Portsmouth

So my latest adventure took me to Portsmouth and 48 hours wasn't long enough.

I bought an all-attraction ticket for about £40, which is valid for a whole year and gives you entry to all the museums in the dockyard, harbour tours and access to museums in Gosport (via a waterbus).

There is so much to see in Portsmouth. The historical dockyards are close to Gunwharf keys, which is a place to eat and shop depending on your desire. It is an outlet shopping centre, complete with a cinema.

The dockyards are home to numerous museums and boats. You can visit HMS Warrior 1860 - the first iron hulled warship. There is also HMS Victory, the boat where Nelson died, but with very low ceilings, so mind your head! It is interesting to be able to walk the way throughout the boat and see how old warships operated. There is a museum dedicated to the remains of the Mary Rose, a boat owned by Henry VIII. It is specially built to house the remains, with an air lock so you can get a better view and all the artefacts are on the right floor of the museum in relation to where they would have been on the boat. There are also a whole host of museums that we didn't have time to visit.

HMS Warrior

HMS Victory

Mary Rose Museum

I also went up the Spinnaker tower, a 100m (360ft) viewing tower. The lift takes you to the first level, which is a dedicated viewing floor with a glass plate in the floor. You can then walk up to a café on the second floor and an open top sky garden on the third floor. The view was pretty good, especially given the weather. The tower has been sponsored by Emirates, and is only a bit short of a full 360 degree view.

The harbour tour was also very interesting as Portsmouth is a naval base. Fully commentated and just under an hour long, it gave a view of just how many navy and commercial ships use Portsmouth Harbour. We passed the new aircraft carrier and learning about it was fascinating. There are also cargo ships around, one delivering 26 million bananas - and that was considered a small boat - the bigger one brings 40+ million. The boat was fully furnished with a bar and toilets and lots of indoor and outdoor seating.

In Gunwharf keys you can find a whole host of restaurants and places to eat, with a view over the harbour. It is located beside the main train, bus and ferry terminal, so is very accessible. You can go from there to Gosport, the Isle of Wight and even get a train into London. We stayed a little bit out of the town centre and came in on a bus, which was regular and took cash or contactless payments.

You need a good week to do Portsmouth justice and visit all the museums. The tickets are valid for a year, so you can go back as many times as yo wish over the following 12 months and I am definitely hoping to go again, at least once, in that time. There are so many things to see and do in Portsmouth that the all attraction ticket is actually a great bargain. I believe it gives you access to 11 museums, harbour tours and waterbus to the other museums elsewhere in the harbour. You can also buy a ticket that covers all attractions and the tower, for just a little bit extra in cost.

Tall Ships

A boat figurehead