Immerse Yourself in the
Stories of Real Pirates!

A Swashbuckling Family-Friendly Outing in New England

Museum Experience

Voyage through pirate history with a museum over 300 years in the making! Real Pirates Salem features real artifacts and treasure from the shipwrecked Whydah Gally. From lore to legendary find, see and touch the world’s only authenticated pirate treasure ever discovered – including coins, cannons, and weapons – recovered from the ocean floor by underwater explorer Barry Clifford.

Experience includes: Two free photo booth memory moments, so that you can download and take your journey home with you. Interactive stations to test your pirate abilities and a spot to touch real silver pieces of eight discovered at the Whydah wreck site. Exploration of the Discovery Lab to learn about the archaeological preservation process of centuries-old artifacts pulled from the depths.

Director’s Tour Experience

Everything included in the traditional museum experience, with the following special additions:

Personal guided tour of the museum with one of our knowledgeable pirates, who will give you the “ins and outs” of the museum – including facts that might otherwise pass you by. Gold coin for each member of your boarding party that secures you $5 off $10 or more in our Plundered Goods gift shop. Complimentary postcard with access to an audio tour of the shipwreck recovery narrated by discoverer Barry Clifford.

4.9
Based on 1202 reviews
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Sara North
14:05 30 Apr 24
The Real Pirates Museum was the highlight of our trip to Salem. My son was looking up things to do in Salem and when he saw this museum we had to go. The Co-Owner Caroline was wonderful, and gave us all the information. To see all the items from the Whydah shipwreak was amazing. This is a must see if you are in Salem. 10/10 recommend
Travis Briggs
17:02 29 Apr 24
Very informative and the tour guide was great
Matthew Sherburne
12:38 29 Apr 24
Ryan Lee
13:49 28 Apr 24
Really nice space. Modern, clean, spacious. All of the exhibits are nicely done and kept up. Great experience and would definitely take out of town guests on a trip there to learn more about the area and the story associated with the museum.
Kita Romanishan
12:52 27 Apr 24
Was a lovely little place and the staff were really friendly. The exhibits are only going to get larger as more of the Whydah is uncovered.
Malinda Kenyon
13:51 25 Apr 24
Paul Mouratidis
02:23 25 Apr 24
Jessica Sherman
18:30 24 Apr 24
Wonderful museum! Although not suited for small children - they may get bored. It is super interesting to learn about Pirates, their treasures, and how things are recovered. I look forward to bringing family and friends there who are visiting us from overseas.
Jada
17:10 24 Apr 24
Josh Sklodowski
14:09 24 Apr 24
Very informative. Great for kids and adults
Rowan Zeoli
20:01 23 Apr 24
Honestly the best museum I've ever been to. The passion behind this project and the dedication to acknowledging enslaved people's contributions to piracy was incredible
Jennifer Haynes
13:28 23 Apr 24
Great spot! Wasn’t even aware of Salem’s pirate history. So glad we stopped and visited. Very entertaining!!
alex petersen
13:05 23 Apr 24
Annabel Savarese
12:48 23 Apr 24
Tammy Pope
13:46 22 Apr 24
The best museum we did Salem. The pirate that began our tour was very interesting and so funny. I’m so glad we took the chance and visited.
Julie Chinappi
12:41 22 Apr 24
What a fantastic experience! Very interesting and would highly recommend the directors tour. Hopefully you get the captain of the ship like we did, he was very informative and fun! AAARRRHHH!!!
Katie Downes
14:42 21 Apr 24
jamie lee
13:46 21 Apr 24
Nicole Sharp
01:47 19 Apr 24
This museum was fantastic! There is a lot of information and artifacts inside. We had a lot of fun and learned a lot. This was my favourite of our salem tourist sites! Great for kids & adults.
Thank you!
A.J. Bean
15:46 17 Apr 24
WOW !! What an unexpected treat this place is, I didn’t know what to expect & was blown away by the history and information and all the artifacts on display. You travel through this self guided tour and learn about the pirates and felt like you got to know who they were as people and all the good and really bad things about being a pirate. All of the history was so interesting and informative and the Pirate who introduced us to the exhibit was so entertaining, funny and also very informative and nice 😊 such a cool place and so worth the visit in Salem!!We can’t wait to go back for another visit!! Thank you :)
Valerie Ford
22:09 16 Apr 24
An awesome walk through a tragic historical story. All pirate enthusiasts will enjoy!
lauren bennett
14:03 16 Apr 24
A great experience! if been to both the Salem and the Cape museums and was fascinated by the history of the Wydah. I also enjoyed the tank room. The process of how they restore these items is just as intriguing as the story itself.
Samuel Mate
23:39 14 Apr 24
Very cool experience. Loved seeing all the real pirate sunken treasures. Favorite part was either the treasure chest full of gold coins or the room showing how the cleaned the bits they found.
Randi Sargent
17:10 14 Apr 24
We had a great visit, very informative. Staff was very accommodating. Leave plenty of time to get there, lots of traffic in Salem.
Joe Nicholas
12:35 07 Apr 24
Very cool and fun. Did this as a rainy day activity with my 5 year old son. He likes to speed thru these types of things, but he enjoyed the interactive beginning and being able to touch treasure and see how Pirates lived.
Sarah Pierce
13:23 05 Apr 24
My teenage boys and I had a great time checking out this pirate museum. It’s based on an actual sunken pirate ship which they have recovered tons of artifacts and they tell the story of how it all happened. If you need something to do in Salem, I enjoyed this more than my walking tour.
Michael Killen
10:58 05 Apr 24
When my family, and I went into this museum my extent of knowledge about pirates was limited to my repeated viewings of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. Man ....those movies are soo good. All except for "On Stranger Tides", but I digress.... This museum is awesome! My wife got us the director's tour, and in my opinion that is the BEST way to experience this museum. We got so much knowledge from our tour guide, and please forgive me, but for the life of me I can't remember his name. It was informative, fascinating, and just a great time! If you are in the Salem area visiting, or heck even if you live here and you have not yet stopped by....put this at the top of your list. 5 stars isn't enough. Thank you to the staff of Real Pirates Salem.🙏
Valek
02:02 05 Apr 24
The Real Pirates Salem museum offers an immersive journey into the captivating world of piracy, blending history with adventure seamlessly. From the moment you step inside, you’re transported back in time to the Golden Age of Piracy. The museum’s exhibits are meticulously curated, featuring authentic artifacts salvaged from sunken ships, including weaponry, navigational instruments, and personal items belonging to infamous pirates. The staff is great, very friendly and committed. After the disappointment with the Salem Witch Museum, it was a pleasant surprise that this one was good. I bought the tickets in the museum, there was no line and accepted credit cards.
Lynn Wilson
14:45 31 Mar 24
We had a nice time and learned a lot from this exhibit. My kids also enjoyed it! It was interesting to see the artifacts along with how they were found and restored. The historical parts regarding piracy and the story of the Whydah brought the treasure and relics to life and being able to touch things that had been lost for 300 years was amazing. The artwork was also fantastic!
Keenan Langston
17:06 02 Nov 23
Megan Bicket
18:13 01 Nov 23
This exhibit had a lot more to offer than the New England Pirate Museum in term of artifacts and information and while you aren't guided the entire time at Real Pirates, it is more entertaining, we thought.
Hannah Ballou
02:16 31 Oct 23
This was the first place we hit after getting off the commuter train. We were thoroughly impressed! The reviews didn’t lie when they said how awesome this museum is.First things first, this is about a particular ship which has helped to solidify a lot of pirate legends. They have incredible recovered artifacts, and a storyline right out of a novel. The electrolysis demonstration to remove said artifacts from concretion is even displayed which was fascinating (especially for us science nerds!).Highly recommend for anyone with any amount of interest in pirates!
Courtnee O
01:34 27 Oct 23
A friend and I went here and took the tour that has a guide to explain all the history. It was a great tour with more information than I expected to learn. Definitely a good experience for anyone wanting to learn more about the pirate life.
Chloe
20:46 26 Oct 23
This museum is one of my best experiences in Salem. After being highly disappointed from the iconic Salem Witch Museum, The Real Pirates set the bar even higher. From a live presentation with a pirate in the beginning to a plethora of real artifacts full of history you won’t find anywhere else, this is a MUST-SEE IN ! (It was also brought to our attention just how prevalent pirates were vs witches)
Rebecca Sosebee
14:16 20 Oct 23
The director here is so kind and the museum’s atmosphere is great. Easy to get to location, walkable to other food and attractions. The museum does a great job of being honest about pirate and slavery history. I loved being able to touch real treasure! The lighting and sound effects are awesome touches as well.
jem brickner
04:54 30 Jun 23
We were only here to touch real pirate gold: mission accomplished! It is a great story of finding gold/treasure hunting. The decor is great and the museum is well done (lots of great info to read but also some hands-on things to keep us all engaged). There is real, honest-to-goodness history taught here and it is fascinating. You can go at your own pace to learn about slave ships and pirates and a bit about life in the early 1700s. My youngest daughter was most excited to take a photo with "a real live pirate" (who obviously was a real, live person, not necessarily a pirate). This is actually a five-star experience in Salem!
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