Portsmouth
Portsmouth is a port city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England.
Portsmouth is a port city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in England not located primarily on the mainland. The city is located 22 miles (35 km) south-east of Southampton, 50 miles (80 km) west of Brighton and Hove, and 74 miles (119 km) south-west of London. With a population last recorded at 208,100, it is the most densely populated city in the United Kingdom. Portsmouth forms part of the South Hampshire urban area with Gosport, Fareham, Havant, Eastleigh and Southampton.
Adapted from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Worth seeing in and around Portsmouth
10 places within 25 km that the world writes about, in the order of how widely: the ones a visitor has heard of first, then the ones only a local would name.
- 01Fratton Park
Fratton Park is a football ground in Portsmouth, Hampshire, and is the home of Portsmouth Football Club. Constructed in 1899, it has been the only home ground in Portsmouth F.C.'s history.
1.9 km · football stadium in Portsmouth, England · Wikipedia - 02University of Portsmouth
The University of Portsmouth is a public university in Portsmouth, England. Its institutional origins trace back to 1870 with the establishment of the Portsmouth and Gosport School of Science and Art.
1.3 km · University in Portsmouth, UK · Wikipedia - 03Spinnaker Tower
The Spinnaker Tower is a 170-metre landmark observation tower in Portsmouth, England. It is the centrepiece of the redevelopment of Portsmouth Harbour, which was supported by a National Lottery grant.
1.9 km · sightseeing tower in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England · Wikipedia - 04Portchester Castle
Portchester Castle is a medieval fortress that was developed within the walls of the Roman Saxon Shore fort of Portus Adurni at Portchester, to the east of Fareham in Hampshire. The keep was probably built in the late 11th century as a baronial castle, before Portchester came under royal control in 1154.
4 km · medieval castle in Portchester, Hampshire, England, UK · Wikipedia - 05Portsmouth Cathedral
The Cathedral Church of St Thomas of Canterbury, commonly known as Portsmouth Cathedral, is an Anglican cathedral church in the centre of Old Portsmouth in Portsmouth, England. Since 1935 the historic church has been the cathedral of the Diocese of Portsmouth and the seat of the Bishop of Portsmouth.
2.1 km · cathedral · Wikipedia - 06Roman Catholic Diocese of Portsmouth
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Portsmouth is a Latin diocese of the Catholic Church that covers the historic counties of Hampshire and Berkshire in England, and the Channel Islands. The episcopal see is St John's Cathedral in Portsmouth and is headed by the Bishop of Portsmouth.
800 m · diocese of the Catholic Church in the United Kingdom · Wikipedia - 07Southsea Castle
Southsea Castle, historically also known as Chaderton Castle, South Castle and Portsea Castle, is an artillery fort originally constructed by Henry VIII on Portsea Island, Hampshire, in 1544. It formed part of the King's Device programme to protect against invasion from France and the Holy Roman Empire, and defended the Solent and the eastern approach to Portsmouth.
3.1 km · castle in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England, UK · Wikipedia - 08Cathedral of St John the Evangelist
The Cathedral Church of St John the Evangelist is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England. It is the mother church of the Portsmouth diocese and seat of the Bishop of Portsmouth, currently the Right Reverend Philip Egan.
800 m · Roman Catholic cathedral in Portsmouth, England · Wikipedia - 09Royal Navy Submarine Museum
The Royal Navy Submarine Museum at Gosport is a maritime museum tracing the international history of submarine development from the age of Alexander the Great to the present day, and particularly the history of the Royal Navy Submarine Service from the navy's first submarine, Holland 1, to the nuclear-powered Vanguard-class submarines. The museum is located close to the former shore establishment HMS Dolphin, the home of the Royal Navy Submarine Service from 1904 until 1999.
3 km · Maritime museum in Gosport, England · Wikipedia - 10Royal Naval Museums, Portsmouth
The Royal Naval Museums, Portsmouth, formerly known as the National Museum of the Royal Navy, Portsmouth, is a museum of the history of the Royal Navy located in the Portsmouth Historic Dockyard section of HMNB Portsmouth, Portsmouth, Hampshire, England. The museum is part of the National Museum of the Royal Navy, a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Ministry of Defence.
1.7 km · museum in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England, UK · Wikipedia
Ranked by the number of language editions of Wikipedia with an article on each, from Wikidata; the sentences are the openings of those articles, CC BY-SA 4.0.
What Wikivoyage says to see
- 01Portsmouth Historic Dockyard
A major naval heritage site within an active Royal Navy base, featuring historic warships including HMS Victory and HMS Warrior.
- 02Mary Rose Museum
The Mary Rose Museum houses the remains of Henry VIII’s flagship, which sank in 1545 and was raised in 1982 after more than 400 years underwater.
- 03Spinnaker Tower
This striking and highly visible £21-million landmark tower rises some 170 m above the redeveloping harbour of Portsmouth, symbolising the wind filling a spinnaker sail.
- 04Southsea Castle
Built in 1544, the castle was part of a series of fortifications constructed by Henry VIII around England's coasts to protect the country from invaders.
- 05Southsea Model Village
Lumps Fort, Eastney Esplanade, PO4 9RU (seafront),.
- 06Southsea Rose Garden
8AM-8PM.
From Wikivoyage: Portsmouth, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.
Things to do
- 01Southsea Common
Relax on the common with a picnic or barbecue.
- 02Clarence Pier
A small fairground close to the Hoverport with rides and amusement arcades.
- 03The Bandstand
Listen to live music here every Sunday in the summer.
- 04Portsmouth FC
"Pompey" play soccer in the Championship, the second tier.
- 05Portsmouth Rugby Football Club
Victorious Music Festival, Southsea Seafront (2020 venue), info@victoriousfestival.co.uk.
From Wikivoyage: Portsmouth, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.
Where to eat
Portsmouth has hundreds of restaurants catering to all tastes. Towards Fareham, the marina Port Solent offers a variety of restaurants in a pleasant environment with a multiplex movie theatre nearby, and ample (free) onsite parking. Throughout the town you find the known restaurants like Taco Bell, JD Wetherspoon and Greggs (bakery).
- 01The Tenth Hole Tea Room
Eastern Parade (next to mini-golf course),.
- 02Jenny's Restaurants
4-6 Charlotte St.
- 03Ocean Fresh Fish & Chips
152B Kingston Rd.
- 04Nut Cafe Restaurant
81D London Rd.
- 05North End Cafe
106 London Rd.
From Wikivoyage: Portsmouth, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.
Getting to Portsmouth
- Airports
- London Gatwick (LGW), 74 km · London Heathrow (LHR), 86 km · London Luton (LTN), 129 km
- Stations
- Fareham, 8.2 km · Portsmouth Harbour railway station, 1.7 km · Ryde Pier Head railway station, 9 km · Ryde Esplanade railway station, 9.6 km · Fareham railway station, 9 km
- London → Portsmouth104 km · quickest by road, 2h 35m · £11–15
- Luton, Luton → Portsmouth129 km · quickest by road, 2h 22m · £14–19
- Bristol → Portsmouth128 km · quickest by road, 2h 55m · £17–23
- Plan a tripFrom anywhereThe planner compares every way there from wherever you are.
Road and air are today’s quick answer; timetabled trains, buses and ferries load on the results page from the operators’ feeds.
No local-transport research exists yet for Portsmouth
Our researched notes are written from a sourced entry: every shared taxi, boat and village bus with its operator, its rule, its fare and the year we saw it, and what could not be confirmed. Nobody has done that work for Portsmouth. What is above is what we hold from open sources; nothing here pretends to be more.
- Get inAlight at for the Historic Dockyard, Gunwharf Quays, the Spinnaker Tower and ferries to the Isle of Wight.
- Get inThere are ferry services from four ports in Normandy and Brittany.
- Get inCross Channel ferry services operate out of the Portsmouth International Port located at the end of the M275 motorway Caen Brittany Ferries, up to 3 a day, 5 hr 45 min Cherbourg Condor Ferries, 1 Sunday service, 5 hr Brittany Ferries, 1 a day, 3-hr fast service Le Havre Brittany Ferries 1 a day, 8 hr 15 min overnight Saint-Malo Brittany Ferries, up to 2 a day, 9 hr overnight or in the daytime There are services from two ports in northern Spain (the Basque Country and Cantabria).
- Get inBilbao Brittany Ferries, 'cruise style' 2 a week (W: 24 hr, and Su: 32 hr), 'économie' 1 a week (Tu: 28 hr).
- Get inSantander Brittany Ferries, 3 a week (Tu F Su: 24 hr).
From Wikivoyage: Portsmouth, CC BY-SA. Not yet checked by us; that article was last edited 2026-09.
- 0120 km
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If you know how people move in Portsmouth – the stand, the rule, the fare – tell us, and the note gets an entry.
Next door to Portsmouth
- Gosporttown in Hampshire, England2.9 km
- Havanttown in Hampshire, England, UK9 km
- Southseatown in Hampshire, England2.6 km
- His Majesty's Naval Base, Portsmouthnaval base of the British Royal Navy, located near the city of Portsmouth in Hampshire, United Kingdom, home to the Portsmouth Flotilla1.1 km
- Waterloovilletown in Havant, Hampshire, England, UK9.2 km
- Portchestertown in Hampshire, England, UK4.6 km