Hi! We are looking to get from Dorchester to Portsmouth Harbor on Sunday, April 27th. We are stymied trying to figure out the best way to get there (and subsequently back to London on Monday). From the various train websites, it looks like it would be about a 5 hour journey (but apparently it's only 2 1/2ish hours the day before?) with 3 changes. We also looked into renting a car but it would appear that Enterprise is the only car rental in Dorchester and, in addition to being closed on Sunday (which means we would have to pick it up Saturday and pay for an extra day) there's no Enterprise near Portsmouth to return it. Driving the extra 1 1/2 hours back to Dorchester to return the car is not an option. Are there other ways to get to Portsmouth? National Bus doesn't seem to have that route. Are there car services in the UK that would do this kind of trip? Just trying to make this journey as streamlined and painless as possible.
Posted by
Lake District, England
8883 posts
That's interesting. There is engineering work between Bournemouth and Southampton with bus replacements.
And I agree that SWT is giving a 4hrs 50 minutes journey, but that information is false- well, not false, but not the best available connections.
SWT are putting you on an all stations bus to Southampton Central which takes almost two hours. Then a change at Fareham.
When I look it up on Northern Rail (my preferred website) they give me a time of 2 hrs 50 minutes (so about normal time) by using a non stop bus to Southampton Airport Parkway, then train to Eastleigh, change for Portsmouth Harbour.
So I go to the Working Timetable to recheck- and Northern are correct. There are fast (to the Airport) and slow (to Central) buses. The fast bus takes just 55 minutes, and the connections onward from there are slicker as well. Check carefully which bus you board at Bournemouth.
So there you are- SWT are giving a duff result. Your travel time is near normal, albeit 3 trains and a bus (nearly a movie title).
There is in fact an Enterprise in Portsmouth- called Portsmouth Southsea- it is at Partnership Bus Park, RODNEY ROAD, Southsea, PO4 8DF- and is open on a Sunday from 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM.
So pick the car up as late as possible on Saturday morning, leave Dorchester early and you should still be able to manage a one day 24 hour rental if that is your preferred option.
Posted by
OP
22 posts
Wow- thanks for the information. I find the train schedules very confusing and the fact that (at least here in the US) so many different websites come up with slightly different schedules makes it hard to figure out which one is best. It’s interesting that you say there’s an Enterprise near Portsmouth- it didn’t come up in my search of the Enterprise website but I am wondering if there’s a UK Enterprise website we should check. Whichever way we choose, thanks so much for your help!
Posted by
Lake District, England
8883 posts
Yes, use the UK site. Even then I was very surprised not to be able to find a Portsmouth Office as I just knew there had to be one. So I googled it.
Then I realised that I had to click the down button for more places called Portsmouth as first up are about 20 or so places called Portsmouth in the US. Who knew there were so many?
Motto, if you ever want to rent a car in Portsmouth, USA check the state carefully.