Golden Hinde Living History Museum

This reconstruction of Sir Francis Drake's 16th century flag ship can be viewed in its dry dock near London Bridge.

Launched in 1973, the Devon-built replica ship came here in 1996, but for 20 years it toured Britain and North America as a seaborne museum, the only replica to have completed a circumnavigation of the globe.

In 1577 Drake set sail on a three-year circumnavigation of the globe, on the way he accumulated so much booty that the ship's ballast had to be replaced with the plundered gold, becoming the only vessel whose ballast was worth more that the ship itself.

It took years of research before the replica was built and the interior has been recreated in minute detail.

Visitors can see the small proportions of the hold and gundeck and imagine the hard conditions endured by the sailors who spent their lives either at work or asleep on the bare decks.

To create an atmosphere on board the ship is manned by a 'crew' in Elizabethan costume.

Shop, guided tours and regular events.