If you're an admirer of Jane Austen, then this is a visit you'll enjoy. What's unique about this…read moreplace is that Jane Austen once resided here. Calling it a museum might be slightly exaggerated, but referring to it as just a house isn't quite right. You'll learn about Jane's background and relatives while you attempt to picture life during that era.

We were in the area and where looking for something to do and found this. Cost 8.5 per person but…read morethe entry is good for one year. There is a short film that gives you an overview and then you can go into the house. They do have some original items but also have supplemented with items from the period but not original to the house. There is a downstairs and an upstairs. There is a very pleasant garden. We were able to enjoy it as it was a sunny day. There is also a small gift shop and two toilets. They stated they have WiFi but we couldn't get it to work on our phones. A good way to spend a hour.

This museum shows the range of wildlife found on Portsea Island and the surrounding area through a…read moreseries of stuffed animal displays. They are not the most modern, but children seem to like them. It also has aquariums, displays on the ice age in the area, and fossils and other prehistoric information. Again, it is nothing spectacular, but it does give a lot of information. However, the museum is worth visiting for the butterfly house at the back where you can sit and watch the butterflies fly around you, and even land on you. The museum is right next to Canoe Lake and Southsea seafront so there are lots of other things to do on the same day.

This is a lovely place to stop into as you take a walk along the seafront. It is situated between…read morethe canoe lake and the Tenth Hole Tearooms (another place worth visiting). It is a small museum with lots to see. As you walk around you go through the ages and there are some interesting exhibits. One of the highlights is the butterfly house. On the occasion I visited, there were some interesting feeding 'sculptures' designed by a local artist. These were really eye catching and unique, it gave quite a different feel to the butterflies feeding. There were plenty of butterflies and moths to see, flying around everywhere and landing nearby. There is a gift shop with some unusal and interesting gifts, it is not your normal museum and definitely worth a visit.

A fun time at the Tudor House and Garden. It has a lot of history here and you get to learn about…read moreit through the videos and the writings all around. They give you a map showing all the rooms and places to visit during your adventure. Overall I thought this was pretty cool and I do believe kids and adults will enjoy it! Don't forget the garden it is beautiful.

The Tudor House and Garden is a museum in the old part of Southampton…read more Built around 1492, the building was a grand house for most of its life until it became a museum in 1912. It has elements from every century since the 15th, as it has been much remodelled over the years. There's a good audio guided tour, which brings it to life. The exhibits are rather eclectic but the house itself includes lovely touches such as Tudor graffiti and floorboards made from 18th Century ship timbers. At the rear is a charming garden, which has been restored to its original Tudor form. Behind that, built into the town's mediaeval walls, is the so-called King John's Palace. Actually a town house belonging to a wealthy merchant built around 1180, it is a very rare example of Norman domestic architecture. The museum has a small shop and a nice modern cafe in the garden - this can be visited without paying for the museum tour. Staff were notably very friendly throughout our visit.

The Warrior is a good exploration of the last era of sailing ships. It somewhat pales in comparison…read moreto the marquee standouts on the dockyard of the Victory and Mary Rose, but it's well worth a look if only to see the comparative changes across the centuries in military ships. It's easy to explore by making your own path through and doesn't take as long as those others.

Britain's first warship with an all-metal hull, the HMS Warrior (1860) is a beautifully…read morepreserved/restored premium attraction, a must-see for anyone even remotely interested in the history of ship-building, and the wars that these ships fought in. It is part of the tremendous "Portsmouth Historic Dockyard" experience (It also includes the HMS Victory, the HMS M.33 and the WWII submarine HMS Alliance, plus several museums) which offers at least a couple of days worth of exciting sight-seeing for adults as much as more the smaller fry. First things first: If you want to do all of the Portsmouth Harbour attractions in one day (better make it the full day, i.e. 10 a.m. to 5.30 p.m. in the summer and to 5 p.m. in the winter), make sure to book the "all attractions" ticket *ONLINE*, which will save you money: E.g. the single adult ticket costs UKP 32.00 on the door, but just 25.60 online. The HMS Warrior as an individual attraction alone costs UKP 18.00. While not as famous as Nelson's HMS Victory, the Warrior is a tremendously imposing ship physically, and full of exciting details to explore. The whole body of the ship is fitted with historic cannons, cabin furniture, hammocks, tables, plates used by the sailors of the time, etc etc. It really conveys convincingly how both the officers and, in particular, the rank and file on this ship lived and worked at the time. It's thrilling, sometimes disturbing to see tables with plates next to the cannons, next to the hammocks - eating, sleeping, fighting and dying in one and the same place. There are cabins for the officers, a map room. You can visit all the decks (be careful on those steep steps between the decks - it's almost inconceivable how sailors were supposed to run up and down those!) and photography is allowed everywhere in the ship. Since the lighting is much less low-key than on the HMS Victory you'll be able to make decent pictures even with smartphone and super zoom cameras. If you have any questions while you're exploring the vessel, there are several friendly guides on every deck who you can ask anything. Of course they're friendlier towards single ladies than to single guys. ;) Since HMS Warrior s only part of a large visitors' experience, if you're exhausted or hungry from your exploits there are several restaurants and cafés (sadly, no pub!) on the grounds of the dockyard nearby. Directly opposite of the Warrior you'll find the quay where the Harbour Cruise and the free boat ride to the HMS Alliance depart (included in the all attractions ticket). All in all this is a most exciting and intriguing tourist and historical attraction. Expect to spend 1-1.5 hours on the HMS Warrior alone.

The great thing about the UK is that so many cultural things are free to do. This wonderful castle…read moreis just another example of exploring the rich heritage here. On a glorious summer's day it's relaxed, quiet and full of history. A fun part of a walk around Winchester.

Wolvesey Castle is a great tourist place to visit in Winchester. There is a lot to see and learn…read moreand you get to sightsee around the castle walls for free. Amongst the old ruins you will get displays telling you what you are looking at and are clearly labelled and the Castle is near the town centre which is roughly 10 -15 mins walk.

SeaCity Museum is an interesting stopover if you have some extra time in Southampton, but it is far…read morefrom a "must-see" attraction. As far as museums go, it is your typical mid-sized town museum, and certainly not to the scope of the Met or Museum of Natural History or anything of the sort. You're looking at perhaps an hour and a half to two hours tops, so do keep this in mind before forking over your hard earned £12.69 for entrance. The headliner is undoubtedly the Titanic exhibit, which if you are a fan of the history and/or the movie, might lure you in. Southampton is the port where the ship took its inaugural voyage from, so there is an obvious vested interest. However, if you are in town as the starting point for your own cruise, viewing this beforehand might be a bit unsettling. I suppose you could always come after you have returned though. The Titanic display is shown in a storybook format, introducing a smattering of crew members (some important, some random), and there is no mention or connection to the movie. Over the course of the exhibit, we are drawn to the characters, learning their lifestories and trials and tribulations, as if reading a book or watching a film. This is purposely done to invoke a rooting interest in how things ultimately pan out for them. One thing I do find odd is that only this handful of characters is emphasized, with nary a mention of the countless other crew members, nor the passengers. In any event, the storytelling is compelling, and the photographs, artifacts, detailed mock-ups, interactive booths, etc. are just enough to keep visitors entertained and educated, even those who were not huge fans to begin with, such as yours truly. The rest of the museum is much smaller, and mostly about Southampton itself. It is still definitely worth your time though, especially if this is your first time in town. One of the displays showcases the history of the city and its inhabitants over time, and the other focuses more on the transportation aspect in and out of the city, since Southampton has always been a traditional transit hub, be it for commerce or leisure. The detailed model ships are definitely a highlight. The only downer is the head curator being quite rude to guests. Before our time was up, she was barking at visitors to GTFO, and even gave us a countdown to how much time we had remaining. When I made it to the gift shop, she told everyone we had less than a minute, and to hurry up and buy, as if we were in Menace II Society. We understand that she wants to go home, and get back to doing whatever she's got going on, but there is absolutely no need for such a condescending tone to customers who paid good money to be there. It's not as if everyone was just milling about and loitering or anything. Any chance of a sale in their gift shop was completely nullified. The rest of the employees are great, however. They actually gave me that apologetic look, as if they already knew their boss was like this, so I am thankful to them. Fortunately, this didn't completely ruin the wonderful SeaCity Museum experience for me, but it certainly did leave a slight black mark. Cliff's Notes: Check it out of you are a fan of the Titanic (maybe not before your own cruise though) and/or Southampton history. Everyone else should just spend the time exploring Southampton itself instead.

If you are ever in Southampton this is one of the museums that you must go and see. This SeaCity…read moreMuseum is about the history of the Titanic and many of the ships that have come into Southampton. It has a long history and is overall fun to learn about. I had no idea how many cultures came from boats and into the harbor. It must have been a hard boat ride. But overall it brought different cultures into the UK. Also has a lot to do with the wars. It also shows in great detail the Titanic and how class differences were separated on the ship! It was pretty cool to learn a part of history.

The Joiners is southampton's live music venue, hosting lots of live music bands and acts, some new…read moreand some famous! They've had lots of huge bands play there and kept the posters on the walls to show it! A small intimate venue for about 200 people, with a front bar and back venue, it creates a great atmosphere, usually about £6 to get in and standard drinks prices, its well worth a night out. Most acts are 14+ so you can bring the teenagers along, so they can mosh away at the front!

I love this place! It's like the southampton version of the…read morewedgewood rooms. A fair bit smaller though! Its a pub with a back room that has been turned into a intimate venue for local and touring bands. I saw bens brother there earlier this year, it was fantastic your so close you can almost touch the artists! If you like venues where you can sit down and your sensitive to grime, this is not your place. If you want somewhere where you can have a variety of drinks at reasonable prices and watch some great bands lpay for peanuts then its well worth going! There is also excellent parking nearby - which is free after 6!

A very low-key, hidden museum well worth the visit…read more Docents/tour guides on the HMS ALLIANCE are men who actually served on the boat, so each tour is a bit different as it reflects their own stories and interests. The museum Cafe is very good too - friendly ladies who turn out good fresh sandwiches (may have to ask for the daily specials as they sometimes forget to post the signs!) Easy access when taking the train from London - Ferry across the harbor is right there as you exit the station. Then we recommend walking the promenade from the ferry terminal along the harbor as a pleasant way to arrive at the museum ... and on the walk back, the Coffee One in Gosport makes a great pit stop/refresher before re-boarding the ferry across to Portsmouth for the train back to London.

The featured attraction of the Royal Navy Submarine Museum is the last surviving British…read moresubmarine/u-boat from World War II, the splendid HMS Alliance. While the museum itself is rather small, if nice, the HMS Alliance is a spectacular attraction that alone is worth the trip to Portsmouth. It is part of the tremendous "Portsmouth Historic Dockyard" experience (It also includes the HMS Victory, the HMS M.33 and the HMS Warrior 1860, plus several museums) which offers at least a couple of days worth of exciting sight-seeing for adults as much as more the smaller fry. First things first: If you want to do all of the Portsmouth Harbour attractions in one day (better make it the full day, i.e. 10 a.m. to 5.30 p.m. in the summer and to 5 p.m. in the winter), make sure to book the "all attractions" ticket *ONLINE*, which will save you money: E.g. the single adult ticket costs UKP 32.00 on the door, but just 25.60 online. The Royal Submarine Museum as an individual attraction alone costs UKP 14.00. The museum is accessible either by car (dedicated parking lot) or via the free-of-charge waterbus from Portsmouth Harbour, which is included in the All Attractions ticket. It's a short boat ride (approx. 5 minutes) which I do recommend as it offers a nice view on the various parts of the dockyard and yachting harbor, and of course the spire. The waterbus goes every half hour until noon and then once an hour until 5 p.m. As the Portsmouth Historic Dockyard gets very busy around noon I would recommend that if you spend the day there you should go to the HMS Alliance/Submarine Museum first: The waterbus is small and holds just about 20-25 people. As said before, the Royal Navy Submarine Museum itself is very small (looks large from outside), but it's a nice collection of various items on the subject of submarines, including actual objects retrieved from old ones, but also paintings and documents. All very nicely presented. Visiting the museum shouldn't take more than 30 minutes. The greater attraction is the HMS Alliance. It's a spectacular, physically imposing submarine preserved in its original condition and fully fitted, including torpedo shells. Beautiful! Here's the thing: You can only enter the Alliance by guided tour, and each guided tour includes no more than 8 or so people. As huge as the Alliance may look from outside, on the inside it is a mousetrap. So they make sure that no more than 2 groups are inside the vessel at the same time. When you arrive at the museum you will be given a fixed time for your tour. If you are more than two people it can happen that you will be given a later tour time because the other spots have been filled already. The HMS Alliance is a technical marvel even today - and when you think that the total crew included 70 people you can paint your own mental picture what life on this vessel must have been like. The guides are very well informed - for a reason: They are mostly retired sailors who spent a part of their professional life as a member of a submarine crew. They're also very friendly: Ask them anything! Photography on board is allowed. See my photos to get an impression of the vessel and museum.