Portsmouth D-Day Museum logistics

You can check the current price differential - which can change. Go to National Rail app or website. Easy app to use - you can put in a current date (New Year's may mess with the schedule), then the potential future dates you are considering to see the train times and prices.

I know RS recommends Portsmouth as a day trip from London, but there's a lot to see. There would be too many options for me to choose from in one day. (Your interests may well vary from mine) I am taking another traveler (first-timer) for several days in late spring. We will visit the Mary Rose and historic dockyards as well as the D-Day Story.

Not D-Day, but if you have military history interests and haven't visited the HMS Belfast on the Thames in London, I can recommend it. Easy to get to, interesting audio guide, lots of military history. Another WWII site that is quite interesting is in Uxbridge - Battle of Britain Bunker. Actual site that monitored the Battle of Britain air war. The attraction seems off the radar for many US visitors - access is by Tube and 15 minute pleasant walk or taxi. https://battleofbritainbunker.co.uk (Forgive my unsolicited suggestions - I have military history interests and can't resist sharing these easy access spots that often get overlooked.)

We visited Portsmouth about 18 months ago. It took us about 4 hours to visit the D-Day Experience and the landing craft on display. If you hurried, you could probably could fit in a visit to the Mary Rose, but it would be pushing it. To see everything in the Historic Dockyard, we needed a full day. I think two full days would be a good idea for seeing the major sites.

The D-Day Museum is not huge, it does have a lot of narrative, meaning the time you spend is dependent on your interest in the individual stories. I maybe spent two hours there. It is a bit aways from the train station, requiring you to catch a bus once you leave the Portsmouth Harbour station.

But to be honest, the D-Day museum is one of the lesser sights in Portsmouth. You might consider rearranging to do an overnight there at least. The sights collectively known as the Historic Dockyards could take days to go through. The highlights are the HMS Victory and the Mary Rose museum, but there is also the HMS Warrior, the Royal Navy museum, the submarine museum across the bay, and a half dozen more.

To Portsmouth a pair of Advance Singles, before any railcard reductions should be about £22- specific trains there and back.

But you can buy a Semi Flex Return for £38.60.

You travel on a fixed train out, but any train back on that fare.

An anytime day return valid on any train, buy on the day is £50.60.

For two of you, on that journey alone on Anytime Day Returns, if you leave Waterloo after 0930 it will save you money to buy a Two Together Railcard for £30, to get 33% off.

The direct journey from Victoria is only 20 minutes slower.

On those half hourly trains leave London after 10am, buy a Southern Rail day save ticket a minimum of 3 days beforehand for only £25 each, total flexibility of train.
No weekend time restrictions.

Also very near thr D-Day Museum is Southsea Castle, a very small but worthwhile defensive structure where Henry VIII reputedly watched the Mary Rose go down.

I definitely think it’s a shame to visit Portsmouth without seeing the Dockyard and its historic ships. So it’s worth a two day/one night trip - there are a range of handy hotels nearby.

Dear Forum,
I knew that I would get good answers from you all: trains, what to see, and timetables!
I had forgotten about the Uxbridge Bunker and may book a tour for one of our open days. We've been to the Churchill Museum/Cabinet War Rooms several times as well as the IWM and RAF museums. This will be a nice addition.

Thank you everyone and happy to get more responses.

A visit to Portsmouth without visiting the Portsmouth Historic Dockyard would be an incredible travesty, especially for those with an interest in miliary history. I've been there three times now and it is still extremely interesting!
https://historicdockyard.co.uk/

Earlier this year we visited Portsmouth as a day trip from Salisbury. We saw the D-Day Museum, Mary Rose and Victory. I liked them all, especially the latter two. We walked to and from the D-Day Museum and had a quick lunch at Pret A Manger. It was a very enjoyable day and we were back for dinner in Salisbury.

Uxbridge bunker is also at a convenient location.

Directions -
https://citymapper.com/trip/Tfm7n173c29

https://battleofbritainbunker.co.uk/

To visit the bunker itself, you must join a tour.

Another local attraction nearby is Ruislip Woods and Ruislip Lido.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/wzo6qExjgZv3xcvY6