Southampton Tours

[Empehi]

Our cruise will be stopping for the day at Southampton ....

 

Would the CC members recommend ...

 

1. A Stonehenge Tour from the ship or

 

2. Windsor Castle Tour from the ship or

 

3. Is it possible to rent a car at the port or

 

4. Any other ideas, greatly appreciated

 

empehi

[BrianC-80]

Our cruise will be stopping for the day at Southampton ....

 

Would the CC members recommend ...

 

1. A Stonehenge Tour from the ship or

 

2. Windsor Castle Tour from the ship or

 

3. Is it possible to rent a car at the port or

 

4. Any other ideas, greatly appreciated

 

empehi

 

You can easily get to Stonehenge from Southampton without a tour. It's a short walk (although uphill) from the port to Southampton train station, and then it's just a half an hour train ride to Salisbury. There's a "Tour Bus" (just a double decker bus) from outside Salisbury train station (exit the station and it's about 50 yards down on the left) which takes you straight to the site (it only accepts cash in person) and will bring you back again. While in Salisbury, I recommend you visit the Cathedral as well.

 

I'd love to say that there was an easy way to combine it with a trip to Windsor as well, but I've just checked and it'd require three changes on the trains, so I wouldn't recommend it.

 

But, you could combine it with a trip to Bath, which is a lovely town. The train journey from Southampton to Salisbury is just over half an hour, and from Salisbury to Bath is another hour. Then returning from Bath to Southampton takes (surprise, surprise! ;) ) an hour and a half. So that would be my recommendation if you were looking to combine Stonehenge and Salisbury with something else. http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/ is the national website which will give you the timetables and link you to places to buy tickets - I'd recommend that you buy the tickets at least a couple of days in advance as it's significantly cheaper.

[John Bull]

As Brian's post, Salisbury & Stonehenge is easy by train, then ho-ho.

No cruise terminal is more than a 5 minute / £10 taxi ride from Southampton Central train station.

Train service to Salisbury is half-hourly, journey time about 30 minutes, day-return fare about £11, you can buy your train tickets at the station (cash or card).

Select a train time which coincides with the ho-ho.

Ho-ho frequency depends on the time of year.

You can return to Southampton on any train.

The Stonehenge ho-ho bus calls at Salisbury train station, & the bus ride is under 30 minutes.

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

http://www.thestonehengetour.info/

 

It's important that you buy your Stonehenge ticket with your ho-ho ticket - guaranteed admission is only by advance purchase, and if you buy from the ho-ho you are not limited to a time-slot. If you wait until you get to Stonehenge you risk being delayed if your arrival time is over-subscribed.

If you take ship's excursion, that too will guarantee no delay in admission to Stonehenge.

There are excellent audio-guides at Stonehenge

 

Stonehenge is worth about 90 minutes - when you get back to Salisbury on the ho-ho, alight in the city centre to see the cathedral & historic city centre, then head for the station by ho-ho (if it's suitably timed) or local bus or taxi or 20 minute walk.

 

An independent trip by train/ho-ho will almost certainly cost less than ship's excursion & will give you flexibility, but some folk prefer ship's excursion since it's in their comfort-zone.

 

Other than the ship-sponsored tour there are no "seat-on-bus" tours.

So it's train plus ho-ho, or ship's excursion, or rented car or private tour.

 

-------------------------------------------------------

 

Although Salisbury is en-route to Bath, unless you have a mid-evening sailing I can't see you fitting in both Stonehenge & Bath by train. Or even just Salisbury & Bath. Doing it by car (rented or with driver) would be very rushed, & pretty expensive for what you'd get out of it.

 

If Southampton is a port-of-call, Bath alone is certainly manageable by train (station is "Bath Spa", & is right in the centre of Bath). But if this is in the middle of a back-to-back, the port formalities / back-on-board time would probably preclude it.

http://visitbath.co.uk/things-to-do/top-10-must-dos

 

As Brian has figured Windsor isn't viable by public transport. And I very much doubt you'd find a suitably-timed local excursion. it needs ship's tour or private transport - one of the few situations where I'd recommend ship's tour.

 

Consider the train to Winchester (about 10 to 15 minutes) for a cheap & easy day.

http://www.visitwinchester.co.uk/city-centre

 

Or the historic dockyard at Portsmouth - Portsmouth Harbour station is right by the dockyard.

http://www.historicdockyard.co.uk/

 

Or the little Hythe Ferry across Southampton, then the beach-bus (very short season) or taxi to Beaulieu.

http://hytheferry.co.uk/

http://www.thebeachbus.info/

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

 

Yes, you can rent a car for the day. But that's better for places where public transport is inadequate for your needs. Places like the New Forest.

 

Worth checking your ship's RollCall, to see if anyone is looking for sharers for a tour that might interest you?

 

JB :)

[Formerly known as Seabee]

In addition to the Beach Bus via the Hythe Ferry you can also connect with the New Frest Hoho bus in Hythe. Or you can take the train to Brockenhurst and take Hoho or bikes through New Forest.

[travelite]

As Brian's post, Salisbury & Stonehenge is easy by train, then ho-ho.

No cruise terminal is more than a 5 minute / £10 taxi ride from Southampton Central train station.

Train service to Salisbury is half-hourly, journey time about 30 minutes, day-return fare about £11, you can buy your train tickets at the station (cash or card).

Select a train time which coincides with the ho-ho.

Ho-ho frequency depends on the time of year.

You can return to Southampton on any train.

The Stonehenge ho-ho bus calls at Salisbury train station, & the bus ride is under 30 minutes.

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

http://www.thestonehengetour.info/

 

It's important that you buy your Stonehenge ticket with your ho-ho ticket - guaranteed admission is only by advance purchase, and if you buy from the ho-ho you are not limited to a time-slot. If you wait until you get to Stonehenge you risk being delayed if your arrival time is over-subscribed.

If you take ship's excursion, that too will guarantee no delay in admission to Stonehenge.

There are excellent audio-guides at Stonehenge

 

Stonehenge is worth about 90 minutes - when you get back to Salisbury on the ho-ho, alight in the city centre to see the cathedral & historic city centre, then head for the station by ho-ho (if it's suitably timed) or local bus or taxi or 20 minute walk.

 

An independent trip by train/ho-ho will almost certainly cost less than ship's excursion & will give you flexibility, but some folk prefer ship's excursion since it's in their comfort-zone.

 

Other than the ship-sponsored tour there are no "seat-on-bus" tours.

So it's train plus ho-ho, or ship's excursion, or rented car or private tour.

 

-------------------------------------------------------

 

Although Salisbury is en-route to Bath, unless you have a mid-evening sailing I can't see you fitting in both Stonehenge & Bath by train. Or even just Salisbury & Bath. Doing it by car (rented or with driver) would be very rushed, & pretty expensive for what you'd get out of it.

 

If Southampton is a port-of-call, Bath alone is certainly manageable by train (station is "Bath Spa", & is right in the centre of Bath). But if this is in the middle of a back-to-back, the port formalities / back-on-board time would probably preclude it.

http://visitbath.co.uk/things-to-do/top-10-must-dos

 

As Brian has figured Windsor isn't viable by public transport. And I very much doubt you'd find a suitably-timed local excursion. it needs ship's tour or private transport - one of the few situations where I'd recommend ship's tour.

 

Consider the train to Winchester (about 10 to 15 minutes) for a cheap & easy day.

http://www.visitwinchester.co.uk/city-centre

 

Or the historic dockyard at Portsmouth - Portsmouth Harbour station is right by the dockyard.

http://www.historicdockyard.co.uk/

 

Or the little Hythe Ferry across Southampton, then the beach-bus (very short season) or taxi to Beaulieu.

http://hytheferry.co.uk/

http://www.thebeachbus.info/

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

 

Yes, you can rent a car for the day. But that's better for places where public transport is inadequate for your needs. Places like the New Forest.

 

Worth checking your ship's RollCall, to see if anyone is looking for sharers for a tour that might interest you?

 

JB :)

How do you see the time frame for round trip Beaulieu visit? - ferry; beach bus or Hoho; Beaulieu visist; reverse for return to ship. Questions: How far is the ferry from the cruise ship (QM2) piers? -- walk or taxi? Does beach bus to Beaulieu have any advantages over Hoho? We only have a port day with ship sailing approximately 4 or 5 p.m.

Thank you for the detailed info. posted above.

[travelite]

In addition to the Beach Bus via the Hythe Ferry you can also connect with the New Frest Hoho bus in Hythe. Or you can take the train to Brockenhurst and take Hoho or bikes through New Forest.

Did you do this on a port day? I'm concerned with time frame and timely return to ship for sailing. How frequent did you find pick ups along the route of the Hoho? Do the trains Southampton>Brockenhurst>Southampton run frequently?--travel time? Approximate Hoho travel time Brockenhurst to Beaulieu? When in the New Forest a few years ago in July, the traffic in and around Brockenhurst was extremely congested, almost at a stand still.

[John Bull]

How do you see the time frame for round trip Beaulieu visit? - ferry; beach bus or Hoho; Beaulieu visist; reverse for return to ship. Questions: How far is the ferry from the cruise ship (QM2) piers? -- walk or taxi? Does beach bus to Beaulieu have any advantages over Hoho? We only have a port day with ship sailing approximately 4 or 5 p.m.

Thank you for the detailed info. posted above.

 

Although the New Forest ho-ho is OK for seeing the Forest (three routes on one all-day ticket), IMHO it's not at all suited for transport from Southampton to Beaulieu - it would be time-consuming and very poor value.

You can take a local bus to Lyndhurst, the self-proclaimed "capital of the New Forest", then the 10am green ho-ho via Brockenhurst to Beaulieu. Earliest you'd get to Beaulieu would be 10.52

Or a train to Brockenhurst, then the green route to Beaulieu. Same ho-ho, depart Brockenhurst 10.12, same earliest arrival of 10.52.

But the ho-ho routes are one way. So the return to Lyndhurst would take almost an hour, to Brockenhurst would take almost 1.5 hrs.

Likewise the little ferry from Southampton across to Hythe, then the green route. Again, because the route is one-way, although the return to Hythe from Beaulieu takes only half an hour, the convoluted "pretty" route from Hythe to Beaulieu takes well over 1.5 hours, with an earliest arrival time of 12.07pm.

You can avoid the convoluted parts of the ho-ho by taking the train to Brockenhurst then the green ho-ho to Beaulieu, but for the return using the ho-ho from Beaulieu to Hythe for the ferry back to Southampton. This would make better use of your time but would almost-double the combined train & ferry fares as well as getting little value out of the ho-ho tickets.

 

So yes, you can use the ho-ho but IMHO it's not a good use of your limited time and it's not kind to your purse.

 

The ferry plus Beach Bus might work out, but for whatever reason the early bus times only go to Beaulieu village (Beaulieu Garage). From there it's a 15 to 20 minute walk to the entrance to the Beaulieu complex, and I doubt you'd find a taxi. The main gate on Palace Lane isn't a public entrance.

If it suits your back-on-board time, the 3.11pm Beach Bus back to Hythe does call at the Beaulieu complex but although it gets you half-price tickets on the ferry, if you use the bus only for the trip back to Hythe it'll save little compared to a taxi both ways.

 

There is a local bus service between Hythe and Beaulieu, but it's so desperately infrequent as to be useless.

 

I strongly suggest in your circumstances you take the Hythe ferry from Southampton, then a taxi from Hythe pier to the Beaulieu complex.

The Hythe ferry pier at Southampton is on Town Quay, easily walkable from City (berth 101) or Ocean (berth 46) cruise terminals or a 5-minute £6 taxi ride from Mayflower (berth 105/6) or QE11 (berth 30/40)terminals.

The ferry service is half-hourly, journey time 20 minutes, return fare £6. An interesting and smooth crossing of Southampton Water to a very very long pier at Hythe. A little narrow-gauge train meets the ferry & takes you to the shore. Aim to sit at the landward end of the train in order to be amongst the first at the taxi rank.

The 6 mile / 15 minute drive from the taxi rank at the pier across a corner of the New Forest to Beaulieu will cost vaguely £12 to £14 e/w.

Do arrange with the driver to collect you at an agreed time for the return to Hythe - there 's no taxi rank at Beaulieu.

Present your ferry ticket when you pay your admission at Beaulieu - that used to give a discount but I don't know if that's still the case.

 

If you take the 9am ferry from Southampton you'll be in Beaulieu before 10am.

I suggest that at the Beaulieu complex you visit Palace House, abbey ruins and SOE museum first - the motor museum is large & interesting but time-consuming & you don't want to miss those other aspects.

The place is well worth a very full day, but you'll see plenty in your 4 to 5 hours.

Common sense says to return on the second-to-last suitable ferry just in case of any hiccups.

 

Finally, do check on the Beaulieu website whether any major events are planned for the date of your visit.

 

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

http://www.thenewforesttour.info/routes/green-route

http://www.thebeachbus.info/#timetable-anchor

http://hytheferry.co.uk/?page_id=194

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/dir/50.8248196,-1.4538156/50.8180819,-1.4532155/@50.8207793,-1.4588335,1239m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m2!4m1!3e3

http://www.southamptonvts.co.uk/live_information/shipping_movements_and_cruise_ship_schedule/cruise_ship_schedule/

https://www.londontoolkit.com/travel/southampton_accommodation.htm (the little thumbnail map at the bottom of the page shows the cruise terminals. The Hythe ferry terminal on Town Quay is close to the Isle of Wight hi-speed terminal, the yellow E on the map.)

 

JB :)

Edited July 16, 2016 by John Bull

[travelite]

Although the New Forest ho-ho is OK for seeing the Forest (three routes on one all-day ticket), IMHO it's not at all suited for transport from Southampton to Beaulieu - it would be time-consuming and very poor value.

You can take a local bus to Lyndhurst, the self-proclaimed "capital of the New Forest", then the 10am green ho-ho via Brockenhurst to Beaulieu. Earliest you'd get to Beaulieu would be 10.52

Or a train to Brockenhurst, then the green route to Beaulieu. Same ho-ho, depart Brockenhurst 10.12, same earliest arrival of 10.52.

But the ho-ho routes are one way. So the return to Lyndhurst would take almost an hour, to Brockenhurst would take almost 1.5 hrs.

Likewise the little ferry from Southampton across to Hythe, then the green route. Again, because the route is one-way, although the return to Hythe from Beaulieu takes only half an hour, the convoluted "pretty" route from Hythe to Beaulieu takes well over 1.5 hours, with an earliest arrival time of 12.07pm.

You can avoid the convoluted parts of the ho-ho by taking the train to Brockenhurst then the green ho-ho to Beaulieu, but for the return using the ho-ho from Beaulieu to Hythe for the ferry back to Southampton. This would make better use of your time but would almost-double the combined train & ferry fares as well as getting little value out of the ho-ho tickets.

 

So yes, you can use the ho-ho but IMHO it's not a good use of your limited time and it's not kind to your purse.

 

The ferry plus Beach Bus might work out, but for whatever reason the early bus times only go to Beaulieu village (Beaulieu Garage). From there it's a 15 to 20 minute walk to the entrance to the Beaulieu complex, and I doubt you'd find a taxi. The main gate on Palace Lane isn't a public entrance.

If it suits your back-on-board time, the 3.11pm Beach Bus back to Hythe does call at the Beaulieu complex but although it gets you half-price tickets on the ferry, if you use the bus only for the trip back to Hythe it'll save little compared to a taxi both ways.

 

There is a local bus service between Hythe and Beaulieu, but it's so desperately infrequent as to be useless.

 

I strongly suggest in your circumstances you take the Hythe ferry from Southampton, then a taxi from Hythe pier to the Beaulieu complex.

The Hythe ferry pier at Southampton is on Town Quay, easily walkable from City (berth 101) or Ocean (berth 46) cruise terminals or a 5-minute £6 taxi ride from Mayflower (berth 105/6) or QE11 (berth 30/40)terminals.

The ferry service is half-hourly, journey time 20 minutes, return fare £6. An interesting and smooth crossing of Southampton Water to a very very long pier at Hythe. A little narrow-gauge train meets the ferry & takes you to the shore. Aim to sit at the landward end of the train in order to be amongst the first at the taxi rank.

The 6 mile / 15 minute drive from the taxi rank at the pier across a corner of the New Forest to Beaulieu will cost vaguely £12 to £14 e/w.

Do arrange with the driver to collect you at an agreed time for the return to Hythe - there 's no taxi rank at Beaulieu.

Present your ferry ticket when you pay your admission at Beaulieu - that used to give a discount but I don't know if that's still the case.

 

If you take the 9am ferry from Southampton you'll be in Beaulieu before 10am.

I suggest that at the Beaulieu complex you visit Palace House, abbey ruins and SOE museum first - the motor museum is large & interesting but time-consuming & you don't want to miss those other aspects.

The place is well worth a very full day, but you'll see plenty in your 4 to 5 hours.

Common sense says to return on the second-to-last suitable ferry just in case of any hiccups.

 

Finally, do check on the Beaulieu website whether any major events are planned for the date of your visit.

 

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

http://www.thenewforesttour.info/routes/green-route

http://www.thebeachbus.info/#timetable-anchor

http://hytheferry.co.uk/?page_id=194

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/dir/50.8248196,-1.4538156/50.8180819,-1.4532155/@50.8207793,-1.4588335,1239m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m2!4m1!3e3

http://www.southamptonvts.co.uk/live_information/shipping_movements_and_cruise_ship_schedule/cruise_ship_schedule/

https://www.londontoolkit.com/travel/southampton_accommodation.htm (the little thumbnail map at the bottom of the page shows the cruise terminals. The Hythe ferry terminal on Town Quay is close to the Isle of Wight hi-speed terminal, the yellow E on the map.)

 

JB :)

Your reply and information is most appreciated and extremely helpful. Thank you for being so thorough.