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Lodging between Heathrow and Southampton?

We will be traveling, by car, from Heathrow to Southampton in the spring, to get a cruise home back to the US and are looking foe a nice place to spend an afternoon, have a lovely dinner and spend the night before heading to the ship. In the past, we have visited Winchester, Salisbury, Windsor and, of course, Southampton and so I am looking for another option. In a perfect world, I would love to find a picturesque inn in a village with good British food and enough of interest (we love history, castles and wandering) to spend several hours.

Thank you so very much!!

Posted by
1526 posts

Depending on your time of sailing and the distance to travel...have you looked at the New Forest? They have many accommodations and attractions. Look at the National Trust UK for sites to visit in the area.

Posted by
96 posts

Arundel is a pretty village with a castle about 20 miles east of Portsmouth. Chichester, 10 miles east of Portsmouth, is a larger but still affective town with theatre and classical music programs.
An alternative would be to take the ferry from Lymington to the Isle of Wight and overnight, then take the ferry into Southampton on your day of departure.

Romsey is nice - a very pretty small town between Winchester & Southampton. It has a splendid abbey, which dates back to the 12th century and is still in use as a church today.

http://www.visitromsey.co.uk

Or take a look at Stockbridge, nominally a town but looks like a big village. It has a wonderful wide main street with a range of pubs & restaurants. It's in the very pretty Test Valley.

http://www.visit-hampshire.co.uk/places-to-visit/test-valley/stockbridge

Posted by
276 posts

Many, many thanks! It looks as though there are a number of marvellous options and i can spend several hours poring over to websites, to choose between a castle, a manor house, a B and B - oh, the choices!