London to Southampton

It would be easier to know what to suggest if you told us what kind of thing interests you, but how about the Jane Austen's House museum at Chawton, near Winchester. Or the working 19th century water-driven silk mill at Whitchurch. Or the Air Sciences Trust museum at Farnborough. Or the Iron Age farm reconstruction at Butser Hill. There is an endless list of things that are not too far from the M3 motorway...

Portsmouth has a Maritime Museum and the HMS Victory and Henry VIII's Mary Rose which is a fascinating look at a ship from the Tudor Era.

Yes, the Mary Rose in Portsmouth is well worth visiting. The King (Henry VIII) went to Portsmouth from London to see the ship launched. It was a proud addition to his navy. Unfortunately, as soon as, with great fanfare, it was launched, it sank ... right there in the harbour as His Majesty watched. Imagine his chagrin. Imagine his wrath. It was recovered from the depths a few years ago.

Keith: I'm shocked ... shocked!!... that the guide at the Mary Rose perpetuated a myth. Oh, darn, I so liked that story. At least the part about the King being witness to the sinking seems to be true.

Mary Rose sank out in the Solent during the battle of the same name, not in the harbor in which she was built and now rests. Vasa sank as soon as she was cut loose since the center of gravity was way the heck above the center of buoyancy due to the additional weight in the castles and additional armament added after the initial design. Essentially she was top-heavy and flipped.

Aha. So our guide substituted the Vasa story for the Mary Rose one and we were all too ignorant to know any better.