Travelling to Southampton

Southampton is serviced by Southampton International Airport, located a short distance outside the city in Eastleigh. It is a relatively small airport, and only flies to the UK, Ireland, the Channel Islands, France, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

The alternative is to use one of the London airports and travel on to Southampton by rail, car or bus. The most convenient are:

• Heathrow Airport is about 60 miles drive from Southampton via the M4 (westbound), M25 (anti-clockwise) and the M3 (southbound). There is a RailAir coach service to Woking station, where mainline trains to Southampton can be boarded.

• Gatwick Airport is about 80 miles drive from Southampton via the M23 (northbound), M25 (clockwise) and M3 (southbound) motorways. There is an hourly through train service to Southampton from a rail station in the airport terminal complex, taking just under two hours.

South West Trains run regular (at least one an hour) services to Southampton from London Waterloo via Winchester and Basingstoke as well as from Portsmouth and further east along the south coast. Many of these trains continue beyond Southampton to Bournemouth and Weymouth via the New Forest.

Southern Railway  run services via a longer and slower route from London Victoria, but have the advantage of serving London Gatwick airport on the way.

CrossCountry run longer distance services from the north of England via Birmingham and Reading.

First Great Western runs services from Cardiff, Bristol and Bath via Salisbury.

Train times can be found on National Rail or by calling 08457 48 49 50 from anywhere in the UK.

The M3 links Southampton with the M25 and London. The M27 leads west towards Bournemouth and the West Country, and east along the coast towards Brighton and the rest of the south of England.

Car parking is relatively easy with many pay and display places in the city centre. There are a number of free 2hr car parks too, and if you stray a little further away you can find free parking on the streets.

During the period of the Boat Show there is a Park and Ride scheme operating from Junction 1 of the M271 motorway with frequent buses to the show entrance.

There is also a Park and Ride for ticket holders to Southampton Football Club matches. This is easily found and well signposted from Junction 8 of the M27. For more information on either of the Park and Ride schemes see National Park and Ride Directory.

Megabus  run a twice daily bus service from London Victoria Coach Station to Southampton from £7-£16 for the cost of a single ticket

National Express  also runs a regular coach service direct to Southampton from London Victoria Coach Station. Ticket prices are less than £20 for a scheduled return.

Southampton is a busy port city, and as such has numerous sea links to countries across the world; however the port is mainly used for freight (particularly containers) and cruises. There are no international ferry services, however regular vehicle and passenger ferries operate to Cowes on the nearby Isle of Wight and the village of Hythe across the water.

Southampton City Centre is fairly spread out along a North-South axis, however it is easily possible to walk from the popular Bedford Place student area on the Northern fringe of the central area to the waterfront, much of the route being pedestrianised.

Southampton has a few dedicated cycle routes; they are not particularly well linked but cyclists should not have a problem navigating the city centre. The city centre itself is mostly flat; Hampshire tends to undulate.  Click here for the Southampton cycle map.

Southampton has a good network of bus services, with some principal services operating as often as every ten minutes during the day. Most of the services radiate out from the city centre but there are also some cross-city routes.

Websites for info:-

www.uni-link.info
www.solentblueline.com
www.firstgroup.com
www.wdbus.co.uk
www.stagecoachbus.com