Portsmouth

The beautiful waterfront City of Portsmouth has something for everyone, from historic museums to fine dining and designer shopping in the shadow of the iconic Spinnaker Tower.

Many of the local museums celebrate different aspects of the city’s naval heritage, including the Royal Marines Museum and The D-day Museum. The most famous of them all is the Historic Dockyard, which is home to Lord Nelson’s flagship HMS Victory and has recently opened a new purpose-built facility to display Henry VIII’s 16th century warship, The Mary Rose, just as she would have looked at the moment when she sank into the Solent. There are two large shopping centres in the city : The Cascades is a modern mall with all of the high street names you can think of, while Gunwharf Quays (down by the waterfront) has over 90 designer outlet stores interspersed with a great selection of restaurants, bars and cafés, all overlooked by the 170 metre tall Emirates Spinnaker Tower. If you need some calm and tranquillity after shopping, eating and drinking you could pop into Aspex Gallery (also in Gunwharf Quays) to see works by contemporary artists from around the world, or take a stroll around Victoria Park (in the centre of Portsmouth) and look at the exotic birds in the aviary.

There are many excellent restaurants in the area, a great many bars and two theatres (The Kings Theatre and New Theatre Royal) so you will be spoilt for choice when it comes to the evening’s entertainment. If it’s your first time in Portsmouth we can highly recommend the guided walks and tours that are organised by the Portsmouth Guiding Service and act as a great introduction to the city and its impressive history.