The Legend of Titanic Exhibition, London. You’ve Got to See This!
For years, I’ve been fascinated by the story of the Titanic. Whenever I visit a city that’s hosting a Titanic exhibition, I try to make time in my diary to visit. Over the years, I’ve been to the Titanic Museum in Belfast, the SeaCity Museum in Southampton and the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic in Halifax, to name a few.
When I saw that London was about to welcome ‘The Legend of the Titanic’, I knew that I had to book a ticket to go and see it for myself. I’m glad that I did - this exhibition tells the story in a way that I’ve never seen before at any museum, and in this post I’m going to tell you more about it.
If you do enjoy this post, you’ll have the option to head over to the ‘Fever Up’ website throughout, which is the ticketing provider for this experience. If you do purchase your tickets through one of my links, you won’t pay any extra, but I will earn a small commission on your sale. In short, it’s a really easy way to support my website, so THANK YOU!
Where is ‘The Legend of the Titanic’ London located, and is it easy to get to?
You’ll find this exhibition at Dock X, which is directly next door to Canada Water station in London’s Zone 2. This station is a stop on both the Jubilee line of the London Underground, and also for the Windrush line of the London Overground, so it’s easy to reach.
Once you leave the station, it’s a really short walk of only a couple of minutes, and it’s totally flat - simple! Along the way, you’ll pass cafes, restaurants and shops - perfect for fuelling up either before or after your visit.
You’ll find the exhibition at Dock X at Canada Water, London.
What’s it like? Ok, here’s my review.
This Titanic experience is HUGE compared to some of the others that I’ve been to before. It’s 3,000 sq metres in total, and it promises online to be ‘packed with technology’. I wasn’t sure what it was going to be like before I went, but I’m SO glad that I gave it a try regardless.
Walking into the exhibition is an unusual feeling - you can tell from the second that you walk through the doors that this is going to be different from other museums that you’ve been to before. Instead of the quiet atmosphere that you tend to find at these sorts of exhibitions, you’re instead immediately struck by the loudspeakers playing some of the classical music that would’ve been played onboard Titanic.
There’s a large sign that welcomes you to the exhibition. This sign introduces two characters, who you’ll follow on the journey through the exhibition. This was a really clever way to tell the story, by encouraging a ‘human connection’ with characters that you can ‘get to know’ throughout. These characters were a father and daughter, who were using the Titanic to travel to the United States to be reunited with their husband/mother, who had fled some months prior.
On the below sign, you’ll also notice a QR code on the right side. Scanning this with your phone’s camera allows you to download an ‘Augmented Reality App’, which is then used throughout the tour. We’ll come back to this later.
The exhibition tells the story of the Callahan family, who used the the Titanic to travel to the United States.
At this point, you’re also able to store any valuables or bags that you don’t want to/can’t take around with you. There are secure lockers available by the entrance. You’re able to rent these lockers either via the App that we’ve covered above, or you can also use a machine on the lockers themselves.
It’s important to note at this point that no bags larger than A4 size are permitted within the exhibition. The dimensions of the lockers available are: 40cm high x 40cm wide x 40cm deep (approx), and the charge for lockers is £3.
Once you’re ready to begin your experience, you’re guided towards the main entrance, which is designed to look like you’re entering the ship itself - well done, isn’t it? Remember - you can use my link to buy your tickets to this event - just click here!
Entering the Titanic exhibition sees you walking through an open door on the side of the ship - welcome onboard!
There are a few different aspects to the exhibition. The first part takes on the role of a very typical Titanic exhibition - you can expect to see some outfits relevant to that time period, some commemorative items from other ships in the White Star Line, and also some props from the Titanic movie.
All of the objects on display within this area of the exhibition are from the private collection of Juan Cruz Ercoreca, who curated the whole experience at Dock X.
This area was really interesting, but somewhat similar to what you’ll have seen before at other Titanic exhibitions. It’s what lies ahead that makes this experience incredibly interesting…!
Here’s the first stage of the Titanic experience at Dock X - a really interesting glimpse into the Edwardian era.
You can expect to find many items from the White Star Line - I really love seeing things like this at Titanic exhibitions. Can you imagine eating your evening meal at this place setting?
Once you leave this first exhibition area, you’re met by a huge display of the ship. On the floor throughout, you’ll find markers that prompt you to stand in the circle and open the smartphone app that you downloaded earlier. Scanning the view directly infront of you with your camera will then open a virtual presentation on your phone. On this point - it’s worth bringing earphones with you, as the music’s quite loud in here to also be able to head your phone. I’d also recommend packing a portable battery pack, in order to allow you to keep your device charged throughout - the virtual tour aspect can be a drain on your battery!
I’ve never seen anything like this at a museum before. While it was quite glitchy at times (technology’s great, but only when it works…), I do find it really exciting that museums could be going in this direction - it’ll be fascinating to see how technology could be introduced to these sorts of things in the years to come.
The Titanic was such an impressive ship of her time, wasn’t she?
You’ll find these Augmented Reality reminders throughout the whole experience.
Next, you enter the next room to try the next unique element to this exhibition: Virtual Reality.
I’ll be totally honest - for years, I’ve been REALLY skeptical of virtual reality headsets and devices. I’ve never tried one, but I’ve always assumed they would be a real gimmick. When I was younger, we used to have a headset that you’d slide your iPhone into, and it would simulate the virtual reality experience (but a very budget version, admittedly). I assumed that the technology wouldn’t have progressed much beyond this, but how wrong could I have been?
Walking into the virtual reality room is a really surreal experience. You’re suddenly surrounded by people who are sitting still, all facing different directions, and watching their device play in their own time. In other words, nobody is watching exactly the same sequence as their neighbours.
This results in a room of people all reacting to what they’re seeing in their own time - a really strange experience, until you put your headset on and immediately feel part of it.
The first Virtual Reality room is a little daunting to walk in to…
In this room, you watch a full 360-degree video of the Titanic story. Don’t worry - it’s not a feature length movie - it’s just a couple of minutes long, and it’s all set to music. It’s interesting to see the story portrayed this way, and also VERY interesting to ‘dip your toes’ into virtual reality, although your full immersion awaits later in the day…
Next, you move from this room into the next part of the exhibition: the fully immersive projection theatre.
In here, there are moveable stools everywhere. Due to the use of projectors all around the space, this really is an immersive experience - there really isn’t a bad seat! My ‘top tip’ for where to sit would be to position yourself towards the back of the room - that way, you get to enjoy the projections on the floor across the whole room, and also running down the walls on both sides.
The technology in this room is incredible. I’ve seen projectors putting on a show before, but nothing like this!
This was, for me, one of the most touching parts of the whole exhibition. I’ve watched the Titanic movie multiple times (who hasn’t?), but there’s something really quite chilling about watching the ship hit the iceberg, and then watching it sink, from the perspective of an onlooker ‘in the water’. You really do get a very different appreciation of this disaster in this room - it’s very well done.
The Titanic as she approached the iceberg: What a view!
This projection theatre offers you a very unique perspective to watch the disaster of the Titanic story unfold.
One thing that I noticed in this part of the experience was the silence. There were lots of people in that room, and lots of them were children, but there was still very little noise. A very poignant moment, for sure.
Up next was my clear highlight of the whole day: the walk-through virtual reality experience.
Yes, this part of the experience allowed you to put a headset on and WALK THROUGH the Titanic!
This part was SO impressive. I’d been a fan of the seated virtual reality room earlier in the day, but this was unbelievable in comparison. In this room, you put on a headset and then walk around the large hall infront of you.
You’re entirely unable to see anything in the ‘real world’, but the headset does warn you of things like walls or other people around you. You’re also not allowed to run or move too quickly in here, so it’s almost impossible for you to injure yourself - don’t worry!
This experience takes you onto the ship, where you’re able to stand at the bottom of the grand staircase, walk through some of the corridors into different rooms, and even be greeted by the Captain himself out on the Promenade Deck. Of course, the sea breeze isn’t going to mess up your hair - this is all done from the comfort of the London exhibition hall!
It’s really difficult for me to explain to you how well this element worked, especially because of the fact that it’s impossible to create any content that would show you thanks to it all being displayed on my headset. I guess you’ll just have to take my word for it until you can see it for yourself… My only criticism of this aspect is that it wasn’t long enough. Considering how long you’re in the overall exhibition for, I’d have loved for this to have been longer than the 10 minute window afforded to it.
Once you remove your headset, you then pass a wall display which shows all of the names of those lost in the disaster. Interestingly, I spotted a name VERY similar to mine on there. My surname is ‘Porteous’ (it’s a Scottish surname), and I saw someone with the name ‘Porteus’. It got me thinking - I wonder how accurate these records were, or if there’s a chance that I might have had a relative on the Titanic…
You can’t help but be moved by this huge display of names of those lost in the Titanic disaster.
At this point, you’re reaching the end of the experience. There are three more areas to tell you about.
Up first, if you’ve got children then you might be interested to know about the projection room that they’ve aimed at a younger audience. In here, you’re invited to ‘colour in’ one of the available images, and then slide your paper onto a projector infront of a digital screen. Then, your image will appear on the screens - magic!
I found this another really interesting use of technology, and I’m sure that young children would be in absolute awe of their artwork gliding across the screen before their very eyes! Here’s a few photos to give you an idea…
This part is really easy - you just colour in your picture and slide it onto the projector. A few seconds later, your picture will appear on the screen!
I’m a big child at heart - can you imagine how a young visitor would react to seeing their creation on screen?!
Second is the ‘Parisien Cafe’. This is a part of the experience that I didn’t love, and I would say that it really didn’t live up to the reviews I’d read online before visiting.
I’d read reviews that suggested this was going to be a really impressive and beautiful space, which would allow you to enjoy tea and cakes while feeling like you were on the Titanic. In reality, I didn’t eat here because it felt like you were on a set in the middle of a large exhibition hall, with a few mirrors and artificial plants thrown in the try and take away from that fact.
Not only was the space not exactly inspirational, but the prices were HIGH! For the ‘meal deal’ of a sandwich, a drink and a snack, you’d be paying almost £10 - a very expensive option compared to what’s available in the cafes nearby Dock X.
Cafe Parisien - not high on my ‘to do list’ for your visit to the Titanic exhibition at Dock X.
Here’s the menu and price list for Cafe Parisien.
Finally, there’s the gift shop. Of course, no visit to an event like this would be complete without a gift shop, would it?
In all honesty, there was a nice range of souvenirs available in here, although I didn’t opt to purchase any. Here’s a few photos to show you what to expect from the gift shop at the end of the experience.
Here’s the gift shop - expensive, but a nice range of options to take home to remember your trip.
Bags, t-shirts, notepads and even soft toys - plenty to choose from!
Do you enjoy browsing a gift shop when you travel? If so, you’ll probably enjoy this one!
So, would I recommend a visit to ‘The Legend of the Titanic’ exhibition in London?
In a word, YES. If you’re even slightly interested in the story of the Titanic, you really should give this one a try. It tells the story in ways that I’ve never seen before, and the virtual reality aspects are really impressive.
I really hope you’ve enjoyed seeing what my visit to Dock X looked like. If you’d like to head there to see the Titanic experience for yourself, just head to this link to buy your tickets!