Your fave experiences before or after your Southampton cruise?

[SempreMare]

I will be cruising from Southampton in May next year.  I am starting to think about how many days I should spend in London - Southampton area before or after my cruise and what new interesting things I could do with that time. I definitely plan to see Stonehenge

 

So, an open-ended question:   What were your favorite experiences before or after your Southampton cruise? 

 

I have traveled frequently to London for work, but that's not the same as being in "explore mode" / vacation mode in a place.

My favorite memory was having a work trip coincide with the Chelsea Flower Show.  The delphiniums' iridescent petals were unbelievable.

 

[geoherb]

There's never enough time in London for me. Last year we stayed six nights. One of my favorite things we did was attend a lunchtime concert at St. Martin-in-the-Fields. We also enjoyed the views from the Sky Garden. Before our cruise two years ago, we went to evensong at Westminster Abbey. All of these things were free.

 

We ate breakfast at a typical British place near our hotel in Waterloo--a place full of working-class men loading up on big breakfasts before work. That was a very memorable meal. Having a pint in a pub that I used to frequent when I lived in London over 30 years ago was another memorable experience from our last trip. 

 

[Turtles06]

As geoherb says, you can't go wrong with pre- and/or post-cruise time in London, and I leave it to you to decide how many days to devote to that.  

 

I just want to add that visiting Salisbury (and its magnificent Cathedral), as well as Stonehenge, is very easy from Southampton, and you might want to consider that.  We did so on our way back to London after disembarking in Southampton and using a private car service for the day.  Southampton itself is not a tourist town, although it's interesting to see the Old City walls, and the SeaCity museum has a very interesting Titanic exhibit.   In addition, if you do a search in this forum for Southampton, you'll find a number of recommendations of day trips from Southampton, particularly including to Portsmouth.

 

I would not give up time in London for Southampton, but I really do love Salisbury Cathedral, so I wanted to flag that.  

[tartanexile81]

I wouldn't allow too much time for Southampton. A full day touring the surrounding area would be good unless you have a special interest. 

 

My favourite moment in that area was probably visiting Osborne House the holiday residence of  Queen Victoria on the Isle of Wight a ferry ride from Southampton.

Edited June 9, 2019 by tartanexile81

[Alaskanb]

We had a great stay in Winchester before our last cruise out of the UK. The tour of the crypt under the cathedral was fascinating. Lots of fabulous restaurants! 

[Cobbie48]

Sailing  the Indy in October. Plan to ferry and spend time at Osborne House pre cruise.