Plymouth's sights cluster around two areas: the Barbican, where the Elizabethan waterfront has survived intact, and Plymouth Hoe, the grassy headland above it. The rebuilt city centre has less to offer, but Drake Circus holds the city museum. Allow a full day to cover the waterfront properly.
The City Museum and Art Gallery on Drake Circus covers Plymouth's history from its Tudor heyday through the Blitz and beyond. Prysten House next to St Andrew's Church is Plymouth's oldest domestic building, a 15th-century merchant's courtyard rarely visited but worth seeking out.