Day trips from Southampton

[cajun_corgi]

We will be boarding QM2 in Hamburg in june, and will have a whole day in Southampton while she takes on more passengers for a crossing. We are looking for ideas on how to best spend that day. We are not particularly interested in seeing Stonehenge again, but are thinking maybe Winchester, Windsor Castle or Salisbury. Don't know how far away any are from the cruise terminal. Any help would be appreciated.

[Thaxted]

We will be boarding QM2 in Hamburg in june, and will have a whole day in Southampton while she takes on more passengers for a crossing. We are looking for ideas on how to best spend that day. We are not particularly interested in seeing Stonehenge again, but are thinking maybe Winchester, Windsor Castle or Salisbury. Don't know how far away any are from the cruise terminal. Any help would be appreciated.

 

Both Winchester and Salisbury are no more than 30 minutes from Southampton by rail, and trains leave Southampton about every 15 minutes. Although Salisbury has the more magnificent cathedral, I think that Winchester is a lovelier and more interesting town that would be well worth a day's visit.

[jomf]

You might like to post this on the port boards.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=233

 

 

More chance of a reply.

 

My penny's worth would be a trip to Windsor Castle.

[deck chair]

Hi

 

You may also want to visit Bath which is not that far away.

 

Deck Chair

[bobg529]

I am not absolutely sure of this so please correct me if I'm wrong, but you cannot take the regular train directly to Windsor. You need to go to a town called Slough, and then transfer to some kind of local that runs to within walking distance of the castle. I just visited Windsor a few days ago and took an excursion. I wish now that I had taken the train which would have allowed me much more time in Windsor, which is absolutely beautiful, then I got on a stupid tour. Besides which buses are so uncomfortable AND I love trains to boot. :mad: This trip, has been wonderful fun and I love England, but when I get to come back, I shall travel about on my own. I did that for two days out of four, and saw more and enjoyed it more too! Oh well, this time I visited England so I could come home on the Queen. Next time I will come just to visit England. OP, sorry if my rant sort of hijacked your post! :o

[pepperrn]

I am not absolutely sure of this so please correct me if I'm wrong, but you cannot take the regular train directly to Windsor. You need to go to a town called Slough, and then transfer to some kind of local that runs to within walking distance of the castle. I just visited Windsor a few days ago and took an excursion. I wish now that I had taken the train which would have allowed me much more time in Windsor, which is absolutely beautiful, then I got on a stupid tour. Besides which buses are so uncomfortable AND I love trains to boot. :mad: This trip, has been wonderful fun and I love England, but when I get to come back, I shall travel about on my own. I did that for two days out of four, and saw more and enjoyed it more too! Oh well, this time I visited England so I could come home on the Queen. Next time I will come just to visit England. OP, sorry if my rant sort of hijacked your post! :o

Well said :) Thank you :) .

[ToadOfToadHall]

Here's an example of a Cunard tour where the train would be miles better: They do Liverpool to Chester via coach and it takes around an hour and a quarter to get there. Or you could walk 5 minutes from the cruise terminal to James Street station, and from there it takes 40 minutes to Chester. And the trains run every 15 minutes and cost £6.95 return.

[tigernut]

We will be boarding QM2 in Hamburg in june, and will have a whole day in Southampton while she takes on more passengers for a crossing. We are looking for ideas on how to best spend that day. We are not particularly interested in seeing Stonehenge again, but are thinking maybe Winchester, Windsor Castle or Salisbury. Don't know how far away any are from the cruise terminal. Any help would be appreciated.

 

I would agree with other recommendations, that the trip to either Winchester, or Salisbury would be the best option, both destinations are lovely cities and are just a short train ride away.

 

I used to live in Windsor and I don't think a day trip by train would be a viable option. The journey is more than 50 miles and you would spend a large part of the day travelling. You would need to travel from Southampton Central station, change at Reading, and change again at Slough to the local branch line that will take you to Windsor Central station. The return journey will take approximately 5 hours.

 

You could think about taking the train to London. The journey would take about 1 hour 20 mins in each direction.

 

Another suggestion is to take the ferry across the Solent to Cowes in the Isle of Wight. If you're interested in yachting, it would be a good choice.