On our fifth visit to Portsmouth, we finally decided to go see the historic naval dockyards. (Backstory...my sister lives here so we usually just come for a few days for a visit and generally just hit the shops). Hubby has been wanting to go see the ships there, but the price has always seemed kinda high. (And with our Canadian dollar at half of the pound, it's even worse). But this time we decided to finally do it. One hint...check the website first. Full price per person for admission to all the sights is £32. They have an online special where it was about £25. But, we lucked into a half price weekend sale and got our tickets for £16 each. So check the website for deals! Also...the admission tickets are good for a year, so if there is a chance you will return...
(You can either print the eticket, show it on your mobile, or have your confirmation code and they will print it there for you).
I was prepared to be a little bored as I'm not into ships and boats really, but we spent a good 4.5 hrs there and were rushing thru at the end. We did the Victory first, then lucked into the harbour tour that was leaving in 5 min that lasted an hour around the docks. Nice commentary too. Then we went to Warrior and then the Mary Rose. I think I found the Mary Rose the most fascinating. (Google it for full info). Just all the incredible artifacts found and the museum is well done. In 2017, they will have the wreck completely preserved and dried out and will be taking the walls around it down. (You can view it now thru windows). Hubby wanted to visit the submarine museum but we were getting very tired and hungry by this point.
So if you are wondering what to do in Portsmouth and like naval history (and even if you have a mild interest in old war ships) this is a good way to kill 4-5 hours. They gunwharf quay shopping is just a few minutes walk away. And if you want to do spinnaker tower (I guess we are saving that for the next trip) it's right there as well.