritime theme in addition to Galata Museo del Mare, buying combined tickets is more economical than purchasing individual admission to each attraction.
Combined tickets are valid for one year and allow one entry to each attraction; Aquarium entry must be booked at the time of purchase and you cannot change the date and time later.
Each ticket type offers discounts for children aged 4–12, adults over 65 and disabled visitors. Children under 4 and carers accompanying disabled visitors enter free of charge.
We recommend purchasing tickets online, as this saves money and helps you avoid queues at the entrance.
To ensure a pleasant visit, the museum is equipped with all modern amenities: audioguides available for hire, guided tours (also for small groups), free cloakroom, bar, restaurant, panoramic terraces, 100-seat auditorium, baby changing facilities and gift shop (accessible from outside the museum as well).
A souvenir photo is taken of each submarine visitor: the shot is free and purchasing the photo is optional.
To make the museum accessible to as many people as possible, multimedia guides for the blind, tactile maps and three-wheeled electric scooters are available. The museum was among the first to install induction loop amplification systems: this technology ensures that hearing aid users experience no interference.
The S58 Nazario Sauro submarine can only be visited as part of Galata Museo del Mare (submarine-only tickets are not sold); the reverse is possible – you can visit the museum without entering the submarine. You must make this choice when purchasing your ticket, whether online or at the ticket office.
The submarine is a very particular living and working environment, and visiting one is not an experience suitable for all tourists. For safety reasons, access to the S58 Nazario Sauro submarine is prohibited for children under 4 years of age, disabled visitors and those with visual impairments. It is not prohibited but is strongly discouraged for those with mobility problems and those suffering from claustrophobia.
Access to the submarine requires wearing a safety helmet and following a route guided by audioguide (free of charge). You enter through the stern hatch and ladder and exit via the bow: it’s hardly a monumental entrance, so comfortable shoes and clothing are recommended (no high heels!).
During your visit, you must carefully follow the instructions provided via audioguide and observe the time limits indicated.
Those who feel unable to undertake the visit can get an idea of the living and working conditions inside a submarine by attending the pre-show included with Galata Museo del Mare admission. It was specifically designed to faithfully recreate the submarine experience for those unable to visit it.
Galata Museo del Mare is located in central Genoa in the Historic Port area. All of Genoa’s maritime attractions are concentrated here, along with numerous venues open day and evening: it is therefore a very lively and well-connected part of the city.
From Genoa Piazza Principe station (Genoa’s main railway station) you can reach the aquarium on foot in just 5 minutes. Numerous city buses stop near the museum, but it’s more convenient to take the metro and get off at Darsena station.
Genoa’s airport is approximately 7 km away: from there you can take a taxi or the Volabus shuttle and arrive in just 15 or 30 minutes.
If you prefer the convenience of driving, you can reach Galata Museo del Mare via the A12 motorway (heading west from Tuscany, east from the Ponente Riviera) and exit at Genoa West. The car park closest to the museum is Marina Porto Antico, just 300 metres from the entrance.
The Galata Museo del Mare is located in Genoa's Porto Antico, in the heart of the city's historic centre.
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