USS Missouri Memorial: Tickets, Tours and Verdict

General admission includes a free 35-minute guided tour that needs no reservation. The ship is open daily 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., last admission 3 p.m., and closed on Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day (Battleship Missouri Memorial). Prices are from the operator’s ticket page, checked October 13, 2026.

The ticket page posts no kamaʻāina or military rate for the ship, although the USS Bowfin and the Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum post theirs, so ask at the booth in the Pearl Harbor Visitor Center. Our Pearl Harbor Passport guide does the math on the bundle, and the Pearl Harbor tickets guide covers the Arizona reservation, which neither includes.

The included tour walks the main route “in the footsteps of General Douglas MacArthur” to the spot where World War II ended. Afterward you explore alone on three routes: Main Deck, Below Decks for how the crew lived, and Above Decks for the bridge and the captain’s at-sea cabin (ship’s ticket page). Two paid tours go where that route does not:

No ticket combines the two in English. The 60-minute Chinese-language upgrade tour, $50, blends them.

• Captain’s Tour, 45 minutes: the Wardroom, Radio Central, the captain’s in-port cabin, where guests included President Truman, Bob Hope and Marilyn Monroe, and the Combat Engagement Center.
• Chief Engineer’s Tour, 60 minutes: down Broadway, the longest passage aboard, to Fire Room 4 and Engine Room 4, then the aft plotting room, where you pull the trigger that fires the big guns.
• Chuck’s Quest, $8: a scavenger hunt for ages 4 to 12, 14 stops, about 45 minutes (operator).
• Both upgrade tours: ladders and two-foot obstacles, closed-toe shoes, arrive 15 minutes early; late arrivals are rescheduled (tour FAQ).

The Missouri is 887 feet long, was launched in 1944, served in World War II, Korea and the Gulf War, and was decommissioned in 1992 (operator).

The surrender spot is on the included tour, and a Main Deck elevator reaches the Surrender Deck (accessibility page). Inside, the operator lists Pathway to Peace (opened September 2, 2025), Divine Wind on the kamikaze strike of April 11, 1945, the Chief Petty Officers Legacy Center, and Wardroom displays that include fragments of the USS Arizona. A recommissioning exhibit, The Boys Are Back in Town, runs until May 2027 (exhibits page).

Slider’s Grill on the pier is open 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.; eating aboard is not allowed (food services).

The operator says most people spend 1 to 2 hours aboard, and asks you to allow about 30 minutes each way for the shuttle, waiting included (operator). By our math that is about 2.5 to 3 hours from the Visitor Center and back, plus 45 or 60 minutes for an upgrade tour.

Watch the end of the day. Last admission is 3 p.m. and the last shuttle leaves the ship at 4:05, so a 3 p.m. arrival leaves about an hour. The first shuttle leaves the Visitor Center at 8 a.m.

The ship is on an active Navy base, and the public reaches it only by the free shuttle from the Pearl Harbor Visitor Center at 1 Arizona Memorial Place (operator). Enter the Visitor Center and turn right: the stop is behind the Bowfin museum. Shuttles run about every 15 to 20 minutes from 8 a.m., on a loop that stops at the Missouri, then the Aviation Museum.

By car, park at the Visitor Center lot for $7, paid by card through a QR code, no cash (NPS). Taxis and ride-shares cannot drop you at the ship, only at the Visitor Center. Our Pearl Harbor from Waikiki guide has the times and costs by bus, car and ride-share, and Pearl Harbor tours compared covers coach tours.

Shuttle riders may be asked for a government photo ID, such as a driver’s license or passport, and international visitors should carry their passports. If someone with base access escorts you, you need an accepted ID, such as a U.S. passport, a driver’s license marked as compliant with REAL ID or a Trusted Traveler card (operator).

Bags follow the Pearl Harbor policy: nothing larger than a small wallet or clutch, though clear bags are allowed. Storage near the Visitor Center entrance costs $7 a bag and $10 for luggage (operator). Photography is not allowed on the shuttle. Our visiting Pearl Harbor guide has the full bag rules.

For wheelchairs, the ship has a ramp, an elevator to the Surrender Deck and a lift-equipped shuttle, but the lower decks are not accessible (accessibility page).

The Arizona is not a rival. It is a memorial you visit on a Navy boat in about 45 minutes, free, with a $1 reservation fee (NPS). Do both.

The choice that matters is among the three paid sites. The USS Bowfin costs $19 less than the ship, needs no shuttle and takes 1.5 to 2 hours (Bowfin), but children under 4 cannot board it. The Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum costs $15 less and takes 40 to 60 minutes self-guided (museum FAQ), and it rides the same shuttle, so ship plus museum is one trip. The ship costs the most and is slowest to reach, and it alone has a surrender deck and tours that open engine rooms.

Yes, for most people with half a day, but not if time is short. The ship offers what the others do not, the place the war ended, with a free tour included. The price is $44.99, roughly an hour on the shuttle and a day without a bag.

This verdict is research, not a claim we visited. We compared the operators’ own prices, times and access rules.

Best for

• History fansGreatThe surrender deck, the Pathway to Peace exhibit and tours of the engine room and captain’s spaces.
• Families with kids 4 to 12GoodChuck’s Quest gives children a job; ladders and a long shuttle day suit older kids.
• Short on timeSkipThe shuttle is about an hour round trip. Do the Arizona and Bowfin.
• Limited mobilityGoodA ramp and elevator reach the Surrender Deck; lower decks are not accessible.

The ship holds a free Veterans Day Sunset Ceremony on November 11, 2026, 4:30 to 5:30 p.m., no ticket needed (operator). For December 7, see our Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day guide.