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City in Hampshire, England
Photo: Michael Grant, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Southampton is the largest city in Hampshire, on the south coast of England. A busy cruise ship and container port, Southampton is the European end of the last Transatlantic ocean liner route, the Queen Mary II to New York, and in 1912 was the point of departure for the Titanic.
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A medieval gatehouse, built about 1180 and extended in 1320, now sits slap bang in the middle of the shopping centre. The top floor is now a Heritage Visitor Centre. The Bargate is also the beginning of the original Old Town Walk (pdf); see Do below.
Contains some 3,500 works of art covering six centuries.
The Bargate has been refurbished and given a new lease of life as a contemporary art gallery and home to the arts organisation A Space.
Was created in 1980 at the University of Southampton to combine the University's fine art and special photographic collection. Widely regarded as one of the best places in the country to see contemporary visual art, the gallery also hosts seminars, talks and workshops.
A 13th-century gatehouse through the city walls, that opened as an arts centre in 2021. Changing exhibitions, galleries, cafe, and local heritage library is free.
Opened in 2012, SeaCity contains two main galleries: the first telling the history of Southampton through artefacts and interactive displays; the second dedicated to the voyage and sinking of the RMS Titanic and the Southampton residents who served as crew and passengers. A third space is used for temporary exhibitions, and there is also a cafe and shop. The museum is on the west facing side of the building with the entrance directly beneath the clock tower.
One of the earliest surviving merchant's houses in England. It has been restored to its mid-14th-century appearance and replica furnishings provide an insight into medieval life.
Built in 1495 for Sir John Dawtry, the Controller of Customs in Southampton.
The museum is dedicated to telling the incredible story of aviation in the Solent area. Exhibits include a Sandringham flying boat (which visitors can enter), a Spitfire, and Schneider Trophy racing seaplanes.
The largest theatre in southern England, offering blockbusting West End musicals, and ballet and operatic productions.
A medium-sized venue owned by the University of Southampton, which hosts frequent performances by internationally-renowned classical, jazz and world music artists.
A multipurpose venue, mostly featuring touring comedy and rock acts, but also classical concerts and civic functions.
A multplex cinema in the new Westquay South complex.
Take a walk over its of grass and woodland, including an Urban Wildlife Centre, paddling pool, play area and fishing lake. Very busy in summer, and a popular afternoon hang out for students.
"The Saints" play soccer in the Championship, the second tier. Their stadium (capacity 32,380) is one mile east of city centre. Many clubs have been penalised for financial irregularities but in 2026 The Saints remarkably were sanctioned for spying. They won a promotion play-off but their pre-match research crossed the line between legitimate scouting and fiendish spying, so their opponents were awarded the victory. Saints were also deducted 4 points for the following season and can count themselves lucky it wasn't 007 points.
Big on-water boat show in September - the city is booked out when it's on.
Indian eatery
British.
British
Indian
If you are looking for sea-side eating with a touch of history. Spanish tapas restaurant in a Georgian-style building directly adjoined to the 14th-century walls, is a good choice and has views overlooking the historic Harbour House, the ferry terminal and Hythe.
Typical Fuller's pub. Adequate food and drink for quite high prices.
dates back to Tudor times and is a must-see. It's usually fairly quiet as well.
One of a number of micropubs in Southampton. Formerly a bookshop, a full bookshelf remains from its previous existence, tba is small and friendly. The beers are changed regularly. Apart from bar snacks there is no food available, however customers can bring in their own food from a nearby takeaway. Staff will most likely give you a napkin and possibly cutlery. St Denys train station is a short walk away and buses to the city centre go right by this pub. There are several bike stands outside too.
Sells sandwiches, patisseries and cakes. They do not sell alcohol.
The Platform
Good pub with regular live music at the bottom end of the town. Food is a reasonable price. It was apparently in the film 'Titanic'.
Bright buzzy hotel overlooking the marina. Assistance dogs only.
Great little hotel set into the ancient city walls. No dogs.
Smart dog-friendly hotel on the edge of the New Forest.
John Lewis and Marks & Spencer are the major draws, but there are 97 other shops happy to separate you from your hard-earned cash. An extension to this popular shopping centre, Westquay South, includes a 10-screen 4k cinema, up to 20 extra restaurants and a public square.
A smaller shopping centre constructed to a PostModern design in 1991. The rent is lower than West Quay and hence the retailers are less salubrious. Retailers include Route One, CEX and The Disney Store.
By train
Wikivoyage has a guide to Rail travel in Great Britain
By car
The M3 links Southampton with the M25 and London. The M27 leads west towards Bournemouth and the West Country, and east along the coast towards Brighton and the rest of the south of England.
By bus
Megabus run a twice daily bus service from London Victoria Coach Station to Southampton from £1.50 for the cost of a single ticket.
By taxi
Southampton-based taxi companies providing long distance transfers from major airports, towns, bus and rail stations to Southampton: West Quay Cars, URBAN Taxi, Jewels Airport Transfers, iRide Taxis,…
By boat
Southampton is a busy port city, and as such has sea links to countries around the world, however the port is mainly used for freight container ships and cruises.
On foot
Southampton City Centre is fairly spread out along a north-south axis, however it is easily possible to walk from the popular Bedford Place student area on the Northern fringe of the central area to…
By bike
Southampton has a few dedicated cycle routes; they are not particularly well linked but cyclists should not have a problem navigating the city centre.
By bus
Southampton has a good network of bus services, with some principal services operating as often as every 7 minutes during the day.
By train
Southampton's main station is Southampton Central, on the north-west edge of the city centre.
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Southampton · Regional · SOU
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