A Weekend Trip to Portsmouth: What To Do, See and Eat
Looking for a city break in the South of England with seaside charm, intriguing history and great independent restaurants? Here’s how to spend two days in Portsmouth, England.
Some might know, but most probably don’t, I actually started this blog when I was at University in Portsmouth. Yeah, it’s been a while.
Since I upped sticks and moved to London, I’ve enjoyed multiple trips to Portsmouth, to visit some of my old haunts and see the city through the eyes of a visitor. I spent four years in the city, before moving to London, and I was happy to see that some of my favourite spots remained – alongside some new discoveries.
If you’re thinking of spending a weekend in Portsmouth, my two day itinerary covers the best things to see and do in this maritime city. I’ve kept it pretty loose, so you can pick and choose your top activities, but I’d recommend spending one day in Historic Portsmouth, and one day in Southsea/Old Portsmouth.
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Portsmouth Weekend Break: Quick Guide
Getting there: Trains from London Waterloo & London Victoria to Portsmouth regularly, with a journey time of 1.5 – 2 hours
Where to stay: Beckett’s for charming and welcoming seaside style
Top Tours & Activities: Delve into maritime legend at the Historic Dockyards; savour a high tea with a view at the Spinnaker Tower; play seaside arcade games on Clarence Pier; visit the D-Day Museum.
Where to eat: Croxtons, Ship Anson, The Old Customs House
Day 1: Gunwharf Quays & Historic Portsmouth
Shiny and modern, Gunwharf Quays contrasts with the surrounding historic areas with its tall buildings and stylish shops. There are plenty of bars and restaurants here to soak up the harbourside atmosphere, as well as some great outlets and big-name stores. (It’s also the place I had my first ever Nandos.)
Morning: Gunwharf Quays & Spinnaker Tower
If you like outlet shopping, Gunwharf is perfect for you – and there are also some great dining spots too. Even if you’re not in the mood to shop, the surrounding area has plenty of reminders of Portsmouth’s naval history to check out.
While you’re in Gunwharf, you can also pay a visit to the pointy Spinnaker Tower, which has amazing views over Portsmouth and across to the Isle of Wight, as well as a glass floor for the brave ones among you. Fun fact: I once abseiled from the top of the Spinnaker Tower. Totally epic – and you can book the experience yourself here!
Opening Times: 10am – 6pm
Admission Price: £24-£39 – book online in advance for the best prices.
You can also treat yourself to afternoon tea in the Spinnaker tower, for high tea with high views!
Portsmouth Weekend Tip: If you’re planning on spending the first full day making the most of visiting the Historic Dockyard but still want to visit the top of the Spinnaker Tower, it might be worth booking your Spinnaker tower visit for the morning of your second day in Portsmouth!
Portsmouth Historic Dockyard
Portsmouth’s Historic Dockyard is basically where you’ll find the city’s main attractions, and you could easily spend an entire day of your Portsmouth weekend break here. Explore centuries of naval history, step aboard world-famous ships, and discover tales and secrets from the Navy and the historic port city.
Portsmouth Historic Dockyard Admission Prices
The cost for entry to the Historic Dockyard + 1 attraction is £34, which feels pretty steep. If you’re making a day of it, though, you can get a 3-attraction pass for £44, or the Ultimate Explorer pass that covers 10 attractions in the area, for £49. The latter two are valid for a whole year, so you can split it across your Portsmouth weekend break too!
Single Attraction – £34 (adult) £24 (child)
Three Attraction Pass – £44 (adult) £29 (child) – includes any three attractions, valid for 12 months.
Ultimate Explorer Pass – £49 (adult) £34 (child) – includes all attractions, valid for 12 months: The Mary Rose Museum, HMS Victory, HMS Warrior, HMS M.33, NMRN Galleries, Explosion Museum of Naval Firepower, Royal Navy Submarine Museum, Action Stations, Harbour Tours, Boathouse 4, Dockyard Apprentice.
BUDGET TRAVEL TIP: It’s even cheaper to book in advance online, where you can save £3 on the Ultimate Explorer Pass price.
HMS Victory
The HMS Victory is probably the most famous of attractions, Nelson’s famous ship from the Battle of Trafalgar.
The Mary Rose Museum
The Mary Rose is also super interesting – the ship sank in 1545, and the remains were raised in 1982, now on display in the Historic Dockyard.
HMS Warrior
The largest and most powerful warship in Queen Victoria’s fleet was built for the built for the Royal Navy from 1859–1861 and decommissioned in 1883. After various other uses and some restoration, the HMS Warrior has been based in Portsmouth Historic Dockyard since 1987.
HMS M.33
One of the last surviving British ships from WW1, the HMS M.33 is also the only remaining Allied vessel from the 1915 Gallipoli Campaign. Throughout her fascinating history, she’s also been a mine-laying training ship, fuelling vessel and a floating office.
Hundreds of years of Naval History is brought to life in this gallery of artefacts, each with its own exciting story to tell. The Worlds Beneath The Waves exhibition chronicles how Navy technology over the past 150 years has helped us understand the ever-changing nature of the ocean.
Get hands-on as you discover cannons, torpedoes and missiles and hear stories from their designers and makers, as well as the munitions workers who handled dangerous artillery on a daily basis. The permanent exhibition The Night Hunters: The Royal Navy’s Coastal Forces at War tells high-octane stories of courage from men and women during wartime.
Dive into the Royal Navy’s underwater exploration, with this museum dedicated to all things submarine. On HMS Alliance, the only remaining WWII submarine, you can discover what life was like for submariners in wartime.
Action Stations
At this indoor experience housed in an 18th century boathouse, find out if you’ve got what it takes to be a Royal Marine Commando! Leap through obstacles on the assault course and tackle the 8m climbing wall – or challenge your friends and family to a game of laser tag.
Open weekends and school holidays only.
Harbour Tours
Cruise around Portsmouth Harbour and get up close to modern Royal Navy ships. Queues for these tours can get busy, so it’s recommended to go earlier in the day if you can – the first tour runs at 11am.
Boathouse 4
An interactive attraction where you can witness traditional boat-building techniques in action.
Dockyard Apprentice
This informative and interactive experience features films and costumes mannequins, telling the story of workers in Portsmouth Dockyard in the early 20th century.
Where to eat in Portsmouth: Historic Dockyard & Gunwharf
Portsmouth’s waterfront area offers a whole host of restaurants, including big chain names in Gunwharf Quays and charming naval pubs. There’s not much in the way of independent restaurants in the area, so if you’re looking for something a little more unique, I’d recommend venturing towards Southsea’s Elm Grove, Albert Road and Palmerston Road for dinner.
If you’re looking for a quick bite to eat for lunch during a day at the Dockyards, there are a couple of cafes and pubs to check out in the nearby area.
Hartgills Seafood (£) – popular seafood kiosk
Boathouse 4 (££) – breakfast, brunch and burgers in the Dockyard
Ship Anson (££) – Greene King pub serving food all day
The Old Customs House (££) – classic pub grub
Day 2: Old Portsmouth and Southsea
For the second day of our weekend in Portsmouth, we’re going to explore the neighbourhood of Southsea, a 19th-century Victorian seaside resort that’s now a thriving, lively hub filled with independent businesses and historical attractions.
Portsmouth Museum & Art Gallery
Portsmouth Museum spans the history of the city, ranging from Sherlock Holmes to Portsmouth FC. Retro gaming is the focus of another exhibition, as well as how Portsmouth locals lived and spent their leisure time throughout history.
Opening Times: 10am – 5pm (closed Mondays)
Admission Price: Free
Clarence Pier Amusement Park
Growing up by the seaside, I spent a lot of time perfecting my DDR skills in the local arcades. Turns out, I’m not quite as good as I was when I was 13. Although Portsmouth isn’t really your ‘classic’ seaside town, Clarence Pier offers plenty of traditional funfair and arcade fun. Here, you can take a spin on the waltzers, have a scream on the wild mouse style coaster, and spend your spare change trying to win a keyring on the classic 2p machines.
There’s also a pirate-themed mini golf course, and plenty of food kiosks to check out. I might have visited in October, but every season is ice cream season when you’re by the sea, right?
Opening Times: 11am-5pm in winter, 11am-8/9pm in summer
Admission Price: Free, but rides cost extra on a token system
Southsea Common
A large green space on Southsea seafront, popular with locals for picnics in the sunshine. Also home to the Portsmouth Naval Memorial and Sebastopol Naval Monument.
BUDGET TRAVEL TIP: If you’re keeping costs down during your weekend in Portsmouth, head to the Co-Op nearby and grab some picnic supplies for a cheap lunch in Southsea, local-style.
Southsea Castle
Built as a coastal defense for King Henry VIII, the castle was an active military base for over 400 years. Visitors today can check out artefacts and displays, as well as the views from the castle rampart.
Opening Times: March-October, 10am-5pm
Admission Price: Free
The D-Day Story
If you hadn’t guessed already, Portsmouth has its fair share of military history. The 1944 Normandy landings, often referred to as ‘D-Day’, was the largest seaborne invasion in history. Portsmouth’s D-Day Story chronicles the events of D-Day and the Battle of Normandy, with over 10,000 exhibits in the museum. Video, photography and interactive hands-on exhibits help bring the story to life.
Opening Times: 10am-5.30pm
Admission Price: £15.95 (adult) £8 (child/student) – cheaper if booked online
Southsea Pier
This traditional style seaside pier has survived three fires, and in WWII served as a preparation point for the D-Day landings. The pier was restored most recently in 2017, and is home to the Gaiety Theatre and an amusement arcade.
Southsea Model Village
A small and charming model village established in 1956 on the site of a former fort.
Opening Times: 10.30am – 4.30pm
Admission Price: £7 (adults) £6 (children)
The Rose Gardens
A peaceful and charming rose garden that’s free to visit. The perfect spot to sit on a bench and let the floral scent wash over you.
Southsea – Albert Road & Palmerston Road
The place I spent 90% of my time hanging out as a student. Southsea is the beating heart of Portsmouth – a mecca for young people doing fun stuff, in basic terms.
If you like shopping, there are plenty of independent boutiques and charity shops to dig around in. Dress Code sells alternative fashion, and Bored of Southsea (both Albert Road) do amazing local-themed t-shirts, which make for a great souvenir that you’d actually wear in your day-to-day life. Music fans NEED to check out Pie and Vinyl, a beloved record cafe in Southsea.
Where to Eat in Southsea
Home to the city’s more independent restaurants, Southsea is a great place to enjoy lunch, brunch and dinner.
Beckett’s (Southsea)
We booked a table for breakfast on a rainy Sunday at Beckett’s, a cosy food spot that’s also a boutique hotel. Head chef Jack Sencherey-Evans previously worked at the world’s second-best restaurant, Noma, so you know you’re getting something great.
I went for the ultimate Basic Brunch dish. Sure, avocado toast is hard to get wrong – but Beckett’s went the extra mile in getting it so, so right. The usual avo toast, topped with a couple of perfectly poached eggs, has been given a twist here. The addition of chimichurri and multiseed mix works incredibly and adds a whole new flavour palette and new texture to the millennial fave. Genuinely the best avocado toast I’ve ever had (and I’ve had quite a lot).
Delaney’s (Southsea)
Back when I was a hungover student, Delaney’s was the place for nursing the night before – and I’m so glad this sandwich spot is still going strong. Cute and cosy with a great range of sandwiches, bagels and paninis, the prices are really reasonable too. Plus, they do that ‘crisps on the side’ thing which gives me *such* childhood nostalgia.
Other favourite spots in Southsea include:
Meat and Barrel (££) – burgers, wings and craft beers
Croxton’s (££) – pub tapas and a banging Sunday Roast (booking advised)
Desi (££) – Old India style café with home style curries and small plates
Maya (££-£££) – modern Latin American small plates
Restaurant 1865 (£££) – relaxed fine dining
Pubs, Bars and Nightlife in Portsmouth
Speaking of beers, Portsmouth has plenty of pubs and bars to keep your thirst at bay.
Albert Road in Southsea has plenty of popular drinking spots – including the Fat Fox, one of my favourites from my Uni days and still going strong. Emporium has more of a ‘bar’ vibe than a pub one, with cool retro décor and fun cocktails.
On Palmerston Road, you’ll find more bars – with more of a local vibe than some of the student hotspots. Croxton’s has a cool vibe and great beers, while if you’re a vodka fan, HKC has ALL the flavours you’d ever want to try (and probably some you wouldn’t. You can also try out some locally-produced beers very nearby, at The Greenwich Brewpub, home to MakeMake Brewery.
Guildhall Walk is home to some of the more mainstream spots, including my student-go to pub, The Fleet and two nightclubs: The Astoria and Popworld.
Theatre & Live Music in Portsmouth
If you fancy catching some theatre during your weekend in Portsmouth, the city has two well-known theatres. The New Theatre Royal on Guildhall Walk is a beautiful Victorian space, that also offers ‘behind the curtain’ tours. In Southsea, you’ll find King’s Theatre, a Grade II listed building that hosts plays, music and comedy shows.
The Wedgewood Rooms is Portsmouth’s iconic independent live music venue, and you can often find smaller local bands playing at The Cellars, Little Johnny Russel’s and the Admiral Drake.
Where to Stay in Portsmouth
Having visited Portsmouth on multiple occasions, I was a big fan of Beckett’s – as well as a delicious breakfast and brunch offering, it’s also a hotel that offers boutique lodgings. Rooms start from £88 per night.
I’ve also stayed at the Ibis Hotel Central Portsmouth, which was cosy and perfectly located for exploring the whole of the city. It cost £113 for two nights – the room was pretty small, but clean and comfortable. It’s also super close to Portsmouth & Southsea Station.
Getting to Portsmouth
Trains from London Waterloo & London Victoria to Portsmouth regularly, with a journey time of 1.5 – 2 hours. Off peak returns start at £44.40 per person, but you can often get them cheaper if you book in advance.
Getting around Portsmouth
The centre of Portsmouth is very walkable – it takes around 30mins to get from Gunwharf Quays to Albert Road in Southsea. Local buses also run regularly between locations, and there’s a train service that runs between Portsmouth & Southsea and Portsmouth Harbour stations.
Day trips from Portsmouth
Spending more than a weekend in Portsmouth? The city is the perfect base for exploring more of the south of England!
Isle of Wight
Take the ferry of the hovercraft and explore the unique Isle of Wight – a small island off the south coast of England, with quaint traditional seaside towns, historic attractions and the imposing Needles – three huge, chalk rocks at the island’s westernmost point.
Winchester
A small city steeped in history, and a popular filming location – scenes from The Crown, Wolf Hall, and The Da Vinci Code were all captured here. The highlight is the impressive Winchester Cathedral, with it’s high roof and captivating stained glass windows.
Brighton
The colourful seaside city of Brighton has a truly unique feel – enjoy the stunning beach, one of the UK’s best piers, and get lost in the charming Lanes.
Read more: A Weekend in Brighton: Where To Eat & Explore
More UK day weekend trips and day trips:
A Day Trip from London to Whitstable
A Stratford-Upon-Avon Weekend Break
