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Portsmouth Hotels
A stay in a Portsmouth hotel puts you at the centre of Britain’s primary naval station. Made a royal dockyard by Henry VIII and set on Portsea Island, the heavily defended port is alive with anchor-tattooed sailors and every grade of ship imaginable.
Portsmouth neighbourhoods
Wander from your Portsmouth hotel to the end of Queen Street for the historic dockyards and, towering above it, the sail-shaped Spinnaker Tower and the new harbourside Gunwharf Quays shopping centre. About 15 minutes’ walk south is Old Portsmouth, full of Georgian streets and the former port of Camber where Sir Walter Raleigh landed the first tatties and tobacco from the New World. Southsea to the east has the D-Day Museum while Commercial Road, one of the main shopping streets, is where Dickens was born.
Shopping in Portsmouth
At the new Gunwharf Quays, based on HMS Vernon – an old centre for the development of underwater missiles – you’ll torpedo through a string of designer outlets. Southsea’s Albert Road specialises in retro clothing and bohemian edgy fashion. In the Marmion Road area you can wander among boutiques and the sweet-smelling allure of chocolatiers. Palmerston Road shopping is anchored by Debenhams, and if you’re looking for high-street shops head for Commercial Road or the Cascades Shopping Centre. There’s also a traditional market here for bargain hunters.
Eating and drinking in Portsmouth
For a relaxing view of bobbing yachts, there are about 20 restaurants including Watermark on the Boardwalk at Port Solent. For harbour views try the breezy restaurant terraces of Gunwharf Quays. You can test your sea legs supping locally brewed pints of Type 42 or Invincible in cosy pubs in cobbled historic Old Portsmouth. At Mozzarella Joes, Southsea’s only restaurant on the beach, you can wave at passing ferries and see the sunset or watch your pizza being prepared inside the open-plan kitchen.
Culture and nightlife in Portsmouth
The New Theatre Royal in Guildhall Walk stages cutting-edge theatre, dance and children’s shows. The Edwardian Kings Theatre in Southsea is where to go to for musicals and Christmas panto. Pack a rug, a picnic and, if you’re feeling in the mood, a candelabra for some outside opera in Victoria Park. For art-house movies try No.6, and if it’s laughs you’re after Jongleurs is at the Gunwharf Quays.
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