Transportation Options from Central London to Southampton

What are your interests? Have you been to London?

I took a cruise from Southampton to Lisbon in October.

I stayed in London 6 nights before taking the National; Express bus to Southampton. London is fabulous and 6 nights was not enough.

I stayed at the Ibis Budget in Southampton and it was very decent. But it was pouring rain the whole evening and night I was there. I could not see or do much. but I think there is plenty to do in Southampton from reading visitor information

How many days do you have in London / Southampton before sailing?.

Have been to London a few dozen times. Business and pleasure. Never been to Southampton. In London a full day before the cruise and six days after.

Here's info about Southampton in Wikipedia (scroll down to "Culture") and Wikitravel (scroll down to "See"). What's "worth seeing" depends on your interests. I'd be interested enough to take the train from London the day before the cruise. That would also ensure that I'm there on embarkation day, and not stuck in London for some unforeseen reason. I might spend more time in Southampton and visit nearby Portsmouth and/or Winchester. After all your prior exposure to London, and since you'll be there for some days after the cruise, you may want to explore these southern cities. Checking the National Rail website, it looks like there are frequent trains to Southampton from Waterloo, taking about 1.5 hours, and less frequent from Victoria, taking about an hour longer.

Slightly left field I might suggest taking the train from Waterloo to Winchester. It takes about an hour and allows you a good look round a very historic city. You can then take the train down to Southampton the following day or even a cab the whole way - it’s not far.

How early are you flying in, Hank? I absolutely love the Historic Dockyard at Portsmouth. I am cruising out of Southampton with friends in May and here are our plans. Arrive Heathrow , take National Express bus direct to Southampton and check into the Premier Inn (west quay). Spend the night/rest up. Next day, take the train to Portsmouth and explore the Historic Dockyard.
https://historicdockyard.co.uk/plan-your-visit/ I've been there twice before and am just as excited about going a third time. I know my friends are going to love it. We'll spend the day in Portsmouth and then return to Southampton for the night. The next day we embark on our cruise.

Southampton is a bit of a dive and doesn't have much of any interest. Portsmouth's historic district is a far better option.

I agree with JC

Another vote for Portsmouth Historic Dockyard.

Been used often in tv and film production.

https://www.portsmouth.co.uk/heritage-and-retro/retro/12-films-and-television-programmes-filmed-in-and-around-portsmouth-and-hampshire-4041441

If a viewer of Call The Midwife you’ll enjoy a tour there.

Hank, with your schedule I wouldn't even bother going into London prior to your cruise. Just take the very convenient National Express Bus directly from Heathrow to Southampton. You can pay an extra 5 pounds to make it a flexible ticket that allows you to take an earlier or later coach that day depending on when your flight actually gets in. Hotels in Southampton are much more reasonable than Central London, especially with advance purchase. I'm paying the equivalent of $100/night in May.

Stay in Southampton, but do your touring in Portsmouth.

There are also hourly coaches from London Victoria to Southampton, which don't call at Heathrow. Heathrow is a separate service. From Heathrow advance fares are around £17, from London Victoria around £5.

On the train advance fares are £14.50 from Waterloo and £6 from Victoria (the longer route)

I've seen couple of posts recently asking about Southampton, which doesn't get much love on this forum and I think that's a shame.

Southampton has plenty of documented history, dating back to Roman times when a settlement, Clausentum, was located on the bank of the River Itchen. A Saxon settlement (Hamtun) was superseded by Southampton which was named as a royal borough before 1086. The earliest town charter was given by King Henry II, in 1154/55.

In the Middle Ages, Southampton became one of England's major ports, exporting wool and hides and importing wine and was the chief link for the monarchy with their domains across the Channel. Located in the Old Town, some of the city's medieval prosperity remains today, including St. Michael's Church (11th century and later); King John's Palace (12th century), and parts of the city walls (11th century with more "modern" 13th century and feature the guildhall over the archway of Bargate, the north gate.

The port and city declined in the 17th and 18th centuries but revived in the 19th with the introduction of railways, especially the line from London in 1840. New dock development took advantage of the spacious harbour and by 1980 Southampton had become Britain’s second largest port.

I lived in Southampton in the early 90's and back then it was dominated by post-WWII reconstruction projects in an oppressively brutalist style. But since then the city has transformed itself through new builds and a desire to embrace and promote its rich history.

Now I live in the US, but I visit my parents who still live in the area twice a year. I often stay in Southampton, spending some time as tourist and enjoying the broad range of choices that didn't exist in my youth.
It is home to great pubs, live music and theatre, diverse cuisine and really worthwhile museums and exhibits, plus parks and green spaces, good fish and chips and tearooms. It's very walkable and has excellent public transportation links.

If you're interested, I can post links for self-catering apartments that I have stayed in along with recommendations for dining and cultural experiences. But I would be be remiss if I didn't mention a few:

The Tudor House combines over 800 years of history in a single location at the heart of Southampton's Old Town.
The timber-framed building was built in the late 15th Century from houses which previously stood on the site and has access across the Tudor House Garden to King John’s Palace, a Norman house dating back a further 300 years.
It is now a museum following an extensive restoration in 2007, with excellent guides, family-friendly activities and interactive technology.
On site is a café, overlooking the authentic Tudor Knot Garden is open without paying for admission to the whole museum.

The Sea City Museum. With a primary focus on the story of the people of the city, and historic connections with Titanic and the sea this museum details many centuries of seafaring history including the Pilgrims as part of stories of immigration and emigration as well as much military history and some guest exhibits detailing more recent history.
https://seacitymuseum.co.uk/
https://tudorhouseandgarden.com/

God's House Tower is an amalgamation of two buildings: a gatehouse built in the late 13th century and a massive spur work - an early 15th century addition consisting of a gallery and a tower and fort.
It is now a small but very informative museum that shows the history of Southampton since the first settlements over 2,000 years ago.
https://www.godshousetower.org.uk/

The Wool House was built in the 14th century as a place to store wool ahead of export. It is the only surviving medieval warehouse in the city. Today it is an excellent microbrewery and gastropub run by Dancing Man Brewery.
https://dancingmanbrewery.co.uk/

There is debate as to the oldest pub in Southampton, the story of two of those pubs is told here:
https://historicsouthampton.co.uk/duke-red/

We also have a roundtrip cruise late Aug out of Southhampton. We have 4 nights before embarking. We have been to London and Windsor so not needing to visit or stay there. We are considering to base in Southhampton to avoid much lodging changes. Is it reasonable to take train to Bath for a day? Would love also to see a couple villages in Cottswalds. I appreciate the suggestions to check out the local sites of Southampton and Portsmouth. We prefer to use public transportation.

Such great information! Thanks to Charles for history and several others for useful tips.

@ all2alb- Yes you can do Bath on an hourly direct train from Southampton- 90 minutes each way, so an easy day out.

Likewise the Cotswolds- hourly direct train to Oxford on Cross Country trains- 1st out is at 0615- 90 minutes each way, last back from Oxford is at 2215. The connection to Moreton in Marsh in both directions is a smooth one, so it is a 2 hour journey each way Southampton to Moreton.

From there there are local buses (enough for you to get a taster) or pick up one of the tours which get recommended on this forum. So leave Southampton at 0615, arrive Moreton 0817 in good time for the tours which normally leave around 0900 to 0930 from Moreton.

Another vote for Portsmouth. Lots to see, even if you're not a naval history buff, go anyway. We stayed there 3 or 4 days en route to the Isle of Wight. If you go, try the restaurant called HUIS. They have some very interesting and delicious Belgian food (the mussels mariniere was fantastic, as was the cidre, duck confit, and beef carbonade; we ate there twice it was so good) and about 1000 Belgian beers. Nice place, fun people, but make a reservation. The dining room is small and it seemed very popular.

Love HUIS. Every month I meet up with a group of mates and we always start out at HUIS. Great hearty food and a huge selection of Belgian beers. It is a very small bar (they seem confused as to whether they're a bar or a restaurant) and booking is required, even if you only want to drink, as it's all table service. It never used to be but since COVID they decided to retain the limit on customers and table only service.

Isn31c…..thank you! Wonderfly helpful! I think we’ll stay in Southhampton and then follow your day tripper info! Lots of other great advice on this thread. Much appreciated…especially from local residents!

Many thanks to all. Opting for National Express Bus directly from Heathrow to Southampton on arrival at Heathrow and touring Portsmouth.