Portsmouth and Gosport

Portsmouth is home to a historic dockyard which has lots to see. All attraction passes (£40) are valid for a year, so I went back before my ticket expired.

As is common in the UK the trains were on strike, so I took a National Express coach. I was pleasantly surprised - the ticket was significantly less than the train fare and it took exactly the same length of time to get there.

Gunwharf keys is the home of a range of shopping outlets, bars and restaurants. It overlooks part of the harbour, giving me a great view over lunch. I can highly recommend Giraffe World Kitchen as a place to eat, the food was amazing and the service was excellent.

I stayed at the Ibis Portsmouth Centre. It is a 15 minute walk from Gunwharf keys and as it is surrounded by University of Portsmouth buildings it has a good selection of night life nearby. It is also close to Portsmouth and Southsea train station and the magnificent Guildhall. 

Guildhall at dusk

Victoria Park is also near the hotel and is a lovely green open space, complete with an aviary. It is also close to Portsmouth city centre, which is full of a range of shops.

I also walked along a section of the millennium promenade which runs from Gunwharf keys up to Southsea along the sea. It's a nice walk with access to bits of beach if you feel like a but of sunbathing.

Isambard Kingdom Brunel memorial

Royal Garrison Church - the roof was lost during WW2

The historic dockyard is covered in the blog post I wrote last year. I went to the museums within the dockyard, my particular favourite being the Royal Navy museum with its collection of warship figureheads.  There is also an exhibit solely for one of the sails from HMS Victory which was damaged at the battle of Trafalgar.

HMS Warrior

Figureheads

The dockyard ticket gives you use of the waterbus to the museum at Gosport, however I took a little ferry for £4.60 return over to Gosport, the trip of which was only a few minutes long.

Gosport is home to the Explosion Museum and the submarine museum. The latter is home to HMS Alliance, of which there are regular guided tours lasting about an hour. It was very interesting to see the internal workings of a military submarine. There is also a little museum about submarines as well.

HMS Alliance

The Explosion museum came with lots of interactive sections. It has a range of displays of ammunition, ammunition boxes and a range of guns and torpedoes. The site used to be a gunpowder store, so there is a lot on the history of gunpowder and its use. It took a good hour to go round the whole exhibition.

Gunpowder store

My favourite sticker of all....

I also visited Fareham shopping centre and a small amusement arcade at Lee-on-Solent whilst on the Gosport side. The arcade came complete with a range of 2p machines which are always a fun way to loose £2 in small change.