Titanic Exhibition London 2022: Is It Worth Visiting?

When I first found out about the Titanic Exhibition London 2022, I knew I had to book tickets straight away. I’ve always been interested in the story of the Titanic and its passengers since I had a book on it when I was younger (and of course, I fell in love with Kate and Leo in the 1997 film too).

The exhibition was set to open in January 2022, but due to popular demand, the show was brought forward and it opened in December. I did read on Instagram that a few people who had bought January tickets thinking they were going to be the first to see it weren’t very impressed, which is understandable!

Is the Titanic Exhibition London 2022 worth visiting?

This is really the key question for anyone thinking of visiting, and I figured the best way to review the exhibition was to look at the way it is promoted on the Fever website.

🥾 Unravel the true story of the ship through old photographs, personal belongings and other relics from the passengers

Even before I booked tickets I wasn’t sure what they meant by unravelling the ‘true story’. Anyone who knows about the Titanic already knows the true story of what happened that fateful night. It isn’t like there is a conspiracy theory around it or anything!

There were definitely a lot of old photographs that I hadn’t seen before. They were large and projected on black walls so were clear to see. The subjects varied from passengers, to what some of the rooms looked like, to the engineering of the ship.

In terms of artefacts, there were some interesting things on display. These included a menu that a surviving third class passenger had in her bag, the original second class passengers list, and the ring of a passenger called Gerda Lindell, which slipped off in a lifeboat as she lost her grip and sadly drowned.

However I personally had hoped to see some items recovered from the sunken ship, or perhaps even a piece of the ship itself. There were quite a lot of reproductions, and some White Star Line items that weren’t from the Titanic at all, so it felt a bit unauthentic.

There was a model of the ship that was interesting to see, and clearly a lot of work had gone into that. There was also (rather weirdly) a big slab of ice meant to represent an iceberg, that you could touch.

🔊 An audio guide in multiple languages will narrate the stories of the passengers with testimonies from survivors, music and sound effects

When you arrive you’re asked to connect to the WiFi and scan a QR code, this gives you access to the free audio guide on your phone. All of the pictures and artefacts have a number or letter on them – the audio guide talks you through each of these and you can rewind or fast forward if you wish.

I’ll be honest I got a bit bored of the audio guide quite early on! I definitely didn’t take in all of the information it shared. The layout of the exhibition also made it hard to keep up with – for example it would be talking about a photo then refer to an exhibit which was on the other side of the room. It felt like there was a lot of back and forth between things.

There were very few testimonies from survivors, it was mainly the same guy narrating throughout. On a positive note though, the audio guide was very user friendly and the connection was reliable.

✨ Walk through a recreation of the ship’s interior—from a first-class suite to a humble third-class cabin

This was the bit that disappointed me most. There was only one area that you could actually walk through that was a recreation – one of the ship’s corridors. There were a few rooms on display, however they had a rope in front of them. They also didn’t feel like they were full size.

I had seen online that there was a Titanic exhibition in Las Vegas where the famous staircase and clock had been fully recreated. You could stand on the stairs and have a photo taken. At this exhibition, it was a bad 2D picture on a wall, with some fake marble flooring in front. You couldn’t actually stand on the marble either as a rope was in front of it, it just seemed very pointless to me!

Having seen the words ‘immersive experience’ used to describe this exhibition, I expected more.

How long is the exhibition?

It is described as lasting around 80-90 minutes, and that’s how long it took us to make our way round.

Are there memoirs or merchandise for sale?

The website says yes, but I didn’t see anything at all! When you arrive you can have your photo taken, but as we had face coverings on, we didn’t bother. If you want your printed photo, you have to pay for it as you leave (I don’t know how much). This was the only thing for sale that I saw, and you then leave through a fire escape rather than walking through a gift shop.

Where is the Titanic Exhibition London 2022 held?

It’s located in Dock X, near Canada Water tube station (one stop from Canary Wharf). It’s less than a five minute walk from the station. There are no signs until you get to the entrance, but it’s easy enough to find using Google Maps. The entrance itself into the exhibition hall looked basically like a fire escape, which didn’t give off the most professional vibe. The staff were welcoming though, and there was no queuing which I always appreciate!

Is the Titanic Exhibition London 2022 worth the money?

Overall I’d rate it a 2.5 out of 5. Some of the items were emotive, but I felt it was overpriced for what it was. The tickets vary in price depending on the day and time you’re visiting – I paid just over £50 for two tickets on a Sunday morning.

I think if you don’t know too much about the story of the Titanic it will be insightful. But if you wanted an immersive experience where you could feel like you’re on the ship, or see items retrieved from the wreckage, you’ll be disappointed. What’s on show didn’t live up to the description by Fever, in my opinion.

Have you visited the exhibition already? If so, I’d love to hear what you thought in the comments below!