A day in Southhampton

[ariesknowbest]

Hello everyone...I hope you and your family are well.  Hubby and I are booked on the 14 day roundtrip from NYC on the QM 2 that spends the day in Southampton - 6:30 am to 5:00 pm.  What are your suggestions for what we should do?  We really have no idea....any suggestions would be helpful.  Thank you🤓

[John Bull]

Hi, 

 

Note that Southampton doesn't have a double "hh" - a common mistake but one that can cause problems when looking up train timetables & such. It's Southampton 

With a 5.00 pm sailing, back-on-board for a Southampton port-of-call is normally 4.30 pm. But since this is a back-to-back you need to check with Cunard  whether you have to re-register, repeat the safety drill, etc. If so, your back-on-board is more likely to be 3 pm or 3.30, which will make a big dent in your day. 

So you may be limited to a lazy day in the city.

 

Southampton is a working port city, not a tourist city.

But it certainly does have enough to interest a visitor for a day.

 

QM2 usually berths at QE11 Cruise Terminal, deep in the docks. That dock road is busy with truck traffic, pedestrians are only separated from the heavy truck traffic by a yellow line. So you're strongly advised to hail a cab for the short drive to the old walled part of the city, no more than £6.  She sometimes berths at Ocean Cruise Terminal, from there the old town is only a ten-minute walk.  

 

Old town has the 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, which was the old city's main entrance from the London road - the old town is known locally as "Below Bar".

Good pubs to try for a drink or meal in old town 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 the centre of 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 pre and post-war life before regular long-haul aircraft were developed).

 

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 out of the city ...............

 

Salisbury & Stonehenge

Cunard may offer this as a ship-sponsored tour.

If you prefer to DIY, you need to plan to arrive at Stonehenge at opening time, and keep a constant watch on the time. There's a direct half-hourly train from Southampton central station (five minute taxi ride from your ship)) to Salisbury costs about £11 return-ticket, journey time about 40 minutes.

Take the Stonehenge ho-ho bus from Salisbury train station. Bus ride takes about 30 minutes, expect to spend about 90 minutes at Stonehenge then ho-ho back to Salisbury to check out the magnificent Salisbury cathedral and historic city centre. Ho-ho (if conveniently timed) or walk or taxi or local bus to Salisbury station for the train back to Southampton.

Post back if this is a sunday, there are a couple of complications.

Buy your Stonehenge tickets as well as ho-ho tickets from the ho-ho driver (same price as at the gate). This avoids the need for pre-purchasing a timed ticket to Stonehenge, and avoids wasting advance payment if your plans change. If you take ship's tour, their entrance tickets are also any-time.

Stonehenge is no fun in bad weather.

Salisbury is an historic & laid-back cathedal city (tallest spire in the country, one of the four original copies of Magna Carta, etc). A day in Salisbury is well worthwhile, even if you skip Stonehenge.

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

http://www.thestonehengetour.info

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

 

Winchester

Cathedral 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/

 

The following places only if your back-on-board is 4.30 or later..........

 

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.

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)

The Beaulieu complex majors on Britain's National Motor Museum, but for those in your party not interested in cars & trucks 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/

 

Portsmouth. 

Home of the Royal Navy, the main attraction is the Historic Dockyard & Ships. And close by, 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, so with your limited time it's only worthwhile for afficionados.

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, and it's only a two-minute walk to the Historic Dockyard gate.

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

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

 

BTW, You can be off the ship along with those hauling their own luggage at about 7am, ahead of regular disembarkation which normally starts around 7.30. But bear in mind the opening times of where you want to visit - if you stay in the city it's pointless to disembark before about 9am.

But first things first - check what time you have to be back at the ship !!

 

Have fun choosing

 

JB 

 

[ariesknowbest]

4 hours ago, John Bull said:

Hi, 

 

Note that Southampton doesn't have a double "hh" - a common mistake but one that can cause problems when looking up train timetables & such. It's Southampton 

With a 5.00 pm sailing, back-on-board for a Southampton port-of-call is normally 4.30 pm. But since this is a back-to-back you need to check with Cunard  whether you have to re-register, repeat the safety drill, etc. If so, your back-on-board is more likely to be 3 pm or 3.30, which will make a big dent in your day. 

So you may be limited to a lazy day in the city.

 

Southampton is a working port city, not a tourist city.

But it certainly does have enough to interest a visitor for a day.

 

QM2 usually berths at QE11 Cruise Terminal, deep in the docks. That dock road is busy with truck traffic, pedestrians are only separated from the heavy truck traffic by a yellow line. So you're strongly advised to hail a cab for the short drive to the old walled part of the city, no more than £6.  She sometimes berths at Ocean Cruise Terminal, from there the old town is only a ten-minute walk.  

 

Old town has the 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, which was the old city's main entrance from the London road - the old town is known locally as "Below Bar".

Good pubs to try for a drink or meal in old town 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 the centre of 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 pre and post-war life before regular long-haul aircraft were developed).

 

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 out of the city ...............

 

Salisbury & Stonehenge

Cunard may offer this as a ship-sponsored tour.

If you prefer to DIY, you need to plan to arrive at Stonehenge at opening time, and keep a constant watch on the time. There's a direct half-hourly train from Southampton central station (five minute taxi ride from your ship)) to Salisbury costs about £11 return-ticket, journey time about 40 minutes.

Take the Stonehenge ho-ho bus from Salisbury train station. Bus ride takes about 30 minutes, expect to spend about 90 minutes at Stonehenge then ho-ho back to Salisbury to check out the magnificent Salisbury cathedral and historic city centre. Ho-ho (if conveniently timed) or walk or taxi or local bus to Salisbury station for the train back to Southampton.

Post back if this is a sunday, there are a couple of complications.

Buy your Stonehenge tickets as well as ho-ho tickets from the ho-ho driver (same price as at the gate). This avoids the need for pre-purchasing a timed ticket to Stonehenge, and avoids wasting advance payment if your plans change. If you take ship's tour, their entrance tickets are also any-time.

Stonehenge is no fun in bad weather.

Salisbury is an historic & laid-back cathedal city (tallest spire in the country, one of the four original copies of Magna Carta, etc). A day in Salisbury is well worthwhile, even if you skip Stonehenge.

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

http://www.thestonehengetour.info

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

 

Winchester

Cathedral 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/

 

The following places only if your back-on-board is 4.30 or later..........

 

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.

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)

The Beaulieu complex majors on Britain's National Motor Museum, but for those in your party not interested in cars & trucks 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/

 

Portsmouth. 

Home of the Royal Navy, the main attraction is the Historic Dockyard & Ships. And close by, 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, so with your limited time it's only worthwhile for afficionados.

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, and it's only a two-minute walk to the Historic Dockyard gate.

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

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

 

BTW, You can be off the ship along with those hauling their own luggage at about 7am, ahead of regular disembarkation which normally starts around 7.30. But bear in mind the opening times of where you want to visit - if you stay in the city it's pointless to disembark before about 9am.

But first things first - check what time you have to be back at the ship !!

 

Have fun choosing

 

JB 

 

Hey JB thank you so much for all of your helpful information.  I greatly appreciate it.  We are not on a b2b.  It is one 14 day cruise therefore I don't think we will have to be back on the ship at 3:30 pm.  

One question, is a tour at Highclare Castle possible?  If so, do you think it is worth it for a Downton Abbey fan?

 

Thanks again.  

Linda

[John Bull]

39 minutes ago, ariesknowbest said:

Hey JB thank you so much for all of your helpful information.  I greatly appreciate it.  We are not on a b2b.  It is one 14 day cruise therefore I don't think we will have to be back on the ship at 3:30 pm.  

One question, is a tour at Highclare Castle possible?  If so, do you think it is worth it for a Downton Abbey fan?

 

Thanks again.  

Linda

 

 Hi Linda,

 

Highclere isn't worth it for me.

But then period dramas aren't my thing.

And yes, it's perfectly feasible & worthwhile for a Downton Abbey fan.

 

There's a slim chance it might be, or be incorporated into, a ship's tour.

 

DIY  you have two, possibly three, options...............

 

By train is the most economical,  although it involves one or two changes..

Taxi to Southampton Central station, 5 -8 minutes, under £10.

Buy return tickets to Newbury, about £30 per person. https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/

For this route purchasing your rail tickets in advance is no cheaper, and is in any case a little complicated from outside the UK. Just allow a little extra time to buy at the station - there's a manned ticket-booth.

You have to change trains at Reading, and depending on your time of travel you might also have a change of trains at Basingstoke. Best to keep life simple by aiming for a train time that involves just the one change. 

Journey time 1 hr 20 mins to 2 hrs 10, depending which train time. 

There's a taxi rank at Newbury station - take a taxi for the 6 mile / 10-15 minute drive to Highclere Castle. I don't know the cost, probably about £15.

There's no taxi rank at Highclere Castle, so arrange for the driver to return for you at a pre-arranged time.

Total travel cost for two people about £100. 

 

Or travel by road - 35 miles, about 45 minutes (plus an extra 10 - 15 minutes if before 9am) ........................

 

By private transfer car or van.

More expensive than the train of course, but the opportunity to find sharers via your cruise RollCall - that'd be simpler & easier, and cost-sharing would hopefully keep the travel cost per person tolerably near the train option. Get quotes from 

https://www.smithsairportcars.co.uk/

https://westquaycars.com/

https://www.aquacars.co.uk/

All three are based in / near Southampton and are frequently used & recommended by Cruise Critic members.

 

By car rental.

Probably not worth the complication, the cost of extras ( taxi to / from the depot, insurance, GPS, fuel, etc), and the time involved in collecting / returning.

But the route & driving are easy  - almost all divided highway.

Most major agencies, with the notable exception of Avis,  have depots less than a £10 taxi ride from the ship.

 

It's probably best to pre-book Highclere Castle tickets.

 

BTW, it's not a "castle", it's a stately home.

And as well as the Downton Abbey connection it was the family home of Lord Carnarvon, who financed Howard Carter's search for the tomb of Tutankhamun in the Valley of the Kings. He joined Carter for the opening of the tomb, and died three months later - the first victim of the Curse of Tutankhamun 

 

JB 

[TheOldBear]

It is a b2b cruise - but [if its like 2019] as an 'in transit' passenger you are already checked in, and need not attend the safety drill. Be very aware of the back on board time.

In 2017 the ship's Winchester tour got back in time for lunch [too early]

In 2019 we elected a couple of DIY days for the before and after Hamburg Sundays, both times staying local. For next year, I'm going to look at the logistics for Portsmouth - If that doesn't work out, we'll sleep in and have a pub lunch at the Dancing Man 🙂

[ariesknowbest]

Wow...thank you so much! You are a wealth of information.  You have really helped me.  Have you ever cruised TA in October?  If so, are there any tips on what type of clothing I should bring with me?  Do you think I will need a winter coat?  

Thank you so much for taking your time to help me.  I hope you and your family are healthy.

Linda L. Alonzo, M.A.

[markeb]

JB included the information to visit the stack of rocks at Stonehenge (seems to be a UK joke; I've actually been twice and enjoyed it), but more importantly Salisbury. I don't know what there is to do see at Highclere, but Salisbury is a wonderful city to just explore. The cathedral is amazing, and you have the opportunity as JB says to see one of the 4 original copies of the Magna Carta. There's a very nice Market Place, and some very nice pubs. The Haunch of Venison is sort of a must see (apparently still independent, JB?), listed by the Campaign for Real Ale, and has its own little slightly macabre "resident".

 

I never was into Downton Abbey, but if you were, then Highclere may just be a must see, but do look at all there is to do in Salisbury as well. It's one of my favorite cities in the UK. A lot will depend on how much time you really have in port.

 

Oh, and UK weather in the fall: Could be hot, could be cold, could be in between. Will probably rain, but might not. Layers, layers, layers. And if you're going to spend a day walking, one pair of water resistant to water proof comfortable shoes (like sneaker style hikers). The same will probably serve you well on the ship, although I've never done a TA, but have done a summer UK to Norway to Iceland and used most of my layers along the way.

[renji]

On 10/12/2020 at 10:42 AM, John Bull said:

Hi, 

 

Note that Southampton doesn't have a double "hh" - a common mistake but one that can cause problems when looking up train timetables & such. It's Southampton 

With a 5.00 pm sailing, back-on-board for a Southampton port-of-call is normally 4.30 pm. But since this is a back-to-back you need to check with Cunard  whether you have to re-register, repeat the safety drill, etc. If so, your back-on-board is more likely to be 3 pm or 3.30, which will make a big dent in your day. 

So you may be limited to a lazy day in the city.

 

Southampton is a working port city, not a tourist city.

But it certainly does have enough to interest a visitor for a day.

 

QM2 usually berths at QE11 Cruise Terminal, deep in the docks. That dock road is busy with truck traffic, pedestrians are only separated from the heavy truck traffic by a yellow line. So you're strongly advised to hail a cab for the short drive to the old walled part of the city, no more than £6.  She sometimes berths at Ocean Cruise Terminal, from there the old town is only a ten-minute walk.  

 

Old town has the 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, which was the old city's main entrance from the London road - the old town is known locally as "Below Bar".

Good pubs to try for a drink or meal in old town 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 the centre of 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 pre and post-war life before regular long-haul aircraft were developed).

 

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 out of the city ...............

 

Salisbury & Stonehenge

Cunard may offer this as a ship-sponsored tour.

If you prefer to DIY, you need to plan to arrive at Stonehenge at opening time, and keep a constant watch on the time. There's a direct half-hourly train from Southampton central station (five minute taxi ride from your ship)) to Salisbury costs about £11 return-ticket, journey time about 40 minutes.

Take the Stonehenge ho-ho bus from Salisbury train station. Bus ride takes about 30 minutes, expect to spend about 90 minutes at Stonehenge then ho-ho back to Salisbury to check out the magnificent Salisbury cathedral and historic city centre. Ho-ho (if conveniently timed) or walk or taxi or local bus to Salisbury station for the train back to Southampton.

Post back if this is a sunday, there are a couple of complications.

Buy your Stonehenge tickets as well as ho-ho tickets from the ho-ho driver (same price as at the gate). This avoids the need for pre-purchasing a timed ticket to Stonehenge, and avoids wasting advance payment if your plans change. If you take ship's tour, their entrance tickets are also any-time.

Stonehenge is no fun in bad weather.

Salisbury is an historic & laid-back cathedal city (tallest spire in the country, one of the four original copies of Magna Carta, etc). A day in Salisbury is well worthwhile, even if you skip Stonehenge.

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

http://www.thestonehengetour.info

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

 

Winchester

Cathedral 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/

 

The following places only if your back-on-board is 4.30 or later..........

 

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.

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)

The Beaulieu complex majors on Britain's National Motor Museum, but for those in your party not interested in cars & trucks 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/

 

Portsmouth. 

Home of the Royal Navy, the main attraction is the Historic Dockyard & Ships. And close by, 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, so with your limited time it's only worthwhile for afficionados.

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, and it's only a two-minute walk to the Historic Dockyard gate.

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

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

 

BTW, You can be off the ship along with those hauling their own luggage at about 7am, ahead of regular disembarkation which normally starts around 7.30. But bear in mind the opening times of where you want to visit - if you stay in the city it's pointless to disembark before about 9am.

But first things first - check what time you have to be back at the ship !!

 

Have fun choosing

 

JB 

 

Hello, this is incredibly informative. I was wondering what the Sunday complications yiu refer to are, since we arrive at Heathrow midmorning on Sunday and thought we might stop on the way to Southampton (i supposed around 1 pm Sunday) as our cruise departs Monday.  
 

We could theoretically go after the cruise on November 15 (a Monday) on the way to London (could self-disembark early and staying in London overnight) but thought it might be better on the Southampton day than on the London day?

 

 

 

 

 

[John Bull]

8 hours ago, renji said:

Hello, this is incredibly informative. I was wondering what the Sunday complications yiu refer to are, since we arrive at Heathrow midmorning on Sunday and thought we might stop on the way to Southampton (i supposed around 1 pm Sunday) as our cruise departs Monday.  
 

We could theoretically go after the cruise on November 15 (a Monday) on the way to London (could self-disembark early and staying in London overnight) but thought it might be better on the Southampton day than on the London day?

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Salisbury / Stonehenge

Post back if this is a sunday, there are a couple of complications."

 

Train frequencies are reduced on sundays and "Bank holidays"

That's on most routes, not just So'ton to Salisbury.

https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/

 

Salisbury Cathedral is open for worship on sundays, but not for sight-seeing.

https://www.salisburycathedral.org.uk/visit/opening-times

 

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

There are no train routes from LHR except into London, so train travel to anywhere else starts with a train ride into central London, then  taxi or tube across central London to another station for onward travel (eg Waterloo for So'ton or Salisbury). Makes it expensive and particularly time-consuming.

 

Plenty of cruisers take the National Express bus from LHR to Southampton, but the service to Salisbury appears to be suspended at the moment, and the very poor frequency probably wouldn't suit your timings anyway.

 

So three options occur to me......

 

Private transfer from LHR to a hotel in Salisbury (sedan about £100 pre-booked). 

Then ho-ho to Stonehenge - or if Stonehenge doesn't appeal, a leisurely sunday afternoon in historic & laid-back Salisbury.

On monday morning visit Salisbury Cathedral, collect bags from hotel & taxi to Salisbury rail station.

Half-hourly train service to Southampton central station (about 35 minutes / £11 pp)

 

or..................................

 

Instead visit Winchester Cathedral.

It seems to be open for viewing on sundays,

https://www.winchester-cathedral.org.uk/welcome/plan-your-visit/

Winchester is directly on the route LHR to Southampton, and only about 12 miles from your ship.

National Express bus to Winchester if the timetable suits, or more likely private transfer (sedan about £90 LHR to a Winchester hotel). https://book.nationalexpress.com/

Winchester  Cathedral on sunday pm or monday am, then train to Southampton central station (2 to 3 per hour, 10 - 15 minutes, under £10 pp)

Or if you prefer a hotel in Southampton you should have time to visit Winchester Cathedral on monday morning. (also possible for Salisbury).

(Throughout the UK, most hotels are happy to hold guests'luggage til late on departure day)

 

or .....................

 

Post-cruise consider

 https://www.londontoolkit.com/travel/southampton-from-london-via-stonehenge.html

Quite a rushed itinerary (only an hour in Salisbury), but it packs a lot in and is a door-to-door service from your cruise terminal to your central London or Heathrow hotel.

Very well-received by cruisers.

 

JB 🙂 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 20, 2021 by John Bull

[renji]

16 hours ago, John Bull said:

 

"Salisbury / Stonehenge

Post back if this is a sunday, there are a couple of complications."

 

Train frequencies are reduced on sundays and "Bank holidays"

That's on most routes, not just So'ton to Salisbury.

https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/

 

Salisbury Cathedral is open for worship on sundays, but not for sight-seeing.

https://www.salisburycathedral.org.uk/visit/opening-times

 

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

There are no train routes from LHR except into London, so train travel to anywhere else starts with a train ride into central London, then  taxi or tube across central London to another station for onward travel (eg Waterloo for So'ton or Salisbury). Makes it expensive and particularly time-consuming.

 

Plenty of cruisers take the National Express bus from LHR to Southampton, but the service to Salisbury appears to be suspended at the moment, and the very poor frequency probably wouldn't suit your timings anyway.

 

So three options occur to me......

 

Private transfer from LHR to a hotel in Salisbury (sedan about £100 pre-booked). 

Then ho-ho to Stonehenge - or if Stonehenge doesn't appeal, a leisurely sunday afternoon in historic & laid-back Salisbury.

On monday morning visit Salisbury Cathedral, collect bags from hotel & taxi to Salisbury rail station.

Half-hourly train service to Southampton central station (about 35 minutes / £11 pp)

 

or..................................

 

Instead visit Winchester Cathedral.

It seems to be open for viewing on sundays,

https://www.winchester-cathedral.org.uk/welcome/plan-your-visit/

Winchester is directly on the route LHR to Southampton, and only about 12 miles from your ship.

National Express bus to Winchester if the timetable suits, or more likely private transfer (sedan about £90 LHR to a Winchester hotel). https://book.nationalexpress.com/

Winchester  Cathedral on sunday pm or monday am, then train to Southampton central station (2 to 3 per hour, 10 - 15 minutes, under £10 pp)

Or if you prefer a hotel in Southampton you should have time to visit Winchester Cathedral on monday morning. (also possible for Salisbury).

(Throughout the UK, most hotels are happy to hold guests'luggage til late on departure day)

 

or .....................

 

Post-cruise consider

 https://www.londontoolkit.com/travel/southampton-from-london-via-stonehenge.html

Quite a rushed itinerary (only an hour in Salisbury), but it packs a lot in and is a door-to-door service from your cruise terminal to your central London or Heathrow hotel.

Very well-received by cruisers.

 

JB 🙂 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you so much!  That’s very helpful and much appreciated.  Even if we miss the cathedral, I’m inclined to do the touring on Sunday and relax Sunday eve and Monday AM before the 12:15 boarding. Plus I already booked in Southampton for the night!  I am inclined to have a private car for safety.  (What’s a ho ho?).  Wonder if it would be possible to find a driver/guide combo who would take care of tickets and entrance etc so that we have nothing else to really deal with. 

[TeaBag]

JB, as usual, gives wonderful advice.  We have been to Southampton several times and we have really enjoyed Osborne House and the ferry ride to the Isle of Wight.  We also enjoyed the Titanic museum.  Other times we took and train to Winchester and enjoyed the cathedral.  Portsmouth is interesting also where you can see the Victory and Mary Rose.  I could stay in Southampton for several days and not be bored!

[gnome12]

4 hours ago, renji said:

(What’s a ho ho?)

Ho Ho is the Hop On/Hop Off bus. Only the HoHo can give you tickets that are valid at any time. Having a driver, you would have to preorder your tickets for a specific time, and hope that you get there on time.

[John Bull]

8 hours ago, renji said:

Thank you so much!  That’s very helpful and much appreciated.  Even if we miss the cathedral, I’m inclined to do the touring on Sunday and relax Sunday eve and Monday AM before the 12:15 boarding. Plus I already booked in Southampton for the night!  I am inclined to have a private car for safety.  (What’s a ho ho?).  Wonder if it would be possible to find a driver/guide combo who would take care of tickets and entrance etc so that we have nothing else to really deal with. 

 

Ho-ho is the American slang, which I picked up on this forum. 😂

As per the gnome's post, they're  hop-on hop-off buses.

 

 

Are you visiting Stonehenge?

Folk can buy Stonehenge admission with their coach tours, including the Salisbury to Stonehenge ho-ho (sorry, hop-on bus 😏) and the tour-transfer bus that I linked, & those tickets are good for anytime. But because you'll be going under your own steam you're going to have to figure a 30-minute time-slot for your booking. That's a little difficult because you're flying in that day, and if you arrive outside your slot you may have to wait until there's space available.

For that reason it's probably best to figure a time & then book for the following half-hour slot.

If you arrive when you had planned you'll probably be allowed straight in - but if not, you'll only have a max half-hour wait. If you arrive after your slot that might be disastrous - especially on a sunday.

https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/stonehenge/prices-and-opening-times/

(The slot refers only to your entry time - there's no limit on how long you can stay there.)

Currently not booking beyond the end of Feb 2022.

I don't know whether transfer drivers will book tickets for you. If not, they should at least recommend a time-slot to choose, given your flight number and scheduled touch-down time. You can print-off tickets or show them on a tablet.

 

For tourist visitors, in regular opening hours there are excellent free audio-guides, 

Stonehenge guides are usually booked by archeology groups for out-of-hours visits (early morning or after-hours). But if you're keen use this website. Make sure the guide lives local to Stonehenge.   https://britainsbestguides.org/tour/stonehenge/   

 

JB 🙂

 

Edited October 22, 2021 by John Bull

[renji]

19 hours ago, John Bull said:

 

Ho-ho is the American slang, which I picked up on this forum. 😂

As per the gnome's post, they're  hop-on hop-off buses.

 

 

Are you visiting Stonehenge?

Folk can buy Stonehenge admission with their coach tours, including the Salisbury to Stonehenge ho-ho (sorry, hop-on bus 😏) and the tour-transfer bus that I linked, & those tickets are good for anytime. But because you'll be going under your own steam you're going to have to figure a 30-minute time-slot for your booking. That's a little difficult because you're flying in that day, and if you arrive outside your slot you may have to wait until there's space available.

For that reason it's probably best to figure a time & then book for the following half-hour slot.

If you arrive when you had planned you'll probably be allowed straight in - but if not, you'll only have a max half-hour wait. If you arrive after your slot that might be disastrous - especially on a sunday.

https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/stonehenge/prices-and-opening-times/

(The slot refers only to your entry time - there's no limit on how long you can stay there.)

Currently not booking beyond the end of Feb 2022.

I don't know whether transfer drivers will book tickets for you. If not, they should at least recommend a time-slot to choose, given your flight number and scheduled touch-down time. You can print-off tickets or show them on a tablet.

 

For tourist visitors, in regular opening hours there are excellent free audio-guides, 

Stonehenge guides are usually booked by archeology groups for out-of-hours visits (early morning or after-hours). But if you're keen use this website. Make sure the guide lives local to Stonehenge.   https://britainsbestguides.org/tour/stonehenge/   

 

JB 🙂

 

Thank you so much.  I’m duly shamed as am American to not have heard that slang before lol.  I love hop on, hop off buses!

[CrustyOldCruiser]

Portsmouth is easily doable from Southampton in a day, either with a return taxi, or a 45-minute train ride. Portsmouth Harbour station is less than 5 minutes' walk from the Historic Ships museum. Well worth a visit.

[renji]

On 10/21/2021 at 8:00 PM, John Bull said:

 

Ho-ho is the American slang, which I picked up on this forum. 😂

As per the gnome's post, they're  hop-on hop-off buses.

 

 

Are you visiting Stonehenge?

Folk can buy Stonehenge admission with their coach tours, including the Salisbury to Stonehenge ho-ho (sorry, hop-on bus 😏) and the tour-transfer bus that I linked, & those tickets are good for anytime. But because you'll be going under your own steam you're going to have to figure a 30-minute time-slot for your booking. That's a little difficult because you're flying in that day, and if you arrive outside your slot you may have to wait until there's space available.

For that reason it's probably best to figure a time & then book for the following half-hour slot.

If you arrive when you had planned you'll probably be allowed straight in - but if not, you'll only have a max half-hour wait. If you arrive after your slot that might be disastrous - especially on a sunday.

https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/stonehenge/prices-and-opening-times/

(The slot refers only to your entry time - there's no limit on how long you can stay there.)

Currently not booking beyond the end of Feb 2022.

I don't know whether transfer drivers will book tickets for you. If not, they should at least recommend a time-slot to choose, given your flight number and scheduled touch-down time. You can print-off tickets or show them on a tablet.

 

For tourist visitors, in regular opening hours there are excellent free audio-guides, 

Stonehenge guides are usually booked by archeology groups for out-of-hours visits (early morning or after-hours). But if you're keen use this website. Make sure the guide lives local to Stonehenge.   https://britainsbestguides.org/tour/stonehenge/   

 

JB 🙂

 

I saw you had indicated that private tour guides on London Toolkit were very expensive. Do you know of any local tour guides that might take us from Heathrow to Southampton and make arrangements for touring Stonehenge along the way, or on leaving the cruise terminal and arriving back to London?

I never enjoy audio guides…it would be wonderful to have a real guide.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[John Bull]

2 hours ago, renji said:

I saw you had indicated that private tour guides on London Toolkit were very expensive. Do you know of any local tour guides that might take us from Heathrow to Southampton and make arrangements for touring Stonehenge along the way, or on leaving the cruise terminal and arriving back to London?

I never enjoy audio guides…it would be wonderful to have a real guide.

 

 

Booking a knowledgeable Stonehenge guide to also provide one-way transport from LHR to Southampton will likely be difficult or expensive. Or both.

 

Best bet is probably https://oldburytours.co.uk/about/

They're tolerably local to Stonehenge and have a 7-seater - should be good for 3, mebbe 4, with cruise luggage. E-mail an enquiry form to them - quote your airport (LHR), plus flight number, arrival time, and terminal if known, and explain that you would like a tour-transfer to a Southampton hotel via a guided tour of Stonehenge.

A Heathrow pick-up will probably be quite unusual for them, but the norm is to book transport for 90 to 120 minutes after scheduled arrival.

 

Is this for your Monday 1st November Cunard cruise?

Less than a week away??????

 

If so,

Downside - it's very very late to be fixing up a guide & transport.

Upside - October/November is waaay out-of-season. Even though it's a sunday I don't think you need worry too much about missing a timed slot at Stonehenge.

Being a sunday, Oldbury & other guides may be booked, but if you can't fix up a guide you shouldn't have any problem booking a private transfer with Smiths or Blackberry or West Quay or Aqua or any of the other operators mentioned in the "sticky" thread at the top of the British Isles forum.

 

JB 🙂

 

 

 

 

[ladysail2]

I can recommend visiting Winchester as well. I took the train and walked to the Cathedral enjoying the town along the way. The Cathedral had alot of interesting points of interest. On my way back to the train, I walked past all the pubs and plaques. There were vendors along the pedestrian street, which I thoroughly enjoyed. It was a lovely day!  I’m glad to read that the Duke of Wellington pub is still around..at least in 2020.   I hope it’s still there a year from now. They have great fish and chips.  

[KBs mum]

No idea what the transport situation is, but Avebury is worth considering as a neolithic site. 

Salisbury is a lovely city, spent 6 months there. You can't visit it, but the Hospital was originally built by the US for DDay, the older parts follow the layout of the original Nissan huts and have steeply sloping corridors, 'Maternity Hill' is 1 in 12. 

 

The Dorset coast may also be worth considering, likewise the submarine museum in Gosport. 

[ShibaInuMom]

On 10/21/2021 at 7:00 PM, John Bull said:

 

Ho-ho is the American slang, which I picked up on this forum. 😂

As per the gnome's post, they're  hop-on hop-off buses.

 

JB 🙂

JB - you have given a lot of great information.  We will have a day in Southampton in between a back to back on Oceania.  Is there a really good/great fish-n-chips place in walking distance from the dock?  I don't where Oceania will dock but we are on a smaller ship, the Sirena.  Thank you!  Anita

[TheOldBear]

48 minutes ago, ShibaInuMom said:

JB - you have given a lot of great information.  We will have a day in Southampton in between a back to back on Oceania.  Is there a really good/great fish-n-chips place in walking distance from the dock?  I don't where Oceania will dock but we are on a smaller ship, the Sirena.  Thank you!  Anita

I just took a look on google maps for pubs - and the 'Duke of Wellington' shows fish and chips on today's  specials. We have two turnaround days next November, and we'll see if we want to get pub lunches on a DIY tour day.

[Harters]

2 hours ago, ShibaInuMom said:

Is there a really good/great fish-n-chips place in walking distance from the dock? 

I know foreigners often think fish & chips is our national dish. But it is very, very easy to find absolutely vile examples, often in pubs, where they are cooking frozen fish in batter. You are more likely to come across greasy soggy batter on the fish and underfried chips than a good example. I have  a rule of thumb about fish & chips in pubs - and that's not to order it unless the pub is in sight of the sea AND it has a reputation for good fish & chips. It's not a guarantee but it is a good starting point. You will often do better at a fish & chip shop cafe than apub but, again, do the research (Tripadvisor if nothing else will give you locals' opinions).

 

By the by, I live only about 20 miles from the town which had the first recorded fish & chip shop in the mid 19th century. There will be literally hundreds of places in my metro area selling it but I don't know of one that I'd call excellent - it'd take me over an hour's drive to get to a good one.

[John Bull]

1 hour ago, Harters said:

it is very, very easy to find absolutely vile examples, often in pubs, where they are cooking frozen fish in batter. You are more likely to come across greasy soggy batter on the fish and underfried chips than a good example. You will often do better at a fish & chip shop cafe than apub but, again, do the research (Tripadvisor if nothing else will give you locals' opinions).

 

 

 

Hi Anita,

 

Harters has come down pretty hard on pub fish-and-chips, but it's true that many (most?) use bought-in frozen ready-battered fish fillets and even frozen chips.

But I've probably had as many poor chippy takeaways as poor pub fish & chips.

The Duke of Wellington pub mentioned by the Bear is a favourite dining haunt of cruisers, we've dined there occasionally & the fish & chips are fine, but it's a pub & not a chippy.

 

My local chippy is excellent - but a four-hour walk from your ship. 🙄

Depending on your sailing date, Sirena will berth at City Cruise Terminal or next-door at the new Horizons Cruise Terminal. It's only a 15-minute walk to the city's historic Bargate, considered to be the centre of the city.

The most-frequently recommended chippy in central Southampton is  Mike's Fish & Chips, 23 Queensway - it's just a five-minute walk beyond The Bargate. 

Check out "Mike's fish & chips Southampton" on  googleimages. You'll see that the frontage is very plain, and the interior very "transport cafe". That's very much the norm with chippies. But you'll also see that the fish & the chips are prepared on the premises, very definately not bought-in-and-ready-to-fry.

The congealed green mess on some of the plates is mushy-peas - that's what it's supposed to look like 😉. (We had an excellent fish & chip lunch on a Princess ship, but spoilt by a smooth pea-puree. The chef had probably made mushy-peas according to the recipe but decided it had gone wrong & put it through a blender 😄)

 

If you want a sit-down meal that's a bit special in premises that are a bit special then go for a meal at somewhere like the Duke of Wellington.

http://southampton-pubs.co.uk/dukeofwellington/

 

If you want the finest fish & chips, your best bet is Mike's fish & chips. And if the weather's fine buy it takeaway & walk four minutes up to Hoglands Park.

Like most chippies he doesn't have a website, but here's his Facebook page.

https://m.facebook.com/profile.php?id=158883307457162&_rdr

 

https://goo.gl/maps/NqyBmsU6eWzinscm9

 

JB 🙂

 

Edited February 7, 2022 by John Bull

[ShibaInuMom]

Thank you regarding fisn-n-chips.  I think it was Mike's that we had dinner at the last time we were in Southampton.  It was a short walk from our hotel.