Ideas for 1 Night in Town Before departing Southampton

Hello all,

We have our itinerary for upcoming cruises and land vacation at the end of this month almost set but after spending four nights in Swansea, Wales, we have one night to fill before staying our last night in Southampton before TA coming back to US.

Since we are staying in more modern hotels (Marriott and Premier) for a lot of our 11 night stay, I would LOVE to stay in a smaller town or village in a boutique or family run hotel with some historic character. DH not keen on B&B unless large and more like small hotel.

We don't really need a ton of sights, etc. just a nice relaxing stay with a nice dinner out and a bit of shopping perhaps? Love antiques and flea markets and DH loves to play billiards.

Must haves are that it must be on the rail, and hotel should be in a high street location or very close walk to restaurant and shops.

Would love to hear recommendations. I looked at Salisbury (which I realize is not really that small), which looks lovely - but every review I read on the hotels or B&B's in centre locations were not great - i.e. "rooms dirty", etc. I am not ruling out, but I would love to hear others recommendations. I looked at New Forest, but without a car, I couldn't pinpoint which area would work - seems more spread out and we are not big walkers. Or would you spend last TWO nights before cruise in Southampton and do day trips?

Also, need a night between Oxford and Swansea - can't decide - looking at Hereford, Ludlow, Chepstow, - decisions decisions!

Itinerary: Arrive Southampton, train to Oxford 4 nights, one night ?, 4 nights in Swansea, Wales and one night ? before last night in Southampton.

Thanks

Debbie

We chose to stay 2 nights in Southampton, We stayed at the Premier Inn, West Quay, that was air-conditioned --it was warm and sticky when we there. Our first night we walked to the Red Lion Pub for dinner. Our full day we took the train to Salisbury then HoHo to Stonehenge and back to Salisbury. That evening we ate at George's a greek restaurant in Southampton. Next day I went shopping at the nearby Mall for wine, flowers, etc for the cruise. We had planned to walk around the "walls" but had already done so on our restaurant walks.

There are older hotels in Southampton but we wanted air-conditioning.

We are staying there the night before the cruise so maybe I will see about availability for an additional night. I was trying to find us a cute village or town on the rail system, but staying two nights in Southampton instead of one night might give us more time to do a day trip and less hassle.

Sent from my KFJWI using Tapatalk HD

We are staying there the night before the cruise so maybe I will see about availability for an additional night. I was trying to find us a cute village or town on the rail system, but staying two nights in Southampton instead of one night might give us more time to do a day trip and less hassle.

 

Sent from my KFJWI using Tapatalk HD

That's what we concluded and it worked well.

This guide is helpful http://www.tomsportguides.com/Southampton-07-16-2014.pdf

We are staying there the night before the cruise so maybe I will see about availability for an additional night. I was trying to find us a cute village or town on the rail system, but staying two nights in Southampton instead of one night might give us more time to do a day trip and less hassle.

 

Sent from my KFJWI using Tapatalk HD

Check out the very recent thread on two nights before a cruise and in particular the link to the New Forest tourist website.

Lyndhurst is nice, but is not on the rail system.

Most people will find Brockenhurst 'cute' and it is on the rail network. Brockenhurst railway station is in the middle of the village and has a direct service from Southampton. Trains run every 30 minutes. The journey takes either 14mins (fast train - which departs on the hour) or 21mins (stopping train - which departs on the half hour) and the fare is just under £7 per person each way.

There are also trains from Brokenhurst to Lymington, again every half hour, but there are no direct trains from Southampton to Lymington - you have to change trains in Brockenhurst. The fare is just over £3 and a same day return cost around 50p more than a single.

You could, if you are planning to go to Lymington after dropping your bags off in Brokenhurst, (i.e. you are travelling on the same day)'cheat' and buy a ticket from Southampton to Lymington for around £8. However, as you would then need to buy a one way ticket back to Brockenhurst, this is not as good a deal as a day return from Brockenhurst to Lymington.

I was trying to find us a cute village or town on the rail system ...

In particular, as you're starting and ending this trip in Southampton, you could rent a car without having to worry about things like one-way drop-off charges.

However, there is one place that might approach what you're thinking of: Bath. Have you had a look at that?

I looked at Bath briefly a year or so ago when I booked the cruises but haven't lately. I almost feel that one night in Bath is just too short - not sure why. I will take a look at that as well.

Thanks everyone, for the suggestions - not sure why my creative planning juices have crashed; too much planning I guess!

Debbie

Sent from my KFJWI using Tapatalk HD

Not driving does rather limit your options in this respect, because the railways tend to serve larger places for obvious reasons.

 

In particular, as you're starting and ending this trip in Southampton, you could rent a car without having to worry about things like one-way drop-off charges.

 

However, there is one place that might approach what you're thinking of: Bath. Have you had a look at that?

I too thought about recommending Bath, but decided against it when I realised they were not intending to rent a car and were relying on public transport and, as there are no direct trains from Swansea to either Southampton or Bath (they have to change at Cardiff in both cases) I was reluctant to recommend it. However, if they do decide to break their journey at Bath, there are direct trains to Southampton from Bath and they do take a very pretty route down through Westbury (don't think you can see the White Horse from the Bath line) and Salisbury.

To the OP I would also ask why you are not renting a car. If you change your mind on this matter and you are worried about driving on the 'wrong side' then I would recommend that you leave Southampton and go up the A34 to Newbury and then join the M4 to Wales. A little bit longer and less pretty than the route most of us would take, but, if you also go down to the M271 when you first leave the port, it will give you the advantage of driving the whole route to Wales on divided highways.

Hi Debbie

just thought I'd add my thoughts for the first leg of your trip from Oxford to Swansea. I've visited Ludlow a few times and don't know much about hotels, other than there is a famous historic hotel in the main street called The Feathers but not sure it's a great hotel now. I feel Ludlow fits your description exactly and I'm sure you would enjoy it. We find it a relaxing place to visit - a typical English country town with a castle, interesting buildings and quirky shops. Not sure how easy it is to get there from Oxford and then on to Swansea without a car , but it does have a railway station.

Setting off tomorrow early but will see you in a few weeks and hear what you decided.

Rhona

Rhona,

I will take another look at Ludlow. I'm trying to figure out a way to see Hay On Wye - by hiring a car and driver for a day to see the countryside. Wonder if I could do this from Ludlow?

Sent from my KFJWI using Tapatalk HD

We were the same as you and stayed in Winchester a few years ago. It was perfect! We took a train between LHR and Winchester and then a coach to Southampton but you can take the train.

Thanks for all of the ideas. I'm looking at Ludlow as possibility for one night between Oxford and Swansea. Also thinking that instead of staying somewhere for the night before Southampton (for return cruise) we will perhaps just stay two nights in Southampton and explore from there. Less moving around and will give us a chance to get laundry done, etc. before 12 night TA.

Sent from my KFJWI using Tapatalk HD

We were the same as you and stayed in Winchester a few years ago. It was perfect! We took a train between LHR and Winchester and then a coach to Southampton but you can take the train.

You can't get a direct train from LHR to Winchester - unless JB corrects me, you would have to get the airport bus to Woking and then to Winchester. And yes, there is a very good train service from Winchester to Southampton.

I've booked the Feathers hotel in Ludlow for our open night between Oxford and Swansea. My only concern is the lack of air conditioning in some UK hotels and a few reviews mentioned the heat. Should I be concerned in early October? I love a very cold room for sleeping.

Sent from my KFJWI using Tapatalk

I don't think you will need air con in Ludlow in October - and I expect you will be able to open the window. The hotel looks very nice and is certainly interesting and historic. Enjoy!