Southampton Cruise Port — The Complete Guide

Driving Times From The Berth

The numbers that decide everything, one way in normal traffic: Winchester 20 minutes, the New Forest 25, Portsmouth 25, Salisbury 35, Stonehenge 50, Windsor 70, central London 90, Bath 90, Oxford 100, the Cotswolds 115. Add the same again for the return and at least an hour of cushion. So a five hour window realistically reaches Winchester, the New Forest or Salisbury. Seven hours reaches Stonehenge and Salisbury together, or Windsor comfortably. Nine hours reaches Bath with Stonehenge, or a London highlights day. Eleven hours or a turnaround day reaches Oxford and the Cotswolds. Anything that does not fit these numbers does not fit, and we will tell you before you pay rather than after.

Using This Series

Southampton is different from the Scottish ports because it is primarily a turnaround port, so a large share of our work here is airport transfers and embarkation day itineraries rather than shore excursions. Three rules. First, on a transfer day put the luggage in the car and sightsee on the way, because that time is otherwise wasted. Second, book timed tickets early for Stonehenge, Windsor and the Roman Baths, all of which sell out in summer. Third, check which of the four terminals you are using, because they are not interchangeable. Each destination above has a full article in this series with routes and timings, and we quote multi port itineraries together across the UK.