Winchester's Military Museums
ENTRY
from £5
SETTING
Indoors
WHERE
Winchester
What it’s like
Six separate regimental museums on one site in Winchester, covering medals, uniforms and military history from cavalry to Gurkha regiments.
This isn't one museum but six, all clustered together at Peninsula Barracks, each covering a different regiment's history. HorsePower tells the story of the King's Royal Hussars, the Gurkha Museum covers over two centuries of Gurkha service, and there's the Rifleman's, the Royal Hampshire Regiment, the Royal Logistic Corps and the Adjutant General's Corps museums too. Between them you get medals, paintings, uniforms and the kind of military objects that tend to catch a curious ten-year-old's eye.
Entry is charged per museum rather than as one combined ticket, and it's cheap enough that you could do two or three in an afternoon without feeling it. HorsePower is £5 for an adult with under-16s free, while the Gurkha and Rifleman's museums are £6.50 for adults and also free for children. That per-museum pricing is worth knowing before you plan the day, since seeing all six adds up differently to a single family ticket would.
Opening hours differ from museum to museum too, which is the one genuine faff here. HorsePower closes for lunch on weekdays and only opens Saturday afternoons, while the Gurkha Museum runs Monday to Saturday 10 to 5. Last entry is 30 minutes before closing everywhere, so it pays to check which museums you actually want to see before you turn up, rather than assuming they all run on the same clock.
The Gurkha Museum's main galleries are shut for renovations from September, with just the library, research area and a temporary exhibition open in their place, and the whole museum closes over Christmas and New Year. Parking is limited but free for visitors at Peninsula Barracks if you get a pass from the front desk, and the train station is a five minute walk if you'd rather not bother with a car at all.
Facilities
Need to know
- Best for
- School-age kids curious about medals and military history
- Last entry
- 30 minutes before closing (varies by museum)
- Parking
- Limited free parking at Peninsula Barracks for museum visitors (get visitor pass from front desk)
- Getting there by bus or train
- Winchester train station approximately 5 minutes' walk
- Each museum charges separately, there's no single combined ticket
- Under-16s are free everywhere, which softens the per-museum pricing
- Last entry is 30 minutes before closing but that time changes museum to museum
- Get a visitor parking pass from the front desk at Peninsula Barracks
Plan your visit
How much does it cost?
It varies by museum. HorsePower is £5 for an adult, the Gurkha and Rifleman's museums are £6.50, and children under 16 get in free everywhere.
Do we need to book ahead?
There's no booking link listed, so you can just turn up during opening hours.
Is it free for kids?
Under-16s go free across all the museums, some with an adult accompanying them.
What are the opening hours?
Each museum has its own timetable. HorsePower runs weekday mornings and afternoons plus Saturday afternoons, the Gurkha Museum is 10 to 5 Monday to Saturday, and the others sit somewhere in between.
Is there parking on site?
Limited free parking is available at Peninsula Barracks for visitors, but you need to grab a visitor pass from the front desk. The Royal Logistic Corps Museum has its own free on-site parking.
How do we get there without a car?
Winchester train station is about a five minute walk from the site.
Is the Gurkha Museum fully open at the moment?
From September the main galleries are closed for renovations, though the library, research area and a temporary exhibition stay open. It also closes completely from 23 December 2025 to 5 January 2026.
How long should we allow?
That depends how many of the six museums you want to see, since each is a separate visit with its own entry and closing time.
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