Day in Southampton?
CruiseSaint
We are keen cruisers who live in Southampton. We find many fellow cruisers have questions about Southampton, and the city is not good at publicising its attractions
8 Jul 2007
based on 3 votes
Information useful to people cruising from, or to, Southampton or spending a short time in the City.
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Explore locations featured in this Traveler List:
Southampton
- Category: Best of
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Traveler type: Culture, Sightseeing, Shopping, Repeat visitors
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Appeals to: Couples/romantics, Seniors, Tourists
- Seasons: Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall
- Tags: Restaurants, History, Cruise, Shopping, Titanic, Americans
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| Restaurant in the former ballroom of South Western Hotel, the Hotel where the "important" guests stayed before the Titanic sailed. The Hotel has been restored as apartments. The restaurant itself is a lovely place to dine, the food is good, and if you go to the web-site, you can sometimes get a lunch-time voucher that will let 2 eat for the price of 1 (no catches). Only a few minutes from cruise departures, and close enough to some other historical cruise-related buildings and the old town walls for a stroll. |
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2. Oxford Street, Southampton
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| Close to Dockgate4, if you want some dining variety, is Oxford Street. This little street with a number of restaurants is rather unlike the rest of Southampton and on a sunny day has a continental feel about it. Most of the restaurants here are worth a look , depending on your taste. The Grapes Pub featured in the Titanic story as the pub where a number of the crew were drinking late - some just made it back to the ship - and some didn't. |
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We have some of the best medieval town walls in the country – you can follow the signs (“Walk the Walls” feet and information panels) to wander around for an hour. About half of the one mile circuit still survives. Many of the towers and gates are still standing, including the famous Bargate. This is a good point from which to start your walk – it is one of the finest town gateways in the UK, and you'll pass by most of the oldest surviving buildings (see below)
There are also guided tours covering this route, and also Titanic and Jane Austen tours in the summer. The tours are free at present (2009) although that may change. Just turn up the Bargate at the right time and off you go. See the website at http://www.stga.org.uk/ |
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Not to be confused with the Tudor Merchants House. It's the city's medieval fish market, so the title's misleading.
Have a look at this as you walk round the walls. It's not usually open though, except for weffings. |
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Not to be confused with the Tudor Merchants Hall!
Well worth seeing on your trip round the walls - BUT - closed at the moment (July 2007) for restoration which will take a number of yeras (!) |
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6. Medieval Merchants House
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Not to be confused with the Tudor buildings above!
This is really worth a look if you like old historical buildings - not expensive, carefully restored and with lots of information. |
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7. Titanic Information and memorials
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| There is quite a lot to see in Southampton that is linked to the Titanic - but it's scattered around, and the City doesn't make a great deal of it. Try the Maritime Museum , which is close to Cruise Terminals and has an exhibition, and there are a number of memorials - the best being in the ancient, bomb-damaged Holy Rood Church, with audio information (very close to Bleu in the Dolphin Hotel - see my note on this site.) This memorial to the workers on the Titanic was funded by donations from their families. Some 70% of the staff on the Titanic came from Southampton - and about 70% of those died. The church has been left as it was with bomb damage -there are interactive posts where you can hear Titanic survivors, people who lived in Southampton at the time, and war stories - this is really good history - you will be moved. |
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8. Americans and Southampton
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| If you're American , do you know the connections you have with Southampton? Few Americans know the Mayflower first sailed from here originaaly or that the maiden voyage of the Titanic started here - and many of the victime were on their way to a new life in America. But most of all, many of the 2-3 million Americans who fought in WW2 arrived through Southampton, or left from here for the Normandy beaches. There are a number of places to visit - some well-known , others include an obscure wall with graffiti by American servicemen before they left. |
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9. Jane Austen and Southampton
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| Jane Austen lived three years in Southampton - the link gives you some information, and there is a leaflet available in the Tourist Office that guides you round the City walls and tells you about the places associated with her. It's all pretty close for cruisers, and won't take more than about an hour. There's a great deal more in the local area - see my other entry for Jane Austen in my golist for Southampton and Hampshire. |
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| I'm not really into shopping but my wife says at least one of every couple probably are! This is the main shopping mall, and pretty good for what it is - but no different from a hundred others. If you've just got a short time to shop this is the obvious place. |
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11. Spitfire Museum? - well, Hall of Aviation
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| As usual, Southampton isn't that good at advertising its attractions - it was the home of the Spitfire and has major early aviation links - especially with Sea-planes. Possibly a bit specialised for general tourists? My father-in-law (ex airforce) loved it - he said the sea-plane there was the exact type he flew home in when my wife was borne. |
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If you're like my wife, the first thing you head for is a boat trip.
You could take the ferry from Town Quay - you'll see as much as any port trip.
It sails across to Hythe - where there's a record length pier - and a free litle train to take you ashore - well worth the £4.50 ($10) price - and Hyde's not a bad place for a potter round on a sunny day,
Or you could go to the Isle of Wight - Hi Speed return (if you come back after about 6pm) just over £10 ($20) or slower ferry about the same.
Or you could take a sight-seeing cruise - Blue Funnel do a number of port and river cruises, web site at bluefunnel.co.uk/day.html |
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13. 2 days in Southampton?
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Plenty in Southampton itself for two days - but might want to go further afield
I suggest (see my Southampton and Hampshire Go-list))
Winchester - King Arthur's Round table
New Forest - National Park ,rural scenes, little villages, cream teas and wild ponies
Portsmouth - Historic Naval Dockyard |
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14. Southampton and Shakespeare
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Southampton has a couple of connections with Shakespeare.
The town gets a mention in Shakespeare's Henry V Act 2
"SCENE II. Southampton. A council-chamber."
Henry V assembled his army here in 1415 ready to depart for France on the campaign that was to lead to the Battle of Agincourt. Before the army left, a conspiracy against the King was discovered. The Shakespeare scene describes the foiling of the plot. Three men, Sir Thomas Grey, Henry, Lord Scrope of Masham and Richard, Earl of Cambridge, were found guilty of treason. Legend has it that they plotted in the Dolphin Hotel, and were tried in the Red Lion Pub - they were definitely executed outside the Bargate. The head and body of the Earl of Cambridge, a cousin of King Henry V, were buried at the Hospital of God's House in the south-east corner of the town.
The other connection is more in name.
Thomas Wriothesley, the 1st Earl of Southampton, was a politician of the Tudor period, and was created Earl of Southampton in 1547. Entering the service of Henry VIII at an early age, Wriothesley soon made himself very useful to his royal master, and he was richly rewarded when the monasteries were dissolved, obtaining extensive lands between Southampton and Winchester, particularly at Titchfield, where an Abbey still stands.
The patron of Shakespeare was the 3rd Earl. He became Shakespeare's patron, and Shakespeare wrote a dedication to him at the beginning of Venus and Adonis . He had an extensive house in Southampton.
There are suggestions that Shakespeare visited Titchfield, and even had plays performed there. Some would like to think the same of Southampton, but there is no evidence of this. |
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A little pricey, but some of the best food we've had over the last few years. Set in a Victorian warehouse opposite the Town Quay. There is a voucher in the standard Spouthampton guide available most places including West Quay (Sept 09 when written)
Also recently added boutique hotel rooms - had a look - absolutely stunning - though a bit pricey again! |
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