Hi,

Can anyone give me an idea if the following places are worth visiting? We are definitely going to the HMS Victory and I am purchasing these tickets online. Can one actually go aboard the following? How long will it take to see the Victory? Is there anything else in Portsmouth that one can do in a day visit? Thanks so much for your help.


HMS Warrior 1860
Mary Rose
Action Stations

My wife and I enjoyed a full day at the Royal Naval Museum in the mid 90s and there have been additions to the exhibitions since then. Action Stations is one. I don't think you will have any trouble filling a day.

Visit the website:
http://www.royalnavalmuseum.org/exhi..._home_page.htm

After visiting the website, I'm ready to go back.

We were in Portsmouth in 2000, and had a great time. I don't know anything about Action Stations, but we really enjoyed all the other things you list. We did go aboard the Victory (but I don't think we left ourselves enough time for the Warrior). I most enjoyed the Mary Rose -- you can't go aboard it, but you can go into a special room to view it. The description of retrieving the ship and the efforts to preserve it were fascinating. As I recall, the Royal Naval Museum was pretty interesting. I'm not much of a ship person, and I enjoyed it all. I think someone who is interested in all things Naval could spend the better part of the day in the entire complex.
Annette

If you are interested in things Naval, a visit to The Historic Dockyard at Chatham might be worth your while. It is about an hour from London by rail or road....see http://www.chdt.org.uk/

We did the Victory tour and spent quite a bit of time in the museums. We loved it all. For something completely different, there is outlet shopping in Portsmouth too. My sister and I both got some good buys.

You might not appreciate this, as a lot of people don't, but I find it very charming in its own way. Start in Southsea (the seaside tourist part of Portsmouth) by the Sealife Centre (a convenient starting point) and head towards the fairground (just for direction not for a visit) and continue walking all along the sea, very pleasant in the summer sunshine - this is "Historic Portsmouth". Not sophisiticated, not trendy, not chic, not smart, but it's great fun.

For things to see other than nautical, the Charles Dickens Museum is the simple Victorian house where he was born - open spring-autumn; Portchester Castle is a Norman ruins site operated by English Heritage - very atmospheric; the D-Day Museum houses a gigantic needlework piece depicting the the Normandy event of 1944.

As long as you're going to be there, the all-attractions ticket is worth it. We spent 1-1/2 hours on the Victory, then went to the Royal Navy Museum (you've got to see the weevilly biscuit), and Mary Rose. Didn't see the rest (Warrior was under renovation). If you are on a tight budget and can do with limited time in the Dockyards, investigate the half-price deal that kicks in a couple of hours before closing time -- 2:30 sounds right but don't count on my memory! They don't advertise it or even tell you if you don't ask -- they'd much rather have you pay full price.

I second the earlier poster who mentioned the outlets -- they're very close to the Dockyards and good for gift-buying, and there are some decent inexpensive restaurants there too.

As a final suggestion, take a walk around the old city walls. If you are staying the night, I recommend Fortitude Cottage in Spice Island (not an island, but rather an old and scenic part of the town within walking distance to all of the above). Enjoy!

You may also want to visit the Royal Navy Submarine Museum in Gosport (check out the website: http://www.rnsubmus.co.uk/). You can also combine the visit with a trip to 'Explosion' which tells the story of naval firepower from gunpowder to the present day. For details on how to get to the museum, go to the Visitors Info on the website. Hope this is useful.

Thanks everyone for the great information. I quess we will be able to make a day of it after all, I'm always up for shopping. I can't wait.