USS Midway Museum

The USS Midway Museum in San Diego offers visitors a chance to explore the historic aircraft carrier, featuring over 60 exhibits and 29 restored aircraft. The self-guided audio tour, narrated by Midway sailors, brings the carrier’s history to life. Visitors can also experience flight simulators and guided tours of the bridge. The museum is located at 910 N. Harbor Drive, San Diego, CA 92101, and is open daily from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., with last admission at 4:00 p.m. It is closed on Thanksgiving and Christmas Day.

Planning your visit

The USS Midway served for 47 years — longer than any American aircraft carrier of the twentieth century — from the end of the Second World War through Vietnam, where her aircraft flew combat operations, to Operation Desert Storm in 1991. She also carried out the final evacuation from Saigon in 1975, when South Vietnamese helicopters landed with refugees and were pushed over the side into the sea to make room for more. She is now moored permanently on San Diego's Embarcadero.

Visitors move through over 60 exhibits across the ship: the hangar deck, berthing spaces, galleys, engine room, brig, sick bay and the flight deck above, with 29 restored aircraft parked on it. The self-guided audio tour is narrated by men who served aboard, which supplies the detail no label can — where they slept, what the noise was like, what a night landing felt like.

Bridge and island tours run separately with guides, and flight simulators are available.

She is enormous, and a proper visit takes three to four hours.

Bookable options include admission tickets and formats combining the ship with Embarcadero walking tours. Current availability is shown below.