The ship and museum: 4/5 stars. You only get to go on the top deck of the ship and the museum is…read moresmall but still worth visiting. The harbor tour and dolphin watching: 5/5 stars!!!!! We saw several dolphins including dolphins leaping out of the water as they raced in front of a cargo ship. The narrator shared lots of interesting information and took us to see a decades old wreck. I think this is a "Must Do" in Galveston.

Did you know that Galveston, Texas used to be the "Ellis Island" of the South? Immigrants from all…read moreover the world would come through Galveston and either move into central Texas via the railroads (hence the large German and Czech populations of Texas Hill country and Oklahoma) or they'd take the Mississippi River North towards Illinois and Iowa or branch off into Tennessee. Galveston used to be a bustling, metropolitan and diverse city with languages from all over the world being spoken here. When the East Coast talked of limiting immigration, especially to Jews fleeing Russian pogroms, New York financier and philanthropist Jacob Schiff and Galveston's B'nai Israel's Rabbi Henry Cohen spearheaded the Galveston Plan to reroute Jewish immigrants from the East Coast to Texas. There was a substantial fear that the poverty, overcrowding and cultural differences in Jewish immigrant neighborhoods would increase anti-Semitic frustrations on the East Coast, which would then lead to immigration restrictions on Jews. While some Jews fleeing pogroms fled to Palestine, tens of thousands of them came to Galveston to settle in the South and Midwest. Not only was Galveston a place for freedom for immigrants fleeing persecution abroad, Galveston was an important stop on runaway slaves' path to Mexico or even Northern states that had outlawed slavery. I didn't know any of this before visiting this museum. The museum at this historic seaport was incredibly informative and so well done. Our ticket came with entry to the museum and access to the tall ship Elissa and we paid for an add-on of the Galveston harbor tour in a boat. It was an excellent tour, the ship was actively being trained on and restored while we were there and the museum was fantastic. Highly recommended! Visited November 2025

My daughters ages 17 and 19 were upset when they heard that we were going to tour The Moody…read moreMansion, but once we got to the mansion, their attitudes totally changed. Not only were the rooms incredibly impressive and beautiful, the girls loved reading about The Moody Family and seeing all of the artifacts. They loved The Mardi Gras Ball Gown Display and The Dossier was so nice and knowledgeable, we loved hearing her stories and her facts about the house. After the tour my daughters had so many questions and they said they were so happy that the house was still there and that they allowed people to tour the home.

Moody Mansion is gorgeous and the tour is so fun to experience and look around the house! Really…read moreinformative and interesting whether you listen to Mary's tour or the family tour!

Lovely and historic train museum in Galveston dedicated to the history trains.I had no item the…read morehistory of the Freedom Tree that has roots connected to the South. A movie inside the train area with small amount of seating was worth listening. Note: some train cars are without AC and it was 96 degrees inside .Some cars have AC so was easier to do self guided tour. Parking was $5 for 24 hours which was cool since parked and then went to walk around Strand after. Military members are gratis so that was great that they support the military.

All the locomotives there are in good shape and most of the cars. But some cars were so…read moredeteriorated I question having them out there. Might be time to get rid of them. They look awful. Overall I enjoyed the museum. You can walk through several of the cars and they were interesting to see. They have one sleeper car that was especially impressive. It had the pull down bunks I was used to seeing but there were private rooms with beds too. And the private rooms also had sink and toilet. If you're a train enthusiast it's definitely worth the visit.

Nearly 19,000 square feet of a step back in time makes this a great break from the heat and beach…read more The historical explanations are sort and interesting. Highly recommended.

During a long weekend trip last week to Galveston, I was fortunate enough that a waitress at BLVD…read moreSeafood recommended I check this old house out. It was nicely laid out and you could walk up and buy a ticket with a self guided audio tour of the place that included historical tid bits about the family and what was happening in the area at the time they lived in it. They apparently have private tours of the upstairs/attic areas but those you have to book and pay for in advance. I enjoyed the audio tour and even bought a few items at the quite spacious gift store! At times I felt like I was the only one in the house because it was probably a non tourist heavy day. You can easily park on the street and walk in to buy a ticket the day of...well at least on the day I was there!

I don't even know where to begin with this review. It's an oil drilling engineer's dream museum…read more Haha! It's definitely unique. The Ocean Star is a good example of an offshore jack-up (not to be confused with jacked-up) oil drilling rig. It operated in the Gulf between 1969 and 1984. Let's just say that offshore drilling has come a long way since that time. It became a museum in 1997 after it was retired. It's now on display for all to see. It also appears to be a wildlife zone. There are many different kinds of seabirds that live or sunbathe there. I'm sure the fish love it, too. I'd say the only con is that the outdoor platform smells and looks like an unkept birdcage. I'm sure that they wash it down every now and then, but there's really no way to keep the flock of birds away from it without ruining the outdoor experience. Not even the fake owls. Just be prepared, and watch where you walk. The good news is that there are public restrooms on the rig where you can wash your hands after touching the platform rails. Other than that, it was a cool learning experience. A great place for kids to learn about underwater landscapes and engineering. It educates all ages on how life really is on an oil drilling rig. It's a lot bigger than I thought. There are 3 levels of displays as well as a couple of outdoor platforms. You'll also learn about the dangers and safety procedures of running an offshore rig. It's all very interesting. It was worth the admission fee. Military & Seniors get a $3 discount. It's located off of Pier 20 past Katie's Seafood House, and within walking distance of the Strand Historic District. It took about an hour to go through the museum. It may take a little longer with the audio guide. It was cool to see the pelicans and seagulls sunbathing under the rig. You might even spot a few dolphins here and there. It was a fun morning!

Loved the museum! Learned so much about oil drilling and rigs. Don't skip the video when you…read morefirst enter, it was very informative. A great place to visit!

While visiting family in Lumberton, we went to Galveston for a day on our way to Houston. We…read morevisited the Galveston Naval Museum. Upon arrival, we had to pay-to-park, which I thought was weird, especially since you've got to pay an entrance fee, as well! On the flip side, it wasn't very busy that day, so wasn't difficult to find parking! It was very interesting to explore the WWII USS Cavalla Submarine & the Destroyer escort USS Stewart. With few visitors on site while we were, we made it through both vessels quickly, even taking numerous photos! A couple of notable issues include the fact that the museum was undergoing renovation and the only restrooms were 'FRU-FRY' port-o-lets at the absolute end of the tour, adjacent to the gift store. The gift store was a small one-room (10x10) air-conditioned building, (picture a portable storage unit) that had very few mediocre Knick-knacks to choose from (stickers, toys, post cards (who collects post cards anymore???) The choices in the gift store insinuate that children would enjoy the museum. The current generation of individuals is most definitely NOT interested in military armamentarium.

This is a small naval museum on a quiet little island with a fishing pier and park. Touring the…read moresubmarine and battleship was very cool, historic, and in need of restoration. I'm guessing that's why admission runs on the higher side. Still, we had a good, educational hour exploring everything. Just note there's an extra charge for parking.

Fun tour through the history of piracy. There are videos available through QR codes if you don't…read morewant to read the descriptions. (It can get challenging if multiple parties are hearing different descriptions close to each other. Fire the cannon! A fun outing.

If you are visiting Galveston and want to have a spectacular time with your family, you should not…read moremiss visiting the pirate museum and the haunted house. Don't forget to request to play in the amazing Escape Room. Come with your family and enjoy.