Fodor's Expert Review Westgate Museum

This atmospheric museum atop the last of the city's fortified medieval gateways was a debtor's prison for 150 years and now holds a motley assortment of items relating to Tudor and Stuart times. There's a stunning painted ceiling from 1554 (created to commemorate the wedding of Mary Tudor and Phillip II of Spain in the cathedral) as well as walls inscribed with 16th- through 18th-century graffiti by former prisoners. Child-size replicas of authentic 16th-century armor that can be tried on, as well as the opportunity to make brass rubbings, make it popular with kids. You can take in a panoramic view of Winchester from the roof.