What to do in Southampton, England?

My cruise will be stopping in Southampton on Wednesday, June 19, 2019 from 8a-6p. We've been to London many times and have also been to Salisbury, Stonehenge and Windsor. Wondering if anyone has some recommended places to see, go to or eat in Southampton? I've never read of anyone actually spending the day there, so am curious if it's a good idea or should we plan to do something else? If something else, where and what?

Thanks!

I would totally recommend taking the train over to Portsmouth! We flew in last year, and were planning on just hanging in Southampton, going to the maritime museum. But our private car driver told us it wouldn't take us long and recommended Portsmouth instead. It was great! They have the historic Navy dockyards, the Mary Rose (Henry VIII's ship) is there, along with a few other ships. There are activities to do, and you could easily spend 4-5 hours there. Plus, right next to it is a shopping mall, with this cool spire/tower there that you can go up (we didn't do that though, we were exhausted!). I wrote about it in my review, which is in my signature.

Portsmouth Tower by Cindy, on Flickr

Mary Rose by Cindy, on Flickr

HMS Victory - Lord Nelson by Cindy, on Flickr

I second Cindy's suggestion. If you only had three or four hours, then it would be best to stay in Southampton, but with a whole day, Portsmouth is a great place to spend it.

You don't have to lash out on a taxi either as there is an excellent train service between the two cities. No need to book in advance - just make your way to the Train Station and buy a ticket there. Portsmouth Harbour train station is only 200 yards from the entrance to Portsmouth Historic Dockyard.

It is worth pre booking the Historic Dockyard though as they currently offer a 20% discount.

https://www.historicdockyard.co.uk/tickets-and-offers

Southampton is a port city, not a tourist city. It's a turnaround port, with comparatively few port-of-call visits.

But the city has enough to interest you for a day.:)

The old walled part of the city is close to the docks - easily walkable from City cruise terminal and Ocean cruise terminal, needs a short taxi hop from Mayflower or QE11 terminals. City walls & gates, historic buildings like Tudor Merchant's House (well worth an hour or more), Medieval Merchant's House (only open weekends), Westgate Hall, & Gods Tower (houses archaeological museum). At the northern end of the walled city is the Bargate, the old city's main entrance from the London road.

Good pubs to try for a drink or meal in that part of Southampton include the Dancing Man pub & micro-brewery housed in the 13th century stone-built Wool House on Town Quay, or just around the corner in Bugle Street the attractive & historic Duke of Wellington pub, very popular with cruisers.

But it's not like most folks' idea of a walled city - it was heavily bombed in the Blitz of 1940, and modern properties sit cheek-by-jowl with the historic ones.

On the other side of the Bargate, outside the walled city, is Above Bar, the post-war main shopping street. And several malls, notably the large West Quay Mall.

Elsewhere in Southampton are places like....

"Solent Skies", a super little volunteer-run aviation museum. A short walk from Ocean Terminal, and well worth an hour. It focuses on aircraft built or operated from Southampton. Exhibits include a Spitfire (designed, developed and first built in Southampton before the factory was blitzed) and a Princess flying-boat that you can get into (Southampton was the UK's premier flying-boat centre during the short period pre & post-war before regular long-haul aircraft were developed).

If you sail from City cruise terminal, that's the place where the flying boats operated from. And on your sail-out, on the starboard side, you'll see their giant maintenance hangers (now an adventure/ leisure centre) on Calshot Spit, which sticks out where Southampton Water runs into the Solent. Also on that Spit a coastguard/harbourmaster tower and behind the tower a diminutive little Henry V111 castle).

Sea City Museum, council-operated museum dedicated to Titanic. Relies heavily on dioramas and personal stories, comparatively few artefacts but very well-presented. It's at the northern end of the main shopping street, Above Bar, in the Civic Offices complex (identify the complex by its tall white clock-tower). Art museum in that complex too.

More Southampton detail at http://www.discoversouthampton.co.uk/visit including guided or self-guided walks.

So, enough for a lazy day in Southampton and all walkable (other than mebbe a short taxi hop from/to your ship).

But if you want to travel further.....

Portsmouth. I hesitate to mention it because there's way too much there for a port-of-call visit - bear in mind that Cindy didn't have a ship to catch that evening.

Home of the Royal Navy, the main attraction is the Historic Dockyard & Ships. And close by, as Cindy mentioned, the Spinnaker Tower (only bother to go up if visibility is good when you're there). Portsmouth has much more to offer like Old Portsmouth's harbourfront fortifications and harbour entrance. Its conjoined city of Southsea is a resort city. On its seafront are Southsea Castle and adjacent D-Day museum and views across the Solent to the Napoleonic Solent forts and the Isle of Wight and plenty more besides, and the ring of Napoleonic forts (google "Palmerston's Follies") which surround the city.

But in all honesty you'll only have time for the dockyard & ships.

From Southampton by train or bus is about an hour. By train your destination is Portsmouth Harbour station (it's at the end of the line, after the main city station), by bus it's The Hard / Travel Interchange. Three different names for the same place :rolleyes:

https://www.historicdockyard.co.uk/

https://www.visitportsmouth.co.uk/

Queen Victoria's Osborne House, on the Isle of Wight.

From Town Quay take Red Funnel's traditional car ferry to East Cowes , not the hi-speed ferry to (West) Cowes.

Ferry ride about an hour.

Then a short bus ride (any bus from East Cowes) and ask the driver to put you off at Osborne House - it's less than ten minutes on the bus. Check return bus & ferry times. I'm always wary of ferries on a port-of-call day, but the Red Funnel car ferry is super-reliable in all weathers.

https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/osborne/

https://www.redfunnel.co.uk/en/isle-of-wight-ferry/

Beaulieu

Take the little Hythe ferry from Town Quay across Southampton Water to Hythe (very long pier, but a little historic train to take you from boat to shore), then a taxi from the rank for the 6 miles across a corner of the New Forest to Lord Montague's complex at Beaulieu. Arrange with the driver to return for you at a pre-determined time, there's no taxi rank at Beaulieu.

(the local bus service is extremely infrequent, and ignore any references on the web to the "beach bus", it no longer operates)

It majors on Britain's National Motor Museum, but for those in your party not interested in cars there's also the Bishop's Palace (home), the ruins of Beaulieu Abbey (sacked by Henry V11 during the Dissolution of the Monasteries), and various smaller attractions like the Secret Army - during WW2 it was a training school for spies.

https://www.beaulieu.co.uk/

http://hytheferry.co.uk/

Winchester

Catherdal city only 15 mins by frequent trains from Southampton.

Older than Salisbury, it's the former capital of Wessex (King Alfred & all that). But narrow streets and rather more tourists make it feel more crowded, less laid-back.

Centred on Winchester Cathedral. Huge. IMHO not as inspiring as Salisbury's but centuries older. Houses the grave of Jane Austen. Interesting history of subsidence, and a tribute in the cathedral to the brass-helmeted deep-sea diver who a century ago spent years strengthening the foundations.

https://www.visitwinchester.co.uk/

JB :)

It majors on Britain's National Motor Museum, but for those in your party not interested in cars there's also the Bishop's Palace (home), the ruins of Beaulieu Abbey (sacked by Henry V11 during the Dissolution of the Monasteries), and various smaller attractions like the Secret Army - during WW2 it was a training school for spies.

JB :)

Sorry to criticize such a helpful post but it was Henry V11's son, Henry V111 who created the charming monastery ruins that we love to visit all over the country. :)

You'll be saying that Christoper Columbus discovered America next... :)

Sorry to criticize such a helpful post but it was Henry V11's son, Henry V111 who created the charming monastery ruins that we love to visit all over the country. :)

 

You'll be saying that Christoper Columbus discovered America next... :)

I'm half-decent on history, Bob :)

But sorelyy lackin g in jkeybooard skwills :o

A typo, dear friend, just a mis-hit 1 ;) (often a good excuse but in this case genuine)

Mr Columbus did discover America.

Only a few hundred years after the Vikings

JB :)

Mr Columbus did discover America.

Only a few hundred years after the Vikings

 

JB :)

Careful. The only North American spot that has been verified as a Viking settlement is at L'Anse aux Meadows which is at the north tip of the island of Newfoundland in Canada.

Portsmouth. I hesitate to mention it because there's way too much there for a port-of-call visit - bear in mind that Cindy didn't have a ship to catch that evening.

Home of the Royal Navy, the main attraction is the Historic Dockyard & Ships. And close by, as Cindy mentioned, the Spinnaker Tower (only bother to go up if visibility is good when you're there). Portsmouth has much more to offer like Old Portsmouth's harbourfront fortifications and harbour entrance. Its conjoined city of Southsea is a resort city. On its seafront are Southsea Castle and adjacent D-Day museum and views across the Solent to the Napoleonic Solent forts and the Isle of Wight and plenty more besides, and the ring of Napoleonic forts (google "Palmerston's Follies") which surround the city.

But in all honesty you'll only have time for the dockyard & ships.

JB :)

You're correct, we just had a bed to get to! LOL! We were sooo... exhausted after our few hours there! LOL! I fell asleep on the train ride back to Southampton and was so tired, we took the short taxi ride back to our hotel. After being up all day in Chicago, then flying overnight with maybe an hour of sleep, and landing at 5:30 a.m., we just kept on going, and went to Portsmouth. I'm really glad we did though. Even though we only spent a few hours there, I would have loved to have spent another few hours for sure! The city right around there looked like it would have been nice to explore.

For me, the coolest thing was seeing the Mary Rose. I saw it nearly 30 years ago, when they first put it on display after pulling it up. I honestly never thought I'd be back again, with my own kid, seeing it. It's just such an amazing thing to see, and that they were able to bring it up after all those years!

Careful. The only North American spot that has been verified as a Viking settlement is at L'Anse aux Meadows which is at the north tip of the island of Newfoundland in Canada.

Oh yeah?

Here's a Viking place, on the mainland and very close to your home

https://goo.gl/maps/qmn4CkQvLJE2

JB :D

ps it might be post-Columbus

Oh yeah?

Here's a Viking place, on the mainland and very close to your home

https://goo.gl/maps/qmn4CkQvLJE2

 

JB :D

ps it might be post-Columbus

It only seems that you have to sleep there because you can't find your way out of the store! :D

Thanks for all the suggestions!

We're not really interested in ships, cars or planes, so Winchester sounds like the best idea. We do love cathedrals or really any churches. I'm assuming there are probably some nice pubs and tea houses there....any recommendations? If not, we'll just stop somewhere and hope it's good. ;p

After hearing the song about Winchester cathedral during my teens, it will be fun to see it!

Thanks for all the suggestions!

 

We're not really interested in ships, cars or planes, so Winchester sounds like the best idea. We do love cathedrals or really any churches. I'm assuming there are probably some nice pubs and tea houses there....any recommendations? If not, we'll just stop somewhere and hope it's good. ;p

 

After hearing the song about Winchester cathedral during my teens, it will be fun to see it!

The Bishop on the Bridge is the most obvious option for a pub. A five minute walk from the cathedral, on the Broadway about 100 yards behind King Alfred's statue & opposite the water mill. Nice riverside beer garden.

Sorry, JB doesn't do tearooms. :p But there'll be plenty on High Street & the Broadway.

If you arrive by train, it's a 15 minute walk to the cathedral & city centre

Head first to the Great Hall, the only surviving part of Winchester Castle. Entry is by donation, £1 to £2 pp is fine. On the wall of the Great Hall is the huge round table of King Arthur & his knights. OK, King Arthur - if he existed - was about 700AD & the table has been carbon-dated to the 13th Century, but why let the facts get in the way of a tourist attraction :D)

Then down the High Street, mebbe stopping off at the little West Gate museum, then continue down the narrow pedestrianised part of High Street, and turn to your right at the Buttercross.

https://goo.gl/maps/owkcEza3W5D2

The ruins of Wolvesey Castle, the old bishop's palace is behind the cathedral

If you don't fancy the trek back to the station, there are taxis in the Broadway.

JB :)

The Bishop on the Bridge is the most obvious option for a pub. A five minute walk from the cathedral, on the Broadway about 100 yards behind King Alfred's statue & opposite the water mill. Nice riverside beer garden.

Sorry, JB doesn't do tearooms. :p But there'll be plenty on High Street & the Broadway.

 

If you arrive by train, it's a 15 minute walk to the cathedral & city centre

Head first to the Great Hall, the only surviving part of Winchester Castle. Entry is by donation, £1 to £2 pp is fine. On the wall of the Great Hall is the huge round table of King Arthur & his knights. OK, King Arthur - if he existed - was about 700AD & the table has been carbon-dated to the 13th Century, but why let the facts get in the way of a tourist attraction :D)

Then down the High Street, mebbe stopping off at the little West Gate museum, then continue down the narrow pedestrianised part of High Street, and turn to your right at the Buttercross.

https://goo.gl/maps/owkcEza3W5D2

 

The ruins of Wolvesey Castle, the old bishop's palace is behind the cathedral

 

If you don't fancy the trek back to the station, there are taxis in the Broadway.

 

JB :)

Thanks so much! :hearteyes:

Spending two evenings in Southampton prior to transatlantic cruise. Considering one day visit to Salisbury and Stonehenge. Any recommendations would be much appreciated. e.g., Travel by train or bus? Salisbury HOHO bus??

Spending two evenings in Southampton prior to transatlantic cruise. Considering one day visit to Salisbury and Stonehenge. Any recommendations would be much appreciated. e.g., Travel by train or bus? Salisbury HOHO bus??

This is the way virtually everyone gets to Stonehenge from Southampton.............

Take the train to Salisbury from Southampton central station. Buy return (round-trip) tickets at about £11. Buy train tickets in advance or when you get to the station, for this trip here's no difference in the fare.

Trains approx. every half-hour (fewer on sundays), journey time about 35 / 40 minutes.

http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/

(If your visit is out-of-season, choose a travel time which coincides with the reduced ho-ho frequency).

Take the Stonehenge ho-ho from Salisbury station forecourt, it's more a means of transport than a ho-ho, but there is a narration. Takes about 30 minutes to go to Stonehenge.

http://www.thestonehengetour.info/

On your way back to Salisbury, if you have the time and the weather is OK, you might want to stop off to walk up to Old Sarum (an iron-age fortification & the original site of Salisbury) on the city limits. From the Old Sarum stop you can use your ticket on any local "Salisbury Reds" bus to get back to Salisbury rather than wait for the next ho-ho.

Back in Salisbury, take a look round the historic centre and its magnificent cathedral, which houses one of the four original Magna Cartas.

Then ho-ho, or local bus, or taxi, or 20-minute walk back to Salisbury station.

It all fits into one interesting and varied day out.

NB Stonehenge tickets issued by the ho-ho are "anytime" tickets.

If you buy your Stonehenge tickets direct from the English Heritage website you have to specify a half-hour window for arrival - miss that window on a busy day and your admission can be delayed.

https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/stonehenge/

So buy your Stonehenge tickets from the ho-ho operator - on their website, or from the driver on the day - so that you can enter as soon as you arrive.

JB :)

We are staying in Portsmouth; could we do the same thing from there?

Sent from my iPad using Forums

We are staying in Portsmouth; could we do the same thing from there?

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Yes, there's a direct hourly train service from Portsmouth to Salisbury (it goes thro' Southampton). Takes about 1hr 15mins, return fare about £21. Then the Stonehenge ho-ho.

JB :)

Many thanks JB for your excellent feedback to my request.

I just got back from London yesterday and spent the disembarkation day in Southampton as my hotel was at gatwick for my flight home the next day. I used Ocean gifts for my “left luggage” and did a walking tour with a group that met at the Bargate entrance. It was only 6£ and was 90 minutes of information. DW spent some time wandering along high street and it was then time to make our way to gatwick.

I have taken JBs tips on a previous Southampton stay to Salisbury and Stonehenge by train and HOHO and it was very easy.

We did Portsmouth for a day while in Southhampton to start our cruise....

A most interesting thread. I was wondering what to do if anything in our port day in Southampton, and now I think Winchester. 

I’ve visited Mary Rose twice. They’ve made progress over the years. It’s a most remarkable thought to realize how long she was on the bottom and how miraculous it was that she was found and brought up for us to marvel at. 

Winchester would be new to me, and I’m the navigator, so that’s where we’ll go. 

How about the Sea City Museum? We find it a very interesting place for one interested in the Titanic Story.

We just spent the afternoon in Southampton two days ago (before boarding a TA back to the U.S.).  We’d been there before, and have also visited Stonehenge and Salisbury.  This time, we went to the Sea City Museum, mentioned above.  I thought their exhibit about the Titanic disaster and its impact on Southampton was very well done. 

On 9/23/2018 at 2:04 PM, John Bull said:

 

 

 

...

 

On the wall of the Great Hall is the huge round table of King Arthur & his knights. OK, King Arthur - if he existed - was about 700AD & the table has been carbon-dated to the 13th Century, but why let the facts get in the way of a tourist attraction :D)

...

 

JB 🙂

Hardly 700 AD -  more likely 460 to 490 time span;  after the Roman Legions were withdrawn at about 409 to resist all the bad guys crossing the Rhine, the Saxons started coming across - Arthur  was among those trying to keep them out.  By 700 the Saxons had long taken over, their several kingdoms were well established - and were about to get clobbered by the next bunch of hooligans - from Denmark and, later, Norway.

7 hours ago, navybankerteacher said:

 

Hardly 700 AD -  more likely 460 to 490 time span;  after the Roman Legions were withdrawn at about 409 to resist all the bad guys crossing the Rhine, the Saxons started coming across - Arthur  was among those trying to keep them out.  By 700 the Saxons had long taken over, their several kingdoms were well established - and were about to get clobbered by the next bunch of hooligans - from Denmark and, later, Norway.

Whatever date it was, NBT, it was a long time ago - and nowadays my memory's not as good as it was back in those days  

But yes, it was long before Kirk Douglas invaded

JB