Southhampton or Bath, England?
 

Hi!

I have booked a cruise that will return to the port of Southhampton, England. We will have a day & overnite stay before flying out of Heathbrow airport.

My questions are:

Is Southhampton worth an overnite stay? Anything to do or see in this town? Does a train goes to Heathbrow from Southhampton?

If Southhampton is bad idea...what's about Bath? How far it is to take train from Southhampton to Bath...then from Bath to Heathbrow?

I need to plan a place to stay while sightseeing either by the sea coast or inland...we like historial places to explore but only have one day and a night to do it. Also...we dont want to miss our flight out the next day if taking a place too far from airport is not worth it.

In case, you know of a better place than Southhampton or Bath...please feel free to share info. Thanks so much!

Given your situation, I would not stay in Southampton proper. Just south of there is the lovely Isle of Wight, which is an easy bus or taxi ride and is a great overnight stop. Try one of the coastal villages such as Sandown or Shanklin. Of course, Bath is also lovely, and you can certainly get a train to Bath and subsequently to Heathrow. But if you stay somewhere in the area where you arrive, you'll have less train riding and more time to enjoy. Good luck.

Winchester, England's ancient capital, and its wonderful cathedral, are 20 mins up the line (www.nationalrail.co.uk)from S'ton. No direct train to LHR, but buses every 1.5 hrs or so (journey c.1hr 20 mins)Or train to Woking, then bus. Buses at www.gobycoach.com.
Or direct train from Soton to Oxford (every hr, c 1 hr 20 mins): buses from Oxford to LHR every half hour, c 80 mins from downtown.
Direct trains from Soton to Bath every half hour also about 1 hr 20. Bath-LHR messier: direct bus (2.7 hrs), trainmto Reading, then bus, or train to Paddington, then back to Heathrow.

You will though also need to take a boat to the Isle of Wight :-)

Southampton is a very nice city to live in, but there are better places to see as a tourist. Titanic set sail from here, there is a maritime museum and a couple of good galleries, of national importance. It is a very green city.
Winchester though is about 20 minutes from Southampton and may be a nice place to visit, wonderful cathedral, quaint shops. There are a number of hotels in Southampton (including Hilton, Holiday Inn etc). You could stay overnight in Southampton and visit Winchester.

http://www.winchester-cathedral.org.uk/
http://www.visitwinchester.co.uk/

Angela

My first choice would be to stay in Bath and take the direct airport coach to LHR. This bus would be cheaper and faster than a train journey with at least one transfer.

Neither Bath nor S'Hampton have direct train connections to Heathrow. And while the Isle of Wight or the south coast are lovely - you would have a very difficult time getting to LHR by train.

Southampton does have a direct coach service (National Express)to Heathrow, with no changes. It takes about 2 hours. It is also cheaper than the train.

Angela

If I do winchester...does this town have a direct train to Healthrow?

I am trying to pick the best possible town to spend the 24 hours before going to Healthrow to fly out. I dont want to be on the road most of the time. I only got one day to capture a glimpse of England. THANKS!

Hi, I thing Flanneruk (correctly) answered the Winchester to Heathrow question already. If you go by train you need to get off at Woking and transfer to the 1/2 hour shuttle bus through to Heathrow. I'd certainly investigate the direct coach service also suggested previously as an alternative.

For the record, there are no direct trains from anywhere to Heathrow other than from central London.

I would not do Bath, as it is some distance and you would end up spending a lot of time travelling. Winchester sounds good. It is historic, walkable and also 'real' - ie. not too chocolate-box. I would then suggest getting the train to Woking and then the bus to Heathrow, or why not look at a coach that goes all the way from W'chester to Heathrow(www.gobycoach.com.)

Another vote for Winchester. The city is very compact, has a 900 year old cathedral (graves of Jane Austin and St Swithun), the first capital of England, ties to Alfred the Great, King Arthur, William I crowned there, a lovely river walk, St Cross Hospital (the oldest charitable institution in England).

If you need a place to stay, try this pub for lodging and dinner - highly recommended by The Times:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article...609802,00.html

There is a direct connection at Woking RR station to the Railair coach to LHR: every 30 minutes with 40 to 60 minutes transit.

Enjoy.