We will be driving to Southampton and would like any suggestions for possible interesting stops along the way. We have about 2 extra hours.

Arundel and its great caslte. chicester a fine old town.

If you've only go two hours to spare - and that includes the detour, finding somewhere to park, and then looking at whatever it is - you're very limited for options.

You'd be able to get off the M3 before Winchester, see the cathedral and one or two other things then get back onto the motorway. Just.

Or you might, with a bit of prior homework, stay on the M25 after the M3 turnoff to the A3/M25 intersection then see the Royal Horticultural Society at Wisley if you're into gardens. Then head back west along the M25 to the M3, and on to So'ton as usual.

Or,if someone else on this board concurs, you might just be able to drive past So'ton to Portsmouth and see the Victory (very appropriate in this second centenary of the ship's ensuring our freedom from French dictatorship). But I'd be nervous about whether that was possible in the time.

But one or other is just about the only diversion I'd risk.

Thanks for your suggestions. Any thoughts about stopping at Salisbury?

If you only have 2 hours to play with you don't have time to go to Salisbury. You really need to limit yourselves to somewhere very near/on the M3. Driving into a city center, parking, seeing anything, and then finding your way back to the M will eat up a lot of time.

flanneruk's suggestions are the only ones that make sense to me - but I would take RHS Wisley off the list. It is a truly AMAZING place - but even a very cursory visit would take more than 2 hours w/o accounting for the extra travel time.

The only other place I might consider would be Beaulieu or Lymington or just a short drive through the lovely New Forest.

You would NOT have time to go to either Arundel or Chichester.

OK - now I'm confused. Here you say you are driving to Southampton but you have started another thread asking about a car service for the journey.

Do you plan on self driving or booking a car service??? If it is a car service - do you really want to pay for 2 hours of idle time for the driver to sit there while you tour something?

I assume you are taking a cruise out of S'hampton. If so, the cruise lines do provide transfer services from the airport.

PalQ

I think Arundel and Chichester are just too far out of the way. Similarly Portsmouth, although only 20 miles from Southampton, is prone to traffic problems, and would be difficult.

I would agree with the earlier suggestions about Winchester. Either visit the cathedral, or just walk around - it is a very pretty city.

Try for one of the multi story car parks in the city rather than the park and ride.

Sorry for misunderstanding. We are actually using a car service and will be on a cruise. Our flight home is in late afternoon and rather than sit at airport for hours thought it would be nice to take side trip. We do have a company but there are six people and they only have cars to hold 4 and we therefore would need 2 cars, so am looking for possibly another company that has vehicle to hold 6. Sharing a car is less expensive than using the cruise ship transfer and certainly more comfortable. Thanks for any suggestions.

Elcruzer. I live near to Southampton, and several of my work colleagues use a local company to get to the airport in a minibus that hold 13 people. I will try and get the details for you.

elcruzer
if you contact me via email (williams_tj at hotmail dot com), I will supply you the details. He is apparantly not sure about putting his number on "This internet thing"

So you are actually going from Southampton to LHR, and not LHR to Southampton as your title and OP say??

it seems willit can look into some local services.

But how long do you have for the trip and what time of day - what time do you land and what time is your flight? If it is during afternoon commutes I would not recommend any city-based side trip (Winchester, etc). The traffic will be bad and could be terrible.

Trying to set my 2 different queries straight.
My 1st Heathrow to Southampton should have actually been reversed. We will disembark early Sat. morning and our flight is at 4:30PM A suggestion was made that we use car service with a little side trip so we wouldn't have to sit at airport too long. Stonehenge and/or Salisbury were suggested by service.
My other query re car service for the beginning of our trip, Heathrow straight to Southampton was because the service did not have any more cars for 6 people plus luggage, so will have to share 2 cars which would basically be twice the cost. The service was highly recommended and have booked with them but am now looking into other options. Will contact Willit.