The City Museum is housed in what used to be a Victoria Barracks. The permanent displays in the city museum include 'The Story of Portsmouth'. The story is first introduced in the form of an audio visual display which last about 5 - 10 minutes. There is a full size construction of a Stone Age Man along with another audio visual display. There are also many artefacts from Portsmouth's history, photographs and text. Going up to the first floor there is 'Living in Portsmouth' this display is a set of rooms set up from different eras. There is a 17th century bed chamber, 1871 kitchen, a Victorian parlour, a 1930s kitchen and a 1950s living room.

There is also an art gallery in the museum which houses many paintings and postcards depicting scenes of Portsmouth's history. The City Records Office is housed in the same building as the museum and contains the Cities archives dating back to the 14th Century. There are also a large number of historical books housed here.

The museum as well as being housed in a magnificent balding has grounds where you can relax. There are also often temporary exhibitions held in the museum as well as the permanent ones.