Southampton Departure

[Solon]

Be cautious with how long it takes to drive to Southampton!

 

Three weeks ago we drove from West London to catch the Eclipse. Normally, this takes us 1.5 hours. On this occasion it was 4.5 hours!

 

Congestion from Heathrow to Southampton is the norm these days. Plan accordingly.....

[Iamthesea]

:eek:

 

We will be coming from the Bloomsbury/Covent Garden area...on a week day... would that make a difference?

[Lady Chew]

We just completed a b2b cruise out of Southampton. We went directly from Heathrow to Southampton. Grand Harbour Hotel. We found plenty to do in Southampton, for about a-day-and-a-half worth, and spent a day in Portsmouth. 5 days in London post cruise. It was all wonderful.

[Solon]

:eek:

 

We will be coming from the Bloomsbury/Covent Garden area...on a week day... would that make a difference?

 

A weekday can actually be better than a weekend when you may have weekenders going through Southampton for the New Forest and other venues. We also suffered from a football match played there on the weekend.

 

Leaving around 10am would also put you slightly behind commuters and going in the opposite direction part of the way leaving from Bloomsbury.

 

Either way, personally, I would not leave any later than 10am just to be certain!

[Iamthesea]

Thanks!

[A Sixth?]

Porstmouth is near to Southampton you could visit King Henry VIII favourite ship the Mary Rose and also Lord Neslon's ship HMS Victory

 

Second that! If you're even slightly interested in Maritime history it's a must!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Take the train! London-Portsmouth, Portsmouth-South Hampton. Very cheap, fast and not prone to traffic.

[shoreham01]

The Tudor House and Garden is really lovely and well worth a visit. We were amazed when we visited it. http://www.tudorhouseandgarden.com/ think it is ok to post this link. If it vanishes then just google it. Not very far from cruise terminal either.

 

As for original question. No way would I want to risk leaving London at 10.00hrs for Southampton. As someone else has already said, traffic is very unpredictable and delays are very common.

[EJNutz]

Portsmouth is well worth a visit as is a trip to the New Forest and the stately home of Beaulieu. You could even take a Ferry over to the Isle of Wight and visit Queen Victoria's country retreat, Osbourne House. There is plenty to do in the area around Southampton.

[Wiltonian]

If you have plenty of time and are happy to hire a car there are many good places to visit on the south coast.

 

Southampton is right next to the New Forest.

 

Lymington would be a lovely little place to base yourselves for a couple of nights before a cruise.

 

Or winchester, Salisbury, Stonehenge.

 

Stuart

[Adammara]

I would seriously consider going down to Southampton the day before you cruise. We live 200 miles away and always travel down a day or two early. We often go down to Hampshire or Dorset for our land based holidays, and it can take anything between 4 and 8 hours! The Holiday Inn and the Grand Harbour hotels are very close to the terminal, and I think they both can arrange transfers.