Portsmouth

Home of the Royal Navy, where HMS Victory and the Mary Rose lie in the Historic Dockyard and the Spinnaker Tower overlooks the Solent.

Portsmouth, in Hampshire on England’s south coast, is a port city built on Portsea Island. It has been the Royal Navy’s home port since the Middle Ages, earning it the title “Home of the Royal Navy”, and it faces the Isle of Wight across the Solent. The main sights cluster around the harbour: the Historic Dockyard, with three famous ships — HMS Victory, the Mary Rose and HMS Warrior — and the National Museum of the Royal Navy, needs at least a full day, and the combined ticket allows repeat entry for a year; next door, the Spinnaker Tower and Gunwharf Quays outlet are good for views and shopping. To the south are the Round Tower and walls of Old Portsmouth and the Southsea seafront, lined with Southsea Castle and the D-Day Story museum; across the harbour, Gosport has the Submarine Museum, and on the north shore of the harbour stands Roman-era Portchester Castle. You can extend east and west to Hayling Island, Chichester Cathedral, Fishbourne Roman Palace and West Wittering beach. The climate is mild and damp; May–Sep is best for the seafront and boat trips, while winter is windy and wet but the museums stay open. Trains from London Waterloo take about 1 hr 40 min to Portsmouth Harbour station, right beside the dockyard and ferry terminals; fast catamarans or hovercraft reach the Isle of Wight in 10–20 minutes, and ferries also sail to France and Spain. Plan to stay 2–3 days: one day at the dockyard, one in the old town and along Southsea seafront, and one in Gosport or Chichester.

Top sights

• Portsmouth Historic Dockyard – The home port of the Royal Navy for centuries. Famous warships such as HMS Victory, the Mary Rose, and HMS Warrior, along with museums, are…
• HMS Victory – Admiral Nelson's flagship at the Battle of Trafalgar, and the oldest naval vessel still in commission in the world. Visitors can board and…
• Mary Rose Museum – The flagship of Henry VIII sank in 1545, was raised in 1982, and the hull together with nearly 20,000 artifacts from the ship are displayed…
• Spinnaker Tower – A 170-meter observation tower shaped like a sail. Glass floors let you look down on Portsmouth Harbour, the Solent, and the Isle of Wight.
• HMS Warrior (1860) – The world's first iron-hulled armored warship, launched in 1860, is moored at the dock entrance, with its interior restored to show Victori…
• Gunwharf Quays – A seaside outlet and dining district converted from an old naval ordnance wharf, with the Spinnaker Tower and harbor views.
• Old Portsmouth & Round Tower – Portsmouth's oldest quarter, with cobbled lanes, old city walls, and a Round Tower and Square Tower guarding the harbor entrance; the best…
• Portsmouth Cathedral – A cathedral that began as a 12th-century church of St Thomas and was expanded in the 20th century, housing the grave of a Mary Rose sailor…
• Royal Garrison Church – A 13th-century chapel of the Domus Dei (House of God) hospital; after an air raid in 1941 the nave became a roofless ruin while the chancel…
• Southsea Castle – A coastal defense castle built by Henry VIII in 1544; legend says he watched the Mary Rose sink from here, and the battlements overlook the…
• The D-Day Story – The only museum in Britain devoted to the Normandy landings; its centerpiece is the 83-metre-long Overlord Embroidery.
• Southsea Common & Seafront – Open seafront green space and pebble beaches, with a promenade linking the castle, pier and funfair, and views of ships passing along the S…
• Clarence Pier – An old-fashioned funfair pier at the western end of Southsea seafront, with rides, arcades and fish and chips; a weekend destination for lo…
• Blue Reef Aquarium Portsmouth – A compact aquarium on Southsea seafront with a tropical reef tunnel, otters and seals; a good rainy-day option for families.
• Charles Dickens Birthplace Museum – The Georgian terraced house where Charles Dickens was born in 1812, furnished as a middle-class home of his parents' era, with a reclining…
• Spitbank Fort – A circular Victorian sea fort in the Solent, now a boutique hotel; non-residents can book boat trips and lunch tours to visit.
• Royal Navy Submarine Museum – Across the harbour in Gosport, you can board the post-war submarine HMS Alliance and see Holland 1, Britain's first submarine, dating from…
• Explosion Museum of Naval Firepower – Housed in a former Royal Navy ammunition depot in Gosport, this museum traces the history of naval firepower from gunpowder to missiles.
• Portchester Castle – A medieval castle built within a Roman coastal fort, with some of the most complete Roman walls in northern Europe.

Where to eat

• The Briny – A family-run seafood restaurant on Clarence Esplanade in Southsea, holding one AA Rosette, with views over the Solent.
• Pie and Vinyl – A record shop and pie café on Castle Road in Southsea, opened in 2012, known for pies served with mash and parsley liqu…
• The A Bar Bistro – A pub bistro on the old Portsmouth quayside beside Camber Dock, with about 200 wines to drink on site and popular Sunda…
• Natty's Jerk Chicken – A local Caribbean restaurant that started as a market stall, known for slow-smoked, wood-fired Jamaican jerk chicken an…

Itineraries

• Hampshire to Dorset South Coast – Head west along the south coast: historic capital, naval dockyard, Isle of Wight, New Forest, and the Jurassic Coast.