Mottisfont is a National Trust property with splendid grounds and an interesting collection of…read morepaintings, located on a beautiful stretch of the River Test. The house started life as an Augustinian Priory, founded in 1201. At the dissolution, the house was acquired by Lord Sandys, Lord Chamberlain and a favourite of Henry VIII. He turned the former Priory Church into a grand residence, and added further wings to the south. Little of this period remains, as the house was extensively remodelled on a more modest scale in the 18th Century and again in the Victorian period. The house was acquired by Maud Russell in the 1930s, and the house's character reflects her success in making it a refuge and inspiration for artists of the period: Rex Whistler designed the extraordinary Gothic drawing room, and the Russian mosaicist Boris Anrep made a mosaic inspired by the Church's gothic architecture. A delight of visiting the house is spotting evidence of the original church within the structure as you go around: the basement - formed from the original mediaeval vaulted cellars - contains both a cafe and an exhibition on the history of the site. A larger cafe is located in the adjacent stables, built in 1837. The upstairs rooms are used for exhibitions, but don't miss the servants' quarters, furnished in 1930s style. However, many come here just for the grounds: the walled gardens contain vegetable plots, a nationally important collection of old rose varieties, stunning herbaceous borders and drifts of lavender. The grounds also have plenty of woodland walks in the islands formed by branches of the River Test. The car park is a good 5 minute walk from the house, crossing the Test on footbridges. The paths and car park are mostly gravel and can get muddy in wet weather. The house also has limited access for wheelchair users as the first floor and servants' rooms are via staircases. The National Trust website has full details on questions of access. The entrance ticket office has an excellent shop.

Part of The National Trust so it would pay you to join and save money on entry to many other…read moreHouses! We went here last year with the rest of the family. Wheelchair facilities could be improved as we found it a little bumpy. Generally, it is a well kept house. There is an excellent art gallery that has constantly changing exhibitions/displays. There is the evr popular Ice Cream Parlour that serves up some delicious flavours, a second hand bookshop, a Yard Kiosk and some good old Kitchen Cooking.try the Chocolate and Beetroot Cake..different!! Some really good plant stock can be bought at quite inexpensive prices. I particularly liked the Cellarium where the Friars kept their stocks. The Abbey part on show was a little disappointing, (much nicer at Beaulei). Another interesting observation, I found, was the different archetectral styles/designs/influences on the South facing part of the building.

Not as aged as Old Milton…read more This is a typical little station with a road bridge going right over it at the end of the platform. Not too many trains stop here anymore, but it has a cute little Old English style house here which separates it from many other of the regional stations. Definitely one of the prettier stations in Hampshire, but also very low key. It dates to 1886 and it's just a little village railway station really.

I use the train a lot, so feel reasonably qualified to tell a good station from a bad one and was…read morepleasantly surprised by New Milton Railway Station when I visited recently. There's plenty of car parking and the station platforms and buildings appear clean and well-maintained. The ticket office staff were helpful and knowledgeable despite my asking awkward questions about different ticket types and rail operators. The waiting room was warm and comfortable and although I'm not a trainspotter by any stretch of the imagination, the wall displays of old steam trains and railway memorabilia were interesting to look at and helped to pass the time.

As the name states, this B&B as wonderful views of the Cathedral. Its less than 2 minutes walk into…read morethe City which makes it ideal for the tourists! The train station is about 10 minutes walk away and the road has alot of buses that go past to take you to Bournemouth! The B&B is lovely and provides a good nights sleep and delicious breakfast, the cost is standard, as with any B&B in Salisbury.

Not to be confused with Mitt Romsey, who is not related to Mitt Romney. And even if he was, I…read morewouldn't give a mitt. So this is a little old station in Romsey, which is on the line from Waterloo into Southampton, and it's a listed beautiful old building with a very unique and very attractive design. It feels like a tiny little town station, but with a truly grand building and style, and is definitely one of the nicer stations you'll find in this part of the country.

The historic town of Romsey has a well-preserved and well maintained traditional railway station on…read morethe line from Salisbury to Southampton. It is used by over 330,000 passengers a year. The station opened in 1847 on the line from Southampton to Salisbury (via Eastleigh). In 1865 the route from Andover to Southampton via Romsey and Redbridge opened, making Romsey a junction; also known as the Sprat and Winkle Line, it closed between Andover and Romsey in 1965, but the southern section from Romsey to Redbridge (on the Southampton-Bournemouth line) remained to form the main Salisbury to Southampton line. The Eastleigh to Romsey line closed to passengers in 1967 but reopened in 2003, making Romsey a junction station once more. It is served by the Cardiff/Bristol to Portsmouth service (roughly hourly, half-hourly at peak times) and the Salisbury-Romsey-Southampton-Chandler's Ford-Romsey service, which provides an hourly service in all directions (and thus provides two trains and hour to Southampton, one direct, and one via Chandler's Ford, Eastleigh and Southampton Airport). Facilities include a ticket office (open part time), ticket machines, toilets, waiting rooms, covered bicycle storage, a small cafe (open part-time) and a small car park.

Fratton is a station which serves the suburb of Fratton in Portsmouth, and also (as mentioned by…read moreothers) Portsmouth FC's nearby ground. History The station was opened in 1847 as part of an extension of the line from Brighton to Chichester known as the Chichester to Portsmouth Branch Railway, (which later also became part of the main line from London Waterloo via Guildford) and is the last station before Portsmouth and Southsea. Between 1885 and 1914 it was also the junction for the short-lived Southsea Railway, which ran to the seafront at Southsea. The station The station has three platforms, and is currently being refurbished (there is a temporary ticket office and toilet adjacent to the car park). When completed, the toilets, ticket office and small cafe will reopen, but there is no waiting room. Other facilities include racks for 66 cycles and a small car park with 15 spaces. There is a new footbridge with lifts at the eastern end of the platform, providing step-free access throughout. Services The station is served by frequent direct trains to London Waterloo, Southampton, Brighton and Bristol/Cardiff via Salisbury. It is one of the recommended stations for changing trains from the East Coastway line to Brighton to and from services to Bristol and Cardiff. It is used by approximately 1.5m passengers a year.

Fratton station - easy access to Fratton, The Bridge Centre, Asda and of course Fratton Park for…read morethe football. Fratton station get VERY busy on match days, they tend to open a side gate to keep supporters out of the way of the general traveller. This station is a good pickup point f your have visitors arriving, and since all trains stop here before they go to Portsmouth and Southsea/The Harbour, it can shorten peoples journeys a little. There are usually taxis in a rank waiting outside the main building for easy transport once off the train too.

The station was very very crowded. There were machines to purchase train tickets, with a card, but…read morewe stood on line to be sure we got on the correct train. There was a wide gate on the left to scan our tickets & get onto the track. Announcements were made regarding the trains arrival & tracks. Local trains stop here as well. There were benches to sit & wait. We asked where the best place to stand & were told if we wanted a seat to move towards the back. The floor was marked with which train car was stopping. Once the train arrived, we dragged luggage up one step and left it piled up to the side, thankfully, we did not have to lift our luggage overhead. There were plenty of seats and clean restrooms. We got off at Waterloo, the last stop.

The main train station servicing the city of Southampton, we took a South Western Railway train to…read moreLondon on a Sunday morning here after getting off of our Norwegian cruise boat. It's about 1 mile from the cruise port, and we decided to grab a taxi. It cost about £7 for the short trip, and was dropped off about 1 hour before our scheduled trip. We had already purchased our tickets on-line through the South Western Railway website, and for two adult tickets to go to Central London cost £18.40 for the two of us. You can either print out the QR code tickets or put it on your Apple wallet. You need the QR code to scan as you enter the station, but there is no gate that prevents it. The train station was pretty empty when we got there, but began to get more crowded as the departure time approached. Northbound is on the other side of the station (Track 2) from where you enter, and there is an elevator to the skybridge that goes to the other side. Everything is outside, so having a warm coat for a brisk January English morning was mandatory. There are clear electronic displays giving arrival times for the trains. The best part was that the station had free high-speed wi-fi, and we took full advantage of it. The train came right on-time (around 8:23) and we left promptly at 8:26. It was open seating, and there were a total of 10 cars, so there was plenty of seats. We sat at car 5, and was able to put our standard carry-on bags on top of the luggage racks above each seat. Folks who had large checked bags, just used their seat next to them to store their luggage. The seats were relatively comfortable, and each had standard british electric sockets that worked. The train itself had wi-fi throughout our trip (speed of about 5mb or so). The announcements were made in English only, were very clear. The conductor checked our ticket halfway through the trip (around 9:35). I had folded my paper QR code so it became unreadable, but was able to use the backup from my email to get scanned. We had a few stops (Fareham at 8:40; Havant at 9:06; Guildford at 9:38; Clapham Junction at 10:14). Our final stop was Waterloo at 10:49, at which time we could enter the London Underground. First, you had to exit the South Western train area, and they require you to show your ticket to do that.

I don't hang out in Parks when I'm Stoned, but if you do, go instead to Parkstoned…read more Parkstone is a little local railway station that is just outside Poole, next to Bournemouth, so one of the biggest urban areas in Dorset. It's a little local station that looks like a village station, even though it's technically in the suburbs. You can get trains to London and Weymouth and whatnot from here. It's not frequented too often but it has a cute little Station House and is a typical and fun little station that was one of many I visited when traveling around the South and Southwest by train.

I travel by train a lot, so feel reasonably qualified to judge whether a station is good or not…read more I am prepared to make an allowance for the fact that Parkstone isn't the busiest of railway stations and therefore can't be expected to have long opening hours or a myriad of services and facilities, but I do wish it was a bit cleaner! I often find the benches strewn with rubbish, beer cans and food which is not great, but to be honest, the benches are pretty rusty and past their best anyway. Not a bad station, but would be a lot better with a little care and maintenance.

If you live in Lymington, you may end up with Lymington disease, so be careful…read more What a beautiful little old town - one of those little Old Towns, and it's just very memorable, and somehow unlike any other little town we've been to recently. So absolutely gorgeous then. The old station house looks like a beautiful old pub or large cottage. It's one of the highlights of the town. It's little and old and beautiful and definitely prettier than the nearby railway station. The service is away from the main town and it just has a single track that comes down here. It's been a line for a hundred and fifty years now which is pretty amazing.

Lymington is a great place for a day out, and this gorgeous little station is well worth a visit in…read moreits own right. Viewed from the car park outside, it looks much like any other station, but step inside and you're transported to another world entirely. The Station Master is friendly and welcoming and the walls are plastered with pictures of steam trains, newspaper reports and authentic railway posters of yesteryear. Every nook and cranny from the ticket office to the waiting room is filled with little bits of history including old signs and signal equipment, and more personal items such as old suitcases with labels saying where they've been. Real care and attention has been lavished on this station, even down to silly things like soft covers on the metal chairs in the waiting room, and the staff and supporters deserve to have real pride in what they've created. Brilliant.