From a Tudor heritage to a Titanic legacy, Southampton is a seaside city with an impressive history.
The city may be more known nowadays as the UK's key site for embarking and disembarking massive cruises, which dominate the port skyline with a daily-changing line-up of mega liners, at least that was the impression I had having never visited before.
However, having spent a snappy two days in Southampton recently it is so worth considering for a short weekend stay or to extend your time pre or post-cruise.
The city’s built heritage is incredibly well-preserved, from domineering defensive town walls and gates which punctuate the city centre to a late 15th century Tudor House and adjoining castle you can travel back in time to.
The city is also bolstered by a bustling student population, a wide expanse of parks and green spaces, not to mention the picturesque New Forest on its doorstep, plus a thriving retail and hospitality landscape.
What to see and do
Southampton’s oldest museum also happens to be housed in its most important historic building, Tudor House and Garden (tudorhouseandgarden.com). Right in the heart of the Old Town, the unmistakable Tudor-era timber-framed building off St. Michael’s Square documents the use of the building from Tudor times to more modern history across architectural additions, the building’s evolving functions and its various colourful inhabitants.
The ideal first dip into Southampton’s history, there is also a pretty, Tudor-era garden lovingly preserved whilst a cafe also offers an ideal spot to stop for refreshments. The museum opens 10am until 3pm Monday to Thursday, closed every Friday and weekends opens until 5pm. Entry costs £7.50 per adult and £6.50 per child while family combo tickets are also available.
It may sound like an aquarium but SeaCity Museum (southamptonmuseumsandgallery.co.uk) is the home of Southampton’s Titanic story, housed in the city’s modernised former magistrates' court and police station. Over a quarter of the lives lost on the sinking of RMS Titanic on her maiden voyage were Southampton residents — mostly crew members and almost all male, leaving a devastating impact and many families facing poverty as a result of the loss.
Naturally, the story of the Titanic runs through the city’s streets, walls and homes, and the interactive exhibition tells the story of the Titanic through a powerful, local and personal recounting of the fateful maiden voyage of the 'unsinkable’ liner in April 1912 which ended in disaster.
Learn about the personal circumstances, backgrounds and even personal belongings of Southampton residents who perished paired with real voices and personal accounts of local survivors. An illuminated floor map of the city's streets even dots the precise locations where passengers lived before boarding demonstrating just how much the city suffered from the liner’s loss.
Towards the end of the exhibit experience snippets of the inquest into the disaster, which is brilliantly brought back to life as you take a seat in the benches of the former courthouse floor.
Beyond Titanic, SeaCity also hosts a number of other permanent exhibitions. Gateway To The World traces the routes of early settlers to Southampton like Romans and Saxons as well as later arrivals who called Southampton home and made Southampton such an important global gateway. Southampton Stories is a diverse curation of the rich local history, stories and achievements of a continuously evolving community in the city across the last few centuries. Open 10am until 5pm daily, adult entry is £11 and £8.50 per child while family combo tickets are also available.
Southampton is a very walkable and flat city so there is every chance to explore the city on two feet and several self-guided walking trails abound. Experience these at your leisure by downloading the maps from Visit Southampton (visitsouthampton.co.uk/trails-tours), including Walk The Walls, tracing the city’s Medieval structures from the Bargate onwards, a street art-spotting route called Mr Mosaic and a heritage trail commemorating the author Jane Austen, who frequented the city throughout her life.
Arts and heritage space God’s House Tower (godshousetower.org.uk) opened five years ago in a historic gate tower in the Old Town’s walls, built in different stages between the 12th and 15th centuries. Seasonally-changing exhibitions keep the programme fresh, but note that this space is only open to the public Friday to Sunday weekly.
Where to eat
The Pig In The Wall (thepighotel.com) is a picturesque outpost of the acclaimed ‘Pigs’, a keen collection of restaurants with rooms spread across the south and southwest UK. The original in Brockenhurst, 30 minutes outside the city in the New Forest, is an absolute must if you are looking to splash out on a beautiful special occasion dinner in spectacularly regal surrounds, but you may need to book well in advance.
The petite Pig In The Wall, the smallest and only city centre property of the group, is built into the Medieval town walls with 12 bedrooms. Its convivial deli-wine bar with rustic, cosy stylings and spectacular plates full of local produce is ideal for lunch but serves all the way from breakfast, from 9am daily, right through ’til supper’s end at 8pm.
Sunday roasts are plentiful and popular in the unique surrounds of Dancing Man Brewery (dancingmanbrewery.co.uk), a brewpub and restaurant set into a 13th century warehouse in a prime perch in the Old Town. For great coffee, check out Mettricks (mettricks.com) an artisan coffee roaster with a group of café-bars across the wider Southampton area.
Fancy proper British pie and mash? Drop by the cleverly-named Piecaramba (piecaramba.co.uk) while, for more casual eats, tacos and craft beers* are brilliant at Overdraft (overdraftbeerandtacos.co.uk) and don’t miss contemporary fast food joint 7Bone (7bone.co.uk) for epic burgers, wings, buttermilk chicken tenders and sandos.
Where to stay
Southampton has several hotel chains like Premier Inn, Leonardo Hotels, Travelodge or Holiday Inn, but for a cosy and eclectic stay that screams "Southampton" book into pub with rooms White Star Tavern (whitestartavern.co.uk). Set on Oxford Street, a popular stretch of busy bars and restaurants, the Fullers Pub Group-run hotel, bar and restaurant is - as the name suggests - inspired by the shipping line behind the Titanic.
This boutique hotel above a contemporary tavern, with an impressive breakfast spread and warm, familiar service, boasts newly-decorated rooms, in ‘snug’, ‘cosy’ or ‘comfy’ sizes, replete with luxury fabrics and a jewel tone palette, some with monsoon showers, roll-top baths and king-size beds with Egyptian cotton sheets.
If you prefer the finer things in life you could book a stay at the city’s sole five-star hotel, the Harbour Hotel (harbourhotels.co.uk) a modern, waterfront bolt hole with a spa, award-winning restaurant and rooftop bar.
For longer stays, you could easily venture further out to the New Forest, the cities of Portsmouth and Winchester or even take the ferry to explore the nearby Isle of Wight but for a two-day trip to a UK city that combines history, culture and all the contemporary creature comforts you could want, Southampton is pretty perfectly placed.
How to get there
Aer Lingus Regional, operated by Emerald Airlines, connects Dublin and Belfast airports to Southampton Airport daily. Hand baggage allowances differ slightly from Aer Lingus routes, passengers should be aware of the maximum weight (7kg/15lb) and maximum dimensions (48cm x 33cm x 20cm).
With one of the shortest airport links in Europe, hop on the train at Southampton Parkway - literal steps from the arrivals hall - and you can get to the city in around ten minutes or less, with trains running on average every 20 minutes. Unilink buses also connect the airport with the wider Southampton and Hampshire area.
The writers were guests of Visit Southampton (visitsouthampton.co.uk). You can check out their guide to Chicago here.
